Facing the rapidly growing border e-commerce market in recent years, the Tax Service of Dongxing City, under the State Taxation Administration, has recently explored a set of governance methods centered on "data empowerment, categorized response, and compliance guidance." This approach has effectively shifted the e-commerce industry from passive reaction to active compliance, injecting momentum into the healthy development of the platform economy in border regions. At the Cross-border Logistics Center Area B of Dongxing Port in Fangchenggang City, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, a Vietnamese container truck is undergoing orderly customs clearance.
Focusing on Management Weaknesses, Strengthening Training and Guidance Dongxing City borders ASEAN countries, connecting domestic and international markets with unique operational advantages. Many businesses have targeted the path of e-commerce development, making e-commerce a prominent feature of this border port city. By the end of 2025, the number of active e-commerce entities in Dongxing City exceeded 2,700. However, the Dongxing City Tax Service discovered through daily tax collection and data analysis that many e-commerce entities face "growing pains," such as weak financial management foundations and misunderstandings of tax policies. Issues like underreported income, misapplied tax rates, and missing cost documentation were relatively concentrated.
In response, starting in 2024, the Dongxing City Tax Service, in collaboration with the Dongxing E-commerce Association, established a tailored guidance and training mechanism. They regularly organize specialized training sessions for e-commerce enterprises based on their needs. "Previously, we only focused on selling goods and knew little about tax compliance. The regular training sessions organized by the tax bureau not only interpret policy texts but also analyze real cases of common issues faced by e-commerce enterprises. The 'precautionary reminders' and 'live Q&A' sessions, in particular, have cleared up many of our doubts," said Ms. Xu, an accountant at a trading company in Dongxing City, who benefited greatly from the training.
During the training, the bureau shifted from one-way instruction to emphasizing the analysis of real cases involving frequent risks, such as underreported income, misapplied tax rates, and missing costs identified in platform information reporting, achieving a multiplier effect. In addition to centralized professional training, tax officials also visited e-commerce business premises to explain the significance of tax-related information reporting, standardized declaration procedures, and legal responsibilities. A series of training and explanatory activities have promoted a shift among local e-commerce entities from "being required to comply" to "wanting to comply." By the first quarter of this year, 198 key e-commerce taxpayers in Dongxing City, with guidance from the tax department, proactively corrected their previous declaration data, significantly improving declaration accuracy and standardization.
Categorized Response, Precisely Targeting Risks The vast scale of e-commerce platform transaction data makes precise supervision difficult through traditional manual comparison. Relying on tax-related information reported by internet platform enterprises and the Dongxing City Tax and Fee Co-governance Information Platform, the Dongxing City Tax Service regularly extracts business operation data. By comparing and identifying suspicious data, taxpayers are categorized into low, medium, and high-risk levels after screening. Risk prompts are then pushed accordingly, or verifications are conducted, with follow-ups on taxpayers' correction and rectification.
In January of this year, through data cross-referencing, the Dongxing City Tax Service found a significant discrepancy between the declared income and platform transaction records of a local e-commerce enterprise from July to December 2025. Tax officials meticulously checked backend transaction records against declaration details and discovered that the enterprise misunderstood the revenue recognition rules for promotional activities like "full reduction" and "free shipping," leading to underreported income. With guidance from tax officials, the enterprise proactively corrected its declaration data and paid an additional 240,800 yuan in taxes, avoiding greater tax-related risks.
"Initially, we were somewhat puzzled by the tax risk reminder, but the tax officials explained thoroughly using data, giving us a clear understanding of the issue. We also realized that standardized tax declaration is the foundation of honest business operations," said Li, the accountant of the enterprise. It is understood that the Dongxing City Tax Service adopts differentiated management for taxpayers at different risk levels: for low-risk taxpayers, it pushes "friendly reminders" and self-inspection guidelines, offering them an opportunity for self-correction; for medium- and high-risk taxpayers, it conducts interviews and verifications based on desktop analysis, guiding them to proactively make corrections through counseling.
"In the past, when facing hundreds of actively trading online stores, relying on experience to screen for risks often felt overwhelming. The tax big data platform and the Dongxing City Tax and Fee Co-governance Information Platform help us quickly identify suspicious points, such as significant mismatches between income and declarations," said Chen Fuyi, Director of the Dongxing Tax Branch under the Dongxing City Tax Service. This model not only reduces disruptions to compliant operators but also significantly improves the precision of tax collection and management.
Establishing a Long-term Mechanism to Improve the Business Environment Building on the phased achievements in guiding e-commerce enterprises toward compliant operations, the Dongxing City Tax Service is also committed to establishing a long-term service mechanism to support the sustained and healthy development of the platform economy. In 2023, the bureau collaborated with multiple departments in Dongxing City to build a unified city-wide Tax and Fee Co-governance Information Platform, actively expanding channels for exchanging tax-related information with departments such as market supervision, commerce, and customs, and establishing a sound dynamic management list for e-commerce entities.
For newly registered e-commerce enterprises, the bureau promptly pushes an "opening first lesson" containing guidance on tax procedures and regulations for tax-related information reporting, incorporating them into the "one file per new taxpayer" management system. In recent years, many e-commerce enterprises have chosen to establish themselves in Dongxing. After evaluating multiple locations, Dongxing Xiaoxiangfeng E-commerce Co., Ltd. was attracted by Dongxing City's geographical advantage of bordering ASEAN countries and officially settled there in November 2025. Shortly after completing its business registration, the enterprise received the "Tax Guide for E-commerce Enterprises" and tax declaration reminders pushed by the tax department. Using the guide, the enterprise established a standardized financial accounting system from the outset, laying a solid foundation for healthy development.
Today, through dynamic list management and cross-departmental information sharing, e-commerce enterprises registered in Dongxing City from 2019 to April 2026 have all been incorporated into the management and service scope of the tax department. In the next step, considering the cross-regional, multi-format, and flexible nature of the platform economy, the Dongxing City Tax Service will also promote the establishment of an information sharing and collaboration mechanism involving multiple parties, such as e-commerce associations and enterprises, to gather opinions and suggestions and respond to concerns promptly. "From the actions of the tax department, we see their determination to help e-commerce enterprises prevent risks and guide the industry toward compliant development," said Liang Yinghua, President of the Dongxing E-commerce Association.
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