Interpretation of ＂Announcement of Anhui Provincial Taxation Bureau of State Taxation Administration of The People’s Republic of China on Launching a Comprehensive Digital Electronic Invoice Receiving

In order to implement the requirements of the Opinions on Further Deepening the Reform of Tax Collection and Management issued by the Central Office and the State Council, and comprehensively promote the digital upgrade and intelligent transformation of tax collection and management, the Anhui Provincial Taxation Bureau of State Taxation Administration of The People’s Republic of China issued the Announcement of the Anhui Provincial Taxation Bureau of State Taxation Administration of The People’s Republic of China on the pilot work of comprehensively digitizing electronic invoices (hereinafter referred to as the Announcement). The interpretation is as follows.

1. What is the background of launching a comprehensive digital electronic invoice pilot?

In order to implement the "Opinions on Further Deepening the Reform of Tax Collection and Management" issued by the Central Office and the State Council, comprehensively promote the digital upgrade and intelligent transformation of tax collection and management, and reduce the cost of collection and payment, State Taxation Administration of The People’s Republic of China has built a national unified electronic invoice service platform. Since December 1, 2021, State Taxation Administration of The People’s Republic of China has carried out a comprehensive digital electronic invoice pilot project in Guangdong Province (excluding Shenzhen, the same below), Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and Shanghai (hereinafter referred to as the "pilot area"), and the system runs smoothly.

In order to further promote the comprehensive digital electronic invoice pilot work, with the consent of State Taxation Administration of The People’s Republic of China, from July 18, 2022, Anhui taxpayers will only accept invoices issued by some taxpayers in the pilot areas through the electronic invoice service platform.

2. What are the face information of all-electric invoices?

The face information of all-electric invoice includes basic content and specific content.

The basic contents mainly include: QR code, invoice number, invoice date, buyer’s information, seller’s information, project name, specifications, unit, quantity, unit price, amount, tax rate/collection rate, tax amount, total, total price and tax (in words and figures), remarks and drawer. The invoice number of the all-electric invoice is 20 digits, of which, the 1st-2nd digits represent the last two digits of the Gregorian calendar year, the 3rd-4th digits represent the administrative division codes of provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities directly under the Central Government and cities with separate plans, the 5th digit represents the information such as the issuing channels of all-electric invoices, and the 6th-20th digits represent the information such as sequence codes.

In order to meet the individual needs of taxpayers engaged in specific industries, businesses with special taxable behaviors and specific application scenarios (hereinafter referred to as "specific business"), the tax authorities have designed corresponding specific contents in all-electric invoices according to the relevant provisions of current invoice issuance and specific business scenarios. Specific businesses include but are not limited to: rare earth, construction services, passenger transport services, cargo transport services, real estate sales, real estate business leasing services, agricultural product acquisition, photovoltaic acquisition, vehicle and vessel tax collection, self-produced agricultural product sales, differential taxation, etc. When obtaining all-electric invoices, taxpayers in Anhui Province can put forward specific business requirements to the drawer according to the actual business development situation, and the drawer will fill in the information in the invoice remarks and other columns as required in the specific content columns, further standardizing the invoice face content and facilitating the use of taxpayers in Anhui Province. The face of all-electric invoice for a specific business shows the corresponding information according to the specific content, and the words of this business type are displayed in the upper left corner of the face.

3. What are the advantages of using all-electric invoices?

(1) It is more convenient to use tickets.

The application of invoice data is richer. It is convenient for tax authorities to standardize the management of invoice data and lay a data foundation for providing taxpayers with tax declaration and pre-filling services.

The use of invoices meets individual business needs. All-electric invoice breaks the requirement of specific format, increases the data message format of XML to facilitate delivery, while retaining formats such as PDF and OFD, reducing the cost of invoice use and improving the convenience and acquisition of taxpayers’ tickets. All-electric invoice styles are displayed differently according to different businesses to provide taxpayers with better personalized services.

(2) Integration of recording and filing

The tax authorities will make and issue electronic invoice data specifications and national standards, realize the digital circulation of all-electric invoices, and further promote the informationization of accounting and financial management of enterprises and administrative institutions.

4. How do Anhui taxpayers receive invoices issued through the electronic invoice service platform? What types of invoices are included?

Taxpayers in Anhui Province can receive all-electric invoices with the words "special VAT invoice", all-electric invoices with the words "ordinary invoice", special paper VAT invoices (hereinafter referred to as "special paper invoices") and ordinary paper VAT invoices (folding tickets, hereinafter referred to as "ordinary paper invoices") issued by taxpayers in pilot areas through the electronic invoice service platform.

Anhui taxpayers can receive the above-mentioned invoices issued through the electronic invoice service platform through the comprehensive service platform for VAT invoices. In addition, all-electric invoices delivered by the seller by e-mail or QR code can also be obtained.

5. What is the difference between the paper special tickets and paper general tickets issued by taxpayers in Anhui Province through the electronic invoice service platform and those issued by the VAT invoice management system?

Taxpayers in Anhui Province have received paper special tickets and paper general tickets issued through the electronic invoice service platform, and their legal effects, basic uses and basic usage provisions are the same as those of the existing paper special tickets and paper general tickets. Compared with the existing paper-based special tickets and paper-based general tickets, the paper-based special tickets and paper-based general tickets issued by the electronic invoice service platform are different in that after the paper-based special tickets and paper-based general tickets are issued by the electronic invoice service platform, the password area of the paper-based special tickets and paper-based general tickets will no longer display the invoice ciphertext, but the password area will display the 20-digit invoice number given by the electronic invoice service platform and the website of the national VAT invoice inspection platform.

Six, Anhui taxpayers received invoices issued through the electronic invoice service platform, sales returns, billing errors, sales discounts, etc., and the drawer needs to issue red-ink invoices. What should I do?

(1) If the drawee has not confirmed the use and entered the account, the drawer shall fill out the Confirmation Sheet of Red-ink Invoice Information on the electronic invoice service platform (hereinafter referred to as the Confirmation Sheet, see Annex 2) and then issue a red-ink full electric invoice or a red-ink paper invoice without confirmation by the drawee. Among them, the Confirmation Sheet should be consistent with the corresponding blue-ink invoice information.

Example 1: In June 2022, Company I (the taxpayer who issues invoices through the electronic invoice service platform) provided design services for Company J (the taxpayer in Anhui Province). On June X, 2022, Company I has issued an all-electric invoice for Company J with the words "special VAT invoice". On June X, the service was terminated due to objective reasons. Before that, Company J did not confirm the use of the invoice and put it in the account, and Company I had to issue a full red-ink all-electric invoice.

Company I fills in and uploads the Confirmation Sheet through the electronic invoice service platform, without confirmation from Company J. After the system passes the automatic verification, Company I will issue a full red-letter full electric invoice based on the information of the confirmed confirmation sheet.

(2) If the drawee has confirmed the use or entered the account, the drawer shall fill out the Confirmation Sheet through the electronic invoice service platform or the drawee through the comprehensive service platform for value-added tax invoices. After confirmation by the other party, the drawer shall issue a red-ink invoice based on the Confirmation Sheet.

If the drawee has used the invoice for VAT declaration and deduction, it shall temporarily transfer it from the current input tax amount according to the VAT amount listed in the Confirmation Sheet, and after obtaining the red-ink invoice issued by the drawer, it shall be used as the accounting voucher together with the Confirmation Sheet.

Example 2: In June, 2022, Company N (the taxpayer who invoiced through the electronic invoice service platform) sold a batch of toys to Company P (the taxpayer in Anhui Province), and an all-electric invoice with the words "special VAT invoice" was issued, and Company P confirmed its use. In July 2022, it was found that the billing was wrong.

Case 1: The financial personnel of Company N fill out and upload the Confirmation Sheet through the electronic invoice service platform, select the reason and the corresponding blue-ink invoice information, and enter the amount and tax amount. After the financial personnel of Company P complete the confirmation through the comprehensive service platform of VAT invoice within 72 hours, the financial personnel of Company N will issue a red-letter all-electric invoice accordingly.

Case 2: The financial personnel of Company P fill out and upload the Confirmation Sheet through the VAT invoice comprehensive service platform, select the reason and the corresponding blue-ink invoice information, and enter the amount and tax amount. N Company’s financial personnel will issue a red-letter all-electric invoice after completing the confirmation through the electronic invoice service platform within 72 hours.

(3) If all-electric invoices or paper invoices issued by the pilot taxpayers through the electronic invoice service platform have been used to apply for export tax refund or tax refund on behalf of the taxpayers, red-ink invoices are temporarily not allowed to be issued.

7. What types of invoices can Anhui taxpayers obtain for use confirmation? What channels are used for confirmation?

Taxpayers in Anhui Province continue to log on to the VAT invoice comprehensive service platform to use the relevant VAT deduction voucher functions, and obtain VAT deduction vouchers such as all-electric invoices with the words "special VAT invoices", all-electric invoices with the words "ordinary invoices", paper special tickets and paper general tickets issued through the electronic invoice service platform. If they need to be used to declare the deduction of VAT input tax or apply for export tax refund or tax refund on behalf of others, they should confirm their use through the VAT invoice comprehensive service platform according to regulations.

8. Through what channels can Anhui taxpayers check the information of all-electric invoices?

Anhui taxpayers can check the information of all-electric invoices through the national VAT invoice inspection platform (https://inv-veri.chinatax.gov.cn).

9. What matters should be paid attention to when taxpayers in Anhui Province obtain all-electric invoice reimbursement for filing?

Taxpayers who obtain reimbursement of all-electric invoices for filing shall follow the relevant provisions of the Notice of the Ministry of Finance and the National Archives Bureau on Regulating the Filing of Electronic Accounting Vouchers (No.6 [2020] of the Ministry of Finance, hereinafter referred to as the Notice) and the Measures for the Administration of Accounting Archives (Order No.79 of the Ministry of Finance and the National Archives Bureau).