Golden Tax Phase IV Forces Drug Companies to Pay Back Taxes: BeiGene Pays 446 Million
After the market closed on June 26, BeiGene Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as 'BeiGene', 688235.SH) issued an announcement stating that its domestic wholly-owned subsidiary recently received a notice from the local competent tax authority. The company agreed to make certain adjustments to previously filed tax returns and will pay back taxes and late fees totaling approximately 446 million yuan as required. This amount is about 30% of its 2025 net profit.
According to BeiGene's previously released 2025 annual report, the company achieved operating revenue of 38.225 billion yuan in 2025, up 40.46% year-on-year; net profit attributable to the parent company was 1.461 billion yuan, turning from a loss of 4.978 billion yuan to profit; net profit after deducting non-recurring gains or losses was 1.420 billion yuan, turning from a loss of 5.379 billion yuan to profit.
BeiGene told Blue Whale News that the company recently received a notice from the local competent tax authority regarding relevant tax matters, requiring certain adjustments to previously filed tax returns. The company has fully and professionally communicated with the competent tax authority regarding the technical determination of the tax matters and differences in tax-accounting treatment, and will pay the amount as required. This matter does not involve administrative penalties. Based on the judgment of relevant enterprise accounting standards, this matter does not constitute a prior period accounting error and does not involve retroactive adjustment of prior period financial data.
'It is expected to be recorded in current-period profit or loss for 2026, with the specific impact on the company's net profit subject to the final audited financial statements. This matter is not expected to have a material adverse impact on the company's financial condition, going-concern ability, or normal operations,' BeiGene stated.
Multiple Pharmaceutical Companies Surprise with Large Back Tax Payments This Year
In addition to BeiGene, several pharmaceutical companies have also issued announcements regarding back tax payments this year. On the morning of May 20, Aier Eye Hospital (300015.SZ), known as the 'ophthalmology leader' in the industry, announced that after conducting a self-inspection of tax-related matters in accordance with relevant laws and regulations, it confirmed the need to pay back taxes of 348 million yuan and late fees of 176 million yuan, totaling 524 million yuan.
On January 1, China Medicine (600056.SH) announced that its wholly-owned subsidiaries Sanyang Pharmaceutical and Kangli Pharmaceutical received tax notices requiring the payment of back taxes and late fees totaling approximately 65.2178 million yuan. Among them, Sanyang Pharmaceutical paid back taxes of 21.4862 million yuan and late fees of 10.7429 million yuan, while Kangli Pharmaceutical paid back taxes of 21.2826 million yuan and late fees of 11.7061 million yuan.
In addition, Jiasitang (002462.SZ), Lanfan Medical (002382.SZ), and Chongyao Holdings (000950.SZ) also issued back tax announcements.
Lawyer Interpretation: Centralized Settlement of Historical Hidden Risks Under Golden Tax Phase IV
Incomplete statistics from Wind data show that as of June 25, at least 80 listed companies have disclosed back tax or tax adjustment-related announcements this year, approaching the total of 89 for all of 2025. The cumulative amount of back taxes, late fees, and fines involved exceeds 6 billion yuan.
Gui Xin, senior partner at Tahota (Shanghai) Law Firm and initiator of the Tianmu Venture Capital Ecosystem, told Blue Whale News that the recent back tax payments by pharmaceutical listed companies such as BeiGene and Aier Eye Hospital after the annual report are essentially a concentrated exposure of historical compliance issues in the pharmaceutical industry under strict Golden Tax Phase IV supervision. These issues include high R&D investment, multi-business models leading to tax preference applicability (such as high-tech qualifications, R&D super deduction), tax-accounting differences, and related party transactions. Back tax payments often occur after the annual report, which is both a compliance choice for companies to voluntarily conduct tax self-inspections after completing final settlement and audit to avoid inspection fines, and also reflects the natural difference between audits focusing on financial authenticity and tax focusing on tax law application. Back tax payments typically belong to policy scope adjustments rather than financial fraud, reflecting the normalization of tax compliance in the capital market and self-correction to 'defuse risks'.
'The frequent occurrence of huge back tax payments in the pharmaceutical industry this year, with amounts far exceeding previous years, is primarily due to the full implementation of Golden Tax Phase IV, which enables multi-departmental data penetration. Coupled with strict supervision of tax preferences and the implementation of the VAT Law, companies are forced to centrally settle historical tax hidden risks from the past five or even ten years. At the same time, listed companies, to avoid high fines and information disclosure risks, choose to voluntarily 'defuse risks' and announce after the annual audit and final settlement. This multi-resonance of technology-driven pressure, policy tightening, and proactive compliance has led to the concentrated outbreak of hidden historical problems in 2026, forming a seemingly sudden wave of back tax payments,' Gui Xin believes.
Is This Round of Back Tax Payments Limited to One Year? Likely to Gradually Return to Routine
'Will this round of back tax payments only affect this year or become a regular phenomenon?' Gui Xin believes this round of huge back tax payments is not limited to 2026 alone but is divided into two layers: the concentrated large back tax payments in 2026 are mainly a one-time centralized settlement of historical hidden risks over multiple years (typically reviewed back 3-5 years). As proactive self-inspections proceed, such massive retrospective back tax payments will gradually decrease in the next 1-2 years.
But routine tax adjustments will exist long-term. Golden Tax Phase IV's 'taxation based on data' is a permanent infrastructure, and strict supervision of tax preferences (annual review of high-tech qualifications, real-time review of R&D super deduction) becomes the norm. In the future, enterprises may still face back tax payments due to detailed policy scoping and related party transaction pricing adjustments during annual final settlement, but the amounts will return to routine levels, with no more concentrated 'sky-high old account' settlements. Tax compliance will shift from occasional 'defuse risk events' to a fixed daily operating cost for enterprises.
