What the Taxpayer identification number is
The Taxpayer identification number is the number State Taxation Administration assigns to a taxpayer in China. It follows you across every tax you deal with: VAT, income tax and withholding. Businesses that pay you will ask for it before they release payment, because they report their suppliers to State Taxation Administration by this number.
Who needs one
Every company, branch, sole trader (个体工商户) and other organisation registered in China. The 18-digit Unified Social Credit Code printed on your business licence is your taxpayer identification number — there is no separate tax number and no tax registration certificate. Individuals use their resident ID number. No separate tax registration follows the licence: the business confirms its information with the tax authority the first time it handles a tax matter, free and on the spot. An overseas seller with no establishment in China does not register at all: the Chinese buyer is the withholding agent and pays the VAT over.
How to register, step by step
- Register the business with the market regulator (市场监督管理局). The licence it issues carries the 18-digit Unified Social Credit Code.
- Have the legal representative, the finance officer and whoever will do the filing complete real-name verification (实名认证) on your provincial e-Tax Bureau. Only verified people can log in.
- In the e-Tax Bureau open 我要办税 → 综合信息报告 → 身份信息报告 → 新办纳税人开业. Confirm the company and address details the system has already pulled from the business register; it assigns your 主管税务机关 and registers your tax types for you.
- Work through the 新办纳税人套餐 that follows: bank account report, accounting-system filing, general-taxpayer registration if you want it, cultural construction fee if it applies.
- Open your 税务数字账户 and accept the invoicing quota (开票额度) the system grants. You can issue fapiao immediately — there is no tax-control device to buy.
How to find or check a Taxpayer identification number
Your own code is on the business licence and on every fapiao you issue. To check somebody else's, search the company on the National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System at gsxt.gov.cn. To check an invoice you have been given, use the national VAT invoice verification platform at inv-veri.chinatax.gov.cn — free, and for a digital fapiao it wants three things: the 20-digit invoice number, the gross amount and the invoice date.
Documents, cost and how long it takes
The tax number is the 18-digit Unified Social Credit Code printed on the business licence, so a business licensed by the market regulator has no separate tax registration to apply for. After the licence is issued it only confirms the registration information the tax office has received from the market regulator, when it first deals with the tax office. The service guide of the Beijing tax bureau for this confirmation lists no documents, no fee and completion on the spot. A business trading without a licence must register temporarily with the tax office. Guangzhou's one-stop platform for new businesses can issue the licence, make the seals, apply for invoices and register for social insurance in as little as half a day.