As needed · answers, not reports

Advisory: a straight answer from a licensed practitioner

Some questions do not fit a service line. How to structure a new entity, whether treaty treatment is available, how much transfer-pricing exposure you carry, or what a local bureau will realistically accept. These need a judgement from someone who does this work, not a document.

  • Answered by a licensed practitioner — the person who answers is accountable for the advice
  • Written positions, not verbal reassurance — so you have something to show head office and the tax authority
  • We say when the answer is uncertain — and what would reduce the uncertainty, rather than bluffing
  • English throughout — advice written for a reader who does not read Chinese regulation

Timing

Questions we are asked most

These come up repeatedly with foreign-invested clients. If yours is on the list, we can usually answer it quickly.

Setting up or restructuring

Which entity form, where to locate it, how to fund it, and what the options cost over time.

Moving money across the border

Dividends, service fees, royalties and interest, and what each one requires to survive review.

Being asked a question by a bureau

What the authority is really asking, and what a defensible answer looks like.

Scope of services

What the work actually covers

Written out in detail on purpose. If you are comparing firms, this is the list to put side by side with theirs.

Deliverables

What lands on your desk

Written opinion or position paper

The conclusion, the reasoning, and the authorities or practice it rests on, in English.

Options comparison

The realistic alternatives with their costs, risks and compliance consequences side by side.

Risk assessment

Where the position is uncertain, how uncertain it is, and what would reduce that uncertainty.

Documentation checklist

What you would need to hold to defend the position if it were examined.

Implementation support

Help putting the chosen option into practice, not just a document describing it.

Record of the advice

A written record you can rely on and show to your group tax function or your auditors.

Process

From first email to finished work

01  You send the basics

Entity type, what has been requested, and when it is due. One email is enough to start.

02  Scope and fixed fee

We come back within one business day with a written scope, a fixed fee and dates.

03  Documents and fieldwork

One document request list. We work from it, and visit site only where the work genuinely needs it.

04  Delivery and follow-through

Signed output in English or bilingual, plus support through whatever filing follows.

Fees

How we price it

Fixed, in writing, before fieldwork starts. The drivers below are the ones that actually move the number — we tell you which of them apply to you in the first reply, not after you have signed.

  • Entity size, number of bank accounts and transaction volume
  • Whether prior-year figures are audited or management-prepared
  • Reporting language: English, Chinese, or bilingual
  • Whether group reporting requires a GAAP reconciliation
  • How much of the bookkeeping we have to rebuild first

FAQ

Questions about advisory work

Who actually answers the question?

A licensed practitioner at the firm. Not a junior summarising a template, and not an outsourced writer. The person who answers is accountable for the advice.

Can you give a definite answer?

Often yes. Where the position genuinely depends on how a local authority will treat it, we say so, tell you the range of outcomes, and explain what would narrow the range. We do not invent certainty to close a conversation.

Is the advice in writing?

Yes. Verbal advice is not much use to you when head office or a tax authority asks why a position was taken.

Do you work with our existing tax advisers?

Yes. We regularly work alongside group tax functions and international advisory firms, and we can report in whatever format they need.

How is advisory billed?

Fixed fee where the scope is clear, otherwise an agreed hourly or monthly retainer. Either way you know the basis before work starts.

Ask the question directly.

Send us the question and any deadline attached to it. If it is something we should not be advising on, we will tell you that too.