Pharma Tax Back-Payment Wave: BeiGene Pays 446 Million Yuan Tax in Back Taxes
On June 26 after market close, BeiGene Ltd (688235.SH) announced that its wholly-owned domestic subsidiary recently received a notice from the local competent tax authority, and the company agreed to make certain adjustments to previously filed tax returns. The company has confirmed the tax matters with the authority and will pay back taxes and penalties totaling approximately 446 million yuan, about 30% of its 2025 net profit.
According to BeiGene's 2025 annual report, the company achieved revenue of 38.225 billion yuan in 2025, up 40.46% YoY; net profit attributable to parent was 1.461 billion yuan, turning from a loss of 4.978 billion yuan in 2024; recurring net profit was 1.420 billion yuan, also turning from a loss of 5.379 billion yuan.
BeiGene told media that it recently received a notice from the local tax authority regarding certain tax matters, making adjustments to earlier tax filings. It communicated with the authority on technical identification and differences between tax and accounting treatments, and will make the payment as required. The matter does not involve administrative penalties. Based on relevant accounting standards, the company believes this is not a prior-period accounting error and does not require retrospective adjustment.
The company expects the matter to be reflected in 2026 current-period profit and loss; the specific impact on net profit will be based on audited financial statements. It is not expected to have a material adverse effect on the company's financial position, going-concern ability, or normal operations.
Multiple Pharma Companies Disclose Large Back Taxes This Year
Besides BeiGene, several pharma listed companies have disclosed back tax payments this year. On May 20, Aier Eye Hospital (300015.SZ) announced that after a tax self-inspection, it confirmed back taxes of 348 million yuan and penalties 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 a combined back payment of about 65.22 million yuan in taxes and penalties. Sanyang paid 21.49 million yuan in taxes and 10.74 million yuan in penalties; Kangli paid 21.28 million yuan in taxes and 11.71 million yuan in penalties.
Other companies such as Jiashitang (002462.SZ), Lanfan Medical (002382.SZ), and Chongqing Pharma Holdings (000950.SZ) have also issued back tax announcements.
According to incomplete statistics from Wind data, as of June 25, at least 80 listed companies had disclosed back tax or tax adjustment announcements this year, approaching the 2025 total of 89. The cumulative back taxes, penalties, and fines involved exceed 6 billion yuan.
Lawyer Commentary: Golden Tax Phase IV Drives Settlement of Historical Risks
Gui Xin, senior partner at Tahota (Shanghai) Law Firm, told media that the recent back tax payments by pharma companies like BeiGene and Aier after annual reports essentially reflect the exposure of historical compliance issues under Golden Tax Phase IV's strengthened supervision, including high R&D investment, diverse business models leading to tax preference eligibility (e.g., high-tech status, R&D super deduction), tax-accounting differences, and related-party transactions.
Back taxes often occur after annual reports, either because companies voluntarily conduct tax self-inspections after final settlement and audits to avoid penalties from investigations, or because audits focus on financial truthfulness while tax focuses on tax law application. Lawyers believe back tax payments are usually due to policy interpretation adjustments rather than financial fraud, reflecting normalization of tax compliance in capital markets and "undermining" self-corrections.
Regarding future impact, lawyers believe the current wave of large back tax payments is not limited to a single year but follows two layers: the clustering in 2026 mainly represents a one-time centralized clearing of historical stock risks (typically covering the past 3-5 years). As voluntary inspections progress, such massive retroactive back tax payments will gradually decrease over 1-2 years. However, normalized tax adjustments will persist long-term. Golden Tax Phase IV's "data-driven tax governance" is a permanent infrastructure; strict supervision of tax preferences (annual high-tech reviews, real-time R&D super deduction verification) will become routine. Annual tax filings may still result in back tax payments due to policy interpretation refinements or related-party pricing adjustments, but amounts will return to normal levels, no longer featuring concentrated "sky-high old-account" settlements.
