Actual payment requirement for tax deductions: only payments made qualify, with specific rules protecting small suppliers.
Specified deductions are allowable only in the year when actual payment is made, irrespective of accounting method or liability year. Deductible items include taxes, employer welfare fund contributions, leave payments, interest to defined financial entities, payments for asset use, and delayed payments to micro and small enterprises. Payments made after the year-end but before return filing remain deductible; conversions of interest into loans are not treated as payment. Employer contributions are eligible while employee receipts are excluded, and a deduction already claimed in the liability year cannot be claimed again when paid.