In brief
A fapiao (发票) is China's official invoice: a payment voucher issued through the State Taxation Administration's system, not a document the seller designs itself. Chinese companies need it to deduct input VAT (with a special VAT fapiao) and to deduct expenses for corporate income tax. The fully digitalized e-fapiao has applied nationwide since 1 December 2024, and only businesses or individuals registered with a Chinese tax bureau can issue one.
What is a fapiao?
The Invoice Administration Measures (发票管理办法), a State Council regulation last revised on 20 July 2023, define a fapiao as the payment voucher issued or received when goods are bought and sold, services are provided or other business is carried out (Article 3). Paper and electronic fapiao have the same legal force.
The format is not the seller's choice: the State Taxation Administration (STA) sets the types, content, coding rules and data standards (Article 5). For the fully digitalized e-fapiao, the national system assigns the number and the data flows automatically between the parties and the tax authority. Every business that pays for goods or services must obtain a fapiao (Article 19), and a non-compliant one cannot support an expense claim (Article 20).
Why does a fapiao matter for VAT and corporate income tax?
VAT. Under the VAT Law in force since 1 January 2026, a general taxpayer pays the VAT on its sales minus the VAT on its purchases, and may deduct input VAT only with a deduction voucher recognised by law (Articles 14 and 16). The implementing regulations list them: special VAT fapiao, customs import VAT payment certificates, tax payment certificates, agricultural product invoices and a few others (Article 11). A Chinese company buying goods in China at the standard 13% rate without a special VAT fapiao cannot offset that VAT.
Corporate income tax. Under STA Announcement 2018 No. 28, a fapiao is the deduction voucher for a VAT-taxable purchase from a registered taxpayer in China (Article 9). It must be obtained before the annual settlement ends (Article 6), that is within five months after the tax year under the settlement rules. A forged, falsely issued or badly completed fapiao is not valid (Article 12) and must be replaced by the seller before that deadline (Article 13).
Special VAT fapiao vs ordinary fapiao: what is the difference?
Both are increasingly issued as fully digitalized e-fapiao. The difference lies in what the buyer can do with them.
- Who asks for it
- Special VAT fapiao (增值税专用发票)A Chinese company registered as a VAT general taxpayer that wants to deduct input VAT
- Ordinary fapiao (普通发票)Individuals, small-scale taxpayers and any buyer that needs proof of payment or an expense voucher
- Input VAT deduction
- Special VAT fapiao (增值税专用发票)Yes: the VAT shown is deductible (VAT Regulations, Article 12)
- Ordinary fapiao (普通发票)Generally no, except categories listed by the tax authorities, such as toll-road electronic ordinary fapiao
- Who can issue it
- Special VAT fapiao (增值税专用发票)General taxpayers; small-scale taxpayers may self-issue since 1 February 2020 (STA Announcement 2019 No. 33)
- Ordinary fapiao (普通发票)Any business or person registered to use fapiao
- Restrictions
- Special VAT fapiao (增值税专用发票)Cannot be issued to an individual or for a VAT-exempt sale (VAT Regulations, Article 37)
- Ordinary fapiao (普通发票)Can be issued to companies and individuals
- Format
- Special VAT fapiao (增值税专用发票)Single-copy digital invoice, 20-digit number; amount and VAT shown separately (VAT Regulations, Article 5)
- Ordinary fapiao (普通发票)Single-copy digital invoice, 20-digit number, same basic fields
A small-scale taxpayer (annual taxable sales of RMB 5 million or less, VAT Law Article 9) normally uses the simplified method and deducts no input VAT, so the type matters mostly to general taxpayers. There is no deadline to deduct: for special VAT fapiao issued since 1 January 2017, the STA removed the time limit (Announcement 2019 No. 45).
What is the fully digitalized e-fapiao?
The fully digitalized e-fapiao (全面数字化的电子发票, or 数电发票) was piloted from 1 December 2021 in Guangdong, Shanghai and Inner Mongolia, then extended region by region. STA Announcement 2024 No. 11 made it official nationwide from 1 December 2024. What changed:
- Issuing is free on the national e-invoice service platform, after identity verification of the issuer.
- Each fapiao carries a 20-digit number: year, provincial tax bureau code, issuing channel, sequence number.
- The tax bureau sets a monthly ceiling on the total amount a taxpayer can invoice (excluding VAT), based on tax risk, credit rating and actual business, and adjusts it over time.
- When the buyer uses an e-fapiao for a deduction, such as input VAT, it confirms that use in its tax digital account.
- Errors and returns are corrected with a red-letter (credit) e-fapiao; once the original is booked or its use confirmed, the other party must confirm the correction within 72 hours or it lapses.
Where things stand on 3 November 2026
Paper fapiao remain legal: the VAT Law (Article 34) and the Invoice Administration Measures (Article 3) give paper and electronic fapiao the same force, while the State promotes electronic ones. Paper is being closed sector by sector: rail tickets sold through the national ticketing system have come with e-fapiao only since 1 October 2025, and STA Announcement 2026 No. 11 required fuel stations to issue an e-fapiao at the moment of each sale by 1 November 2026.
Who can issue a fapiao, and with what limits?
Only businesses and individuals registered in China can obtain fapiao. They apply to their tax bureau with their registration certificate, and the bureau confirms the types, quantities and method within 5 working days (Invoice Administration Measures, Article 15). A business that needs one only occasionally can ask the local tax bureau to issue it on its behalf (代开), after paying any tax due (Article 16). Beyond the monthly e-fapiao ceiling, the other limit is status: above RMB 5 million of annual taxable sales, the small-scale threshold set by VAT Law Article 9, a company must register as a general taxpayer (VAT Regulations, Article 36).
How do you check that a fapiao is genuine?
The STA runs a free National VAT Invoice Verification Platform, which also covers e-fapiao (Announcement 2024 No. 11, item 11). A genuine number is not enough:
- Enter the fapiao on the platform.
- Compare the seller's name and taxpayer number with the contract and the account you pay.
- Check that description, quantity and amount match the real delivery: a fapiao that does not reflect the actual transaction is a false fapiao (Article 21), even if the platform shows it as valid.
What are the penalties for false or fake fapiao?
False issuing (虚开) means issuing, requesting or arranging a fapiao that does not match the real business (Invoice Administration Measures, Article 21). The tax bureau confiscates illegal gains and may fine up to RMB 50,000 when the false amount is RMB 10,000 or less, and RMB 50,000 to 500,000 above that (Article 35). Forging fapiao, or receiving or using forged ones when one knew or should have known, is fined RMB 10,000 to 50,000, or RMB 50,000 to 500,000 in serious cases (Articles 36 and 37).
Above a threshold, the case becomes criminal. Under the 2024 interpretation of the Supreme People's Court and Supreme People's Procuratorate, falsely issuing special VAT fapiao is prosecuted under Article 205 of the Criminal Law once the tax involved reaches RMB 100,000; RMB 500,000 and RMB 5 million open the heavier sentencing brackets (Article 11).
What did China's 2026 VAT Law change for fapiao?
The VAT Law, adopted on 25 December 2024, replaced the 1993 Provisional Regulations on 1 January 2026, together with its implementing regulations (State Council Decree No. 826). For fapiao, the texts mostly write existing practice into law:
- Issuing a fapiao before payment makes the VAT due on the day of issue (VAT Law, Article 28).
- Deduction vouchers are listed in a State Council regulation (Articles 11 and 12).
- A special VAT fapiao must show the amount and the VAT separately, and cannot be issued to an individual or for an exempt sale (Articles 5 and 37).
- Without a cancellation or a red-letter special fapiao, a seller cannot reduce its output VAT after an error, discount or return (Article 38).
Can a foreign company issue a fapiao?
No. A company with no registration in China has no access to the fapiao system (Invoice Administration Measures, Article 15). Cross-border sales still work, because the Chinese buyer uses other vouchers:
- Goods shipped from abroad: the importer pays import VAT to customs and deducts it with the customs payment certificate (VAT Regulations, Article 12).
- Services sold from abroad and taxable in China: the Chinese buyer withholds the VAT (VAT Law, Article 15) and deducts it with the tax payment certificate.
- Corporate income tax: the foreign seller's invoice is accepted for purchases from abroad (Announcement 2018 No. 28, Article 11).
The fapiao becomes unavoidable once you sell inside China: local stock, sales to Chinese distributors or retailers, services invoiced locally. A distributor buying locally expects a special VAT fapiao, since without it the VAT is not deductible, and without any fapiao the cost is not deductible either, in principle. Issuing one requires a Chinese company registered with the tax bureau, usually a wholly foreign-owned enterprise (WFOE). See our guide on how to set up a company in China or Vyrion's business setup service in Guangzhou.
After that, every fapiao feeds the VAT return and the annual settlement, so invoicing and bookkeeping go together. The China tax system guide covers rates and filing periods, and Vyrion's corporate operations service coordinates accounting and tax filings. To check what your own sales flow requires, contact our team.