To implement arrangements of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, further optimize tax business environment, deepen the "streamline administration, delegate power, strengthen regulation and improve service" reform in the taxation system and make it convenient for taxpayers to issue and use VAT invoices, matters concerned are announced as follows:

I. The State Taxation Administration has upgraded the VAT invoice selection and confirmation platform to the VAT invoice comprehensive service platform, offering taxpayers services like invoice purpose confirmation, risk hint and information download. After receiving special VAT invoices, uniform invoices for motor vehicle sales and general electronic invoices for toll VAT for toll roads, if needing to use them to report the deduction of VAT input tax or apply for export rebates or handling rebates via a proxy, taxpayers should confirm the invoice purposes on the VAT invoice comprehensive service platform. The login address of the platform is to be determined and released by provincial (autonomous regions, municipalities directly under the central government and cities under separate state planning) tax services under the State Taxation Administration ("provincial tax services").

Taxpayers should report deduction of VAT input tax or apply for export rebates and handling rebates via a proxy according to the confirmation result. A taxpayer who want to re-use invoices for which deduction is already reported for export rebates or handling rebates via a proxy, should apply to the competent tax authority, which is to verify and make adjustment accordingly. If taxpayers need to re-use invoices for which the purpose is already confirmed as applying for export rebates or handling rebates via a proxy to apply deduction, they should apply to the competent tax authority. The authority is to verify that such invoices haven't been used for reporting export rebates, and return the electronic information of the invoices. Then the taxpayers would adjust the purpose.

II. The general electronic VAT invoices (see the attachment) received by taxpayers from the public service platform for VAT electronic invoice are invoices made under the supervision of the tax authority. It, with an electronic signature in lieu of the special seal for the invoice, has the same legal effect, basic purposes, basic use regulations, etc., as the general VAT invoices.

The format of the electronic general VAT invoice format documents is OFD. Entities and individuals could visit https://inv-veri.chinatax.gov.cn to download the reader for electronic general VAT invoice format documents for viewing the invoices.

III. The competent tax authority should immediately process upon receiving the type confirmation application by taxpayers for general VAT invoices, electronic general VAT invoices, general electronic invoices for toll VAT for toll roads, uniform invoices for motor vehicle sales and uniform invoices for used car sales, except for matters of high risk determined by the tax authorities according to regulations.

IV. If a taxpayer lost both the invoice slip and deduction slip of a special VAT invoice or uniform invoice for motor vehicle sales, a copy of the invoice accounting slip affixed with the special invoice seal of the seller could be the deduction voucher, rebate voucher or accounting voucher for VAT input tax.

If a taxpayer lost the deduction slip of a special VAT invoice or uniform invoice for motor vehicle sales, a copy of the invoice slip of the very invoice could be the deduction voucher or rebate voucher for VAT input tax. If a taxpayer lost the invoice slip of a special VAT invoice or uniform invoice for motor vehicle sales, a copy of the deduction slip of the very invoice could be the accounting voucher.

V. This Announcement shall come into force on the date of promulgation. Article 3 of the Announcement of the State Taxation Administration on Simplifying the VAT Invoice Receiving and Using Procedures (amended by 2014 No.19 Announcement and 2018 No.31 Announcement of the State Taxation Administration) shall be abolished at the same time.

It is hereby notified.

State Taxation Administration

January 8, 2020