With three stores, sharing the same sources of goods, the same warehouse, the same set of operation team - each store has different income, how to share the cost? How to report tax separately?

This is a financial and tax problem that has plagued multi-store sellers for many years. If the accounts are not clear, the declaration will have no bottom; if the accounts are messed up, they will not be able to understand when they are investigated.

According to the recently circulated cross-border e-commerce levy caliber, there is a relatively clear reference program for this issue - sharing costs according to the revenue share of each store, known in the industry as the “Safeway model”, based on the financial and tax structure of the head seller, the Safeway era as a prototype.

⚠️ Note: The above method is a reference model for tax administration circulated in the industry and is not a uniform mandatory requirement. In practice, the degree of acceptance of the accounting methods may vary among local tax bureaus, so it is recommended to communicate with the competent tax authorities for confirmation before implementation.

If you're running a multi-store operation and aren't sure how costs should be split and taxes filed, you can contact us today - for a free assessment of your multi-store financial and tax structure.

📞 Cell phone: 18676749275 ｜ 💬 WeChat: qcygscszk

I. Multi-store accounting, where is the difficulty?

II. What is the “Safeway model”?

Core idea: Instead of splitting costs by product and by order, the total cost is spread to each store in equal proportions according to the revenue share of each store.

The operation logic is as follows:

Step 1: Count the current revenue of all stores under the same operating entity

Step 2: Calculate the percentage of revenue per store (revenue ÷ total revenue)

Step 3: Apportion the total cost to the corresponding stores according to this percentage

Step 4: Each store completes a separate corporate income tax return based on apportioned costs

An example:

The advantages of this approach are: logical clarity, reproducibility and ease of verification by the tax authorities.

 If you want to adopt this cost apportionment methodology, but are unsure how to get off the ground, or are worried about keeping up with the bookkeeping basics, contact us - a team of professionals will help you build a standardized apportionment ledger and open up the chain of multi-store financial and tax compliance. 📞 Cell phone: 18676749275 ｜ 💬 WeChat: qcygscszk

Third, is there a pitfall in this method?

There are, mainly, the following details:

Pit 1: Pricing fairness of connected transactions

If there are related transactions between multiple stores (e.g., store A transfers goods to store B and collects fees), the pricing must be fair and reasonable. Pricing that is significantly low or high can easily be recognized as “profit shifting” and cause tax concerns.

Pit 2: Attribution of inter-periodic costs

Some expenses (e.g., annual advertising budgets, yearly contracts) are paid across months or even years, and the rules for what cycle to attribute to which store need to be set and consistent ahead of time.

Pit 3: Exchange rate conversion

Overseas income involves exchange rate conversion, and the exchange rate is different for different time periods. There should be a uniform rule for the conversion method, and it cannot be switched arbitrarily, otherwise the data of different months cannot be compared horizontally.

Pit 4: Keeping up with the basics of accounts

This method presupposes a complete general ledger and store revenue detail. If the historical accounts are already in disarray, the data will not run correctly if this formula is applied rigidly.

Fourth, sellers who are ready to use this model, what do they need to do now?

Step 1: Sort out existing store and subject relationships

Organize all the stores in operation, the corresponding registered entities, and the actual collection paths, and draw this diagram first.

Step 2: Create cost ledgers apportioned by revenue

Starting with the current period, record the revenue of each store on a monthly basis and create a corresponding table of cost-sharing factors.

Step 3: Verify that historical accounts can be applied

If historical data is incomplete, can it be reconstructed? How many years can it be reconstructed? This directly affects the strategy for historical tax treatment.

Step 4: Communicate with the tax authorities in advance

Before formally adopting this method of accounting, it is advisable to do pre-communication with the competent tax office to confirm local acceptance of the model. Behind closed doors, submission is instead questioned.

V. Enterprise financial surplus: help multi-store sellers to calculate the account clearly

Multi-body, multi-store fiscal structure planning is one of the core service directions of Enterprise Caiying:

✅ Store-subject relationship sorting -- Clarify existing structures and identify potential risks of connected transactions

✅ Cost-sharing system setup -- Establishment of a standardized revenue share apportionment ledger based on the Safeway model

✅ Reconstruction of historical accounts -- Assess the scope of rebuildability and fill filing gaps in cases of incomplete data

✅ Bookkeeping Package -- :: Ongoing maintenance of subject accounts to ensure monthly data regularization

✅ IRD communication and coordination -- Assist in communicating in advance with the competent tax authorities on accounting methods to reduce the risk of identification

Contact us for a free evaluation of your multi-store fiscal structure 📞 Cell phone: 18676749275 ｜ 💬 WeChat: qcygscszk

Four Core Advantages of Enterprise Caiying Tax Compliance Service

🔹 1. specializing in cross-border e-commerce for a decade

Cumulatively serving 500,000+ sellers, he is well versed in special tax scenarios of cross-border industry, such as revenue recognition, cost attribution, and four streams in one.

🔹 2. Multi-district tax office communication experience

Assist sellers in Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Ningbo, etc. to communicate with the competent tax authorities and familiarize themselves with the differences in the caliber of implementation in different places.

🔹 3. Digital accounts system

Self-developed “Echobao” system, support for multi-store, multi-subject data automatic collection, historical data organization efficiency to improve 50% or more.

🔹 4. Full chain of landing services

A one-stop shop from historical data combing, IRS communication, filing preparation, to building the 2026 checking system.

It's hard to say when the window will close; but 2026 is a definite direction for full checking and collection. Preparing in advance is always more proactive than being reactive.