What every invoice must show
- The buyer's 18-digit Unified Social Credit Code in the 购买方纳税人识别号 field whenever the buyer is a business. A general fapiao without it is not a valid tax receipt and cannot be booked.
- A 20-digit invoice number the tax system assigns: two digits for the year, two for the issuer's provincial tax bureau, one for the issuing channel, then a 15-digit sequence. You do not choose it and you cannot number your own.
- The rate or levy rate and the tax amount, shown separately from the net. A small-scale taxpayer using the reduced 1% must issue the fapiao at 1%.
- A seal only if it is paper. A digital fapiao carries the platform's digital signature instead of the 发票专用章, and no one may refuse it for want of a stamp. Keep the electronic file, not just a printout.
Numbering, keeping and correcting invoices
The stub copy of an issued invoice must be kept for 5 years (Invoice Management Measures, Article 28, as amended on 20 July 2023). Under the Accounting Archives Measures (Order No. 79, in force since 1 January 2016) original vouchers, which include invoices, are kept 30 years and tax returns 10 years, counted from the first day after the fiscal year ends (Article 14 and Schedule 1).
Anyone paying for goods or services in the course of business must obtain an invoice and may not ask the seller to change the item or the amount (Article 19). Every copy must be issued at once, truthfully, within the required time, in sequence and with every field completed (Article 21). An invoice that does not comply may be refused and cannot be used for reimbursement (Article 20).
Failing to issue an invoice, issuing it late or out of sequence, or using another voucher instead can be fined up to RMB 10,000 (Article 33). Invoicing that does not match the real transaction is fined more heavily: up to RMB 50,000 for amounts up to RMB 10,000 and RMB 50,000 to RMB 500,000 above that (Article 35). A business with two or more violations may be publicly named (Article 38).
If the tax office doubts an invoice or voucher from outside China, it may ask for confirmation from a foreign notary or a registered accountant before it accepts it as an accounting document (Article 32).
Electronic invoicing in China
Live and national. The fully digitalised e-fapiao (全面数字化的电子发票, 'shudian' fapiao) was rolled out across the whole country on 1 December 2024 and is now the normal way to invoice. Nothing to buy and nothing to apply for: you log into the e-Tax Bureau's tax digital account, the system grants you a total invoicing quota and adjusts it as it goes, and it numbers each invoice for you. Digital and paper fapiao have identical legal force. It covers special (creditable) and general fapiao plus air and rail tickets, motor vehicle sales and second-hand vehicle sales. Wrong invoice? You do not delete it — you issue a red-letter fapiao, and once the buyer has claimed the input tax, both sides must agree a 红字发票信息确认单, which expires unconfirmed after 72 hours.