Regulatory updates - China

Following the Pilot Program, which was gradually expanded to the whole country from 1 December 2021, the STA decided to officially promote e-fapiao invoices countrywide. Therefore, as of 1 December 2024, all taxpayers, not only the selected or newly registered ones, will be allowed to issue e-fapiao.

Prior to that, the STA announced the promotion of fully digitalized e-fapiao for civil aviation passenger transport services, which will also take place from 1 December 2024. Companies in the air transport sector will be allowed to issue e-fapiao for passengers using domestic transport services.

According to the STA announcement, digital invoices are classified as e-invoices and are legally equivalent to paper invoices. Moreover, to allow taxpayers to issue and manage e-fapiao smoothly, the STA will provide a platform for e-invoice services available nationwide.

The local STAs (State Taxation Administration) announced adding seven more regions to the fully digitalized invoicing pilot, including Anhui, Beijing, Guizhou, Hunan, Ningxia, Qinghai, and Shandong. Selected taxpayers in those regions can issue fully digitalized invoices from 1 November.

The e-fapiao receiving pilot has been deployed nationwide.

After the newly added provinces and regions, the coverage of e-invoice issuance pilots will be countrywide. 

The fully digitalized e-invoice (e-fapiao) issuance pilot started in early 2022, with the implementation in only a few provinces. Right now, the pilot is making rapid progress, as it has been implemented in more regions in the past few months. Selected taxpayers in the appointed sixteen regions can generate e-fapiao via the e-invoicing system.

The latest regions that joined the e-fapiao issuing pilot are the following:

• 30 November 2022- Xiamen
• 20 January 2023- Shanghai, expanding to cover all newly registered taxpayers
• 28 January 2023-Chongqing, Qingdao, Dalian, Tianjin, and Shaanxi provinces
• 22 March 2023 Henan and Jilin
• 30 March 2023 Shenzhen, Ningbo, Fujian province, and Yunnan province

Pagero continues to closely monitor the pilot developments in China.