Announcement of the State Taxation Administration on the Promotion and Application of Fully Digitalized Electronic Invoices

　　Document Number: Announcement No. 11 [2024] of the State Taxation Administration

　　Issuing Authority: State Taxation Administration

　　Date of Issuance: November 12, 2024

　　To implement the requirements for “taking steady progress in implementing e-invoice reform” and “basically realizing the use of e-invoices in all fields, covering links and elements and concentrating all efforts on reducing institutional transaction costs” as specified in the Opinions of the General Office of the CPC Central Committee and the General Office of the State Council on Further Deepening the Reform of Tax Collection and Administration, since the implementation of fully digitalized electronic invoice (hereinafter referred to as the “digitalized e-invoice”) on a pilot basis in Guangdong Province, Shanghai and Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region from December 1, 2021, the scope of pilot areas has been gradually expanded to the whole country. The pilot work has been promoted in a steady and orderly manner and achieved positive results in respect of optimizing business environment, improving administrative efficiency and efficacy and boosting the digital transformation of economy and society. The State Taxation Administration has decided to officially promote and apply digitalized e-invoice nationwide. The relevant matters are hereby announced as follows:

　　Ⅰ. The digitized e-invoice is a new type of e-invoice according to the Administrative Measures of the People's Republic of China for Invoices. It represents a new-type e-invoice that digitalizes all data elements on the invoice face, adopts a unified national numbering system, applies smart credit-based quota setting, and enables automatic end-to-end information flows between taxpayers and the tax authority via digital tax accounts and related mechanisms, with the same legal validity as paper invoices.

　　Ⅱ. The digitalized e-invoice is a single-copy document that exists only in digital format. It can be classified into E-invoice (Special VAT), E-invoice (Ordinary), Digitalized E-invoice (Airline E-Ticket Itinerary), Digitalized E-invoice (Railway E-ticket), Digitalized E-invoice (Uniform Invoice for Motor Vehicle Sale), Digitalized E-invoice (Uniform Invoice for Used Car Sale), etc. Invoices tailored to specific business scenarios such as construction, refined oil, and scrap product purchases can be generated by using customized business tags. (See specimens in Attachment 1)

　　Ⅲ. A digitalized e-invoice must contain the following basic elements: invoice number, issue date, buyer and seller details, product/service description, specification, type, quantity, unit price, net amount, tax rate, tax amount, sub-total, grand total (including tax), remarks, and invoice issuer.

　　IV. The 20-digit digitalized e-invoice number is structured as follows: digits 1-2 indicate the year (last two digits), digits 3-4 indicate the regional code of the provincial tax authority where the invoice issuer is located, digit 5 indicates the issuance channel, and digits 6-20 serve as sequential serial numbers.

　　Ⅴ. The tax authority shall establish a nationwide unified electronic invoice service platform to provide free e-invoice issuance and application services. The tax authority may withhold its services on a temporary basis for taxpayers who are exempt from online tax filing, lack adequate internet access, or pose a material tax risk. The specific circumstances for such decisions will be stipulated by the provincial-level tax authorities.

　　Ⅵ. The tax authority shall, based on factors such as the taxpayer's tax risk level, tax credit rating, and actual business operations, allocate a comprehensive invoice limit via the e-invoice service platform, with dynamic adjustments on an ongoing basis. The total invoice quota refers to the upper limit of the total invoice issuance amount (excluding VAT) of a taxpayer in a natural month.

　　If a taxpayer needs to adjust the total invoice quota due to changes in its actual business operations, the adjustment shall be made upon confirmation by the competent tax authority.

　　Ⅶ. Pursuant to the relevant provisions of the Invoice Management Measures of the People's Republic of China and its Implementation Rules, the issuance of a digitalized e-invoice requires identity verification like real-name authentication.

　　Ⅷ. After the issuance of a blue-letter digitalized e-invoice, if any of the following circumstances occurs such as a sales return (in full or in part), an invoicing mistake, suspension of taxable services (in full or in part), or a sales allowance, a red-letter digitalized e-invoice shall be issued in accordance with the relevant provisions.

　　(1) If the blue-letter digitalized e-invoice has not been confirmed for usage or for accounting purposes, the invoice issuer shall initiate the red-issuance process by directly issuing a red-letter digitalized e-invoice. Regardless of e-invoices, including agricultural product purchase e-invoices, scrap product purchase e-invoices, photovoltaic purchase e-invoices, and the like, have been confirmed for usage or for accounting purposes, the invoice issuer shall initiate the red-issuance process by directly issuing red-letter digitalized e-invoices.

　　(2) If the blue-letter digitalized e-invoice has been confirmed for usage or for accounting purposes (export tax rebate selection and confirmation shall still follow the existing rules), the invoice issuer and recipient may initiate the red-issuance process. Upon the other party's confirmation of the Red -letter Invoice Information Confirmation Form (hereinafter "Confirmation Form", see Attachment 2), the invoice issuer shall issue the red-letter digitalized e-invoice. The Confirmation Form shall automatically become null and void if no confirmation is received within 72 hours from the time it is initiated. If the blue-letter digitalized e-invoice has already been selected and confirmed for export tax rebate purposes, the purchaser shall first perform a refund of the purchase voucher information and obtain confirmation thereof. Then, the invoice issuer shall initiate the red-issuance process by directly issuing a red-letter digitalized e-invoice.

　　Where the invoice recipient has applied the digitalized e-invoice to VAT input tax credit refund, it shall, on a temporary basis, transfer out the VAT amount from the Confirmation Form from its current input VAT. After obtaining the red-letter digitalized e-invoice issued by the invoice issuer, it shall be treated as an accounting voucher together with the Confirmation Form.

　　Ⅸ. The issued digitalized e-invoice shall be automatically delivered through the electronic invoice service platform. The invoice issuer may also provide the digitalized e-invoice to the invoice recipient by email, QR code, or by allowing download and printing. If the e-invoice is delivered via download and print, the face of the invoice shall automatically mark and display the "number of downloads" and "number of prints".

　　Ⅹ. If the invoice recipient has obtained a digitalized e-invoice and intends to use it for claiming VAT input tax credits, refined oil consumption tax deductions, or for applying for export tax rebates, agency-handled export rebates, or selecting refined oil inventory, the recipient shall confirm the purpose of the invoice through the digital tax account. In the event that the confirmation of purpose is erroneous, an application for amendment shall be submitted to the competent tax authority.

　　Ⅺ. Through their Digital Tax Account or the Individual Income Tax APP, entities and individuals can search, download, print, or export the digitalized e-invoices they have issued or received at no costs. The Digital Tax Account allows taxpayers to mark each digitalized e-invoice to indicate whether it has been posted to the accounting records. Taxpayers can verify the authenticity of their digitalized e-invoices for free via the E-Invoice Service Platform or the National VAT Invoice Verification Platform.

　　XII. This Announcement shall come into force on December 1, 2024.

　　Yours sincerely,

　　Annexes:

　　Annex 1. Specimen of Digitized Electronic Invoice

　　Annex 2. Red -letter Invoice Information Confirmation Form

　　State Taxation Administration

　　November 12, 2024