"Tax Refund Secrets" are not trustworthy! Be sure to watch out for these common issues in individual income tax settlement.

The 2025 individual income tax comprehensive income settlement is underway, and taxpayers can declare from today until June 30 through the individual income tax App. While netizens are actively sharing their tax refund “red envelopes,” some so-called “tax refund secrets” are also circulating online. Are these “tax refund secrets” really reliable? Experts warn: they are not trustworthy! Do not lose big for small gains.

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“Tax refund secrets” are not trustworthy

Experts: False income tax declaration is illegal

The essence of “tax refund secrets” lies in the misuse of personal identity information and false declarations of special additional deductions. Huang Lixin, director of the Taxation Science Research Institute of the State Administration of Taxation, explains that using someone else’s information for income tax declaration is illegal, and taxpayers should not lose big for small gains.

What special additional deduction items are prone to errors?

Huang Lixin states that the misuse of personal information is most common in the three special additional deductions related to children’s education, elderly care, and the care of infants under three years old.

To better protect taxpayers’ legitimate rights and interests and prevent issues like incorrect filling and the misuse of children’s or elderly information for false reporting, tax authorities have further strengthened data utilization. For taxpayers who over-report or exceed the proportional limits for special additional deductions related to children’s education, elderly care, and the care of infants under three years old, remote blocking measures will be implemented.

What if a family member makes a mistake?

Huang Lixin says that if someone has previously misused or incorrectly reported the individual taxpayer’s children’s or elderly information, the system will provide a clear prompt when that individual is making a deduction report.

If the prompt indicates that a family member has incorrectly reported the deduction information, the taxpayer should quickly negotiate with family and friends to correct the reporting content and legally enjoy the special additional deductions.

What if a stranger misuses the information?

Huang Lixin explains that if a prompt indicates that a stranger has misused the information, there is no need to panic. You can go to the tax service hall and provide relevant proof materials. The tax authority will verify that information, and if verified as incorrect, will urge the incorrect reporter to delete the relevant information or suspend their enjoyment of the special additional deductions.

Huang Lixin reminds us that legally handling income tax settlements is a legal obligation for every taxpayer. False declarations and the misuse of someone else’s information for income tax settlements are not only tax violations but also suspected violations of citizens’ personal information rights. Once verified, not only will there be a need to return tax payments and pay fines, but there will also be corresponding legal responsibilities.

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Common issues to pay attention to in income tax settlements

Special additional deductions for individual income tax include seven items: children’s education, continuing education, major medical expenses, housing loan interest, housing rent, elderly care, and care for infants under three years old.

Care for infants under three years old: 2,000 yuan per child per month

Children’s education: 2,000 yuan per child per month

Continuing education: 400 yuan per month for degree education, 3,600 yuan for vocational qualifications in the year of certification

Major medical expenses: The portion exceeding 15,000 yuan within the scope of medical insurance can be deducted up to 80,000 yuan

Housing loan interest: 1,000 yuan per month, for a maximum of 240 months

Housing rent: Tiered by city, 1,500/1,100/800 yuan

Monthly elderly care: 3,000 yuan per month, with non-only children limited to a maximum of 1,500 yuan per person

Regarding common problems encountered during the confirmation and reporting of individual income tax special additional deductions, tax authorities remind:

Common Issue 1

For the same child, how should parents report special additional deductions for the care of infants under three years old or children’s education? What if there are multiple children?

According to the deduction standard of 2,000 yuan per month per child, parents can choose to have one party enjoy a 100% deduction or both parties to deduct 50% each. The specific deduction method cannot be changed within a tax year.

For families with multiple children, different deduction methods can be chosen for different children. For example, for one child, parents can choose a 100% deduction at 2,000 yuan per month, and for another child, they can choose to deduct 50% each at 1,000 yuan per month, or one party can choose to fully deduct for both children.

Common Issue 2

If parents have pensions, can I report the elderly care item? If I have siblings, how should I report elderly care?

Taxpayers who support parents over 60 years old can enjoy special additional deductions for elderly care. Whether the elderly have pensions does not affect the taxpayer’s enjoyment of the special additional deduction policy.

If you are an only child, you can deduct a fixed amount of 3,000 yuan per month. If you are not an only child, you need to share the 3,000 yuan deduction limit with all siblings, with each person’s share not exceeding 1,500 yuan per month.

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Still waiting for the income tax refund?

Don’t worry! Check these five situations

After submitting a tax refund application, if the refund has not yet arrived, don’t panic! You may encounter five different situations: tax review in progress, tax review not passed, treasury processing, treasury refund failed, and treasury processing completed. Among these, pay special attention to the tax review not passed and treasury refund failed situations.

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Tax review in progress

“Tax review in progress” means you have successfully submitted the application, and the tax authorities are reviewing your tax refund application. Due to the high number of people handling income tax settlements, the review takes some time, so please be patient.

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Tax review not passed

“Tax review not passed” indicates that there is an issue with your declaration information. The tax authorities will specify the reasons for the rejection in the individual income tax App. You can check it in the App and inspect, modify, and improve your declaration data. Once confirmed to be correct, resubmit your declaration.

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Treasury processing

“Treasury processing” means that the tax authorities have approved your application and submitted it to the treasury, which is processing it as per regulations. Please be patient. Once processing is complete, the tax refund will be returned to the bank account you have provided.

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Treasury refund failed

“Treasury refund failed” means that the tax refund cannot be deposited into your bank account. Generally, treasury refund failures are often related to the bank account information you provided. Please check whether the bank account used for the tax refund application is your own account and whether the account is in a state of cancellation, loss, freeze, deactivation, or limited transactions. If you encounter these situations, you need to re-report a qualified bank account or bring your identification to the tax service hall for changes. The system will resend the treasury for processing.

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Treasury processing completed

“Treasury processing completed” means the tax refund was successful. Please check whether the refund amount has been deposited into the bank account you selected when submitting the refund application.

If the information is correct, online declarations typically complete the review within 15 working days.