Chinese Regime Targets Temples for Tax Audits Amid Mounting Government Debt: Insiders

A woman burns incense sticks and offers prayers at Yonghe Temple, also known as Lama Temple, in Beijing on Jan. 1, 2026. Wang Zhao/AFP via Getty ImagesThe tax agency of the Chinese communist regime has issued internal directives for sweeping audits of temples in an effort to collect back taxes, as government debt continues to grow, according to insiders who spoke with The Epoch Times.Yan Qin, an insider within the Zhejiang provincial tax service of the State Taxation Administration, who used a pseudonym out of fear of reprisal by the regime, told The Epoch Times that “currently, government finances—from the central level down to the local level—are under severe strain.”