增值税专用发票使用规定

Provisions for special VAT invoices used


The < Provvisons for the Use of Special Invoices o
-f Value-Added Tax > (hereinafter referred to as "
the Provisions") are formulated by the State Admin
istration of Taxation to tighten control over the
use of special invoices of Value-Added Tax (herein
-after referred to as "special invoices") and to e
-nsure the successful implementation of the Value-
Added Tax crediting system based on the amount of
tax specified on invoices. Copies of the Provision
-s are hereby sent to you with the following notic
-e on the pertinent questions:

1.Special invoices are not only important commerci
-al papers in taxpayers' business activities, but
also legal certificates on which both the seller's
tax obligation and the amount of input tax for pu
rchasers are recorded , with a decisive role in th
e computation and administration of Value-Added Ta
-x. Leading comrades of the State Council have giv
en instructions that the way to administer special
invoices should be the sale as for bank notes. As
such, tax authorities at all levels in various pla
ces must pay great attention to the use and admini
stration of special invoices, endeavor to gain the
support of government leaders at various levels a
nd assistance from the financial, banking, auditin
g, administration for industry and commerce, publi
c security, public prosecution and administer stri
ctly in accordance with the provisions for the use
of special invoices.

2.Starting from January 1, 1994, general taxpayers
selling goods or taxable services must issue spec
ial invoices in accordance with the Provisions. In
case where special invoices are needed but not iss
ued and ordinary invoices are still used, purchase
rs would not be allowed to claim any credit on inp
ut tax.

Ordinary invoices issued in the previous year rece
ived by general taxpayers can be used as tax-credi
ting certificates only before January 31. For thos
e that cannot be used as certificates for creditin
g the input tax of the current period, the input t
ax which are separated from start -of-period inven
tory, may be readjusted upward in accordance with
provisions of the pertinent policy.

3.Those which violate the Provisions for the Use o
f Special Invoices shall be dealt with in accordan
-ce with the provisions for relevant penalties pre
scribed in the < Measures of the People's Republic
of China for the Control of Invoices > and the <
Law of the People's Republic of China for Tax Coll
ection and Administration>.

4.If any problems are found in the implementation
of the < Provisions for the Use of Special Imvoice
s of Value-Added Tax>, please report them to the S
-tate Administration of Taxation promptly. Local g
overnments or departments should not alter these P
-rovisions at will in the course of their implemen
-tation and shall abide to implement accordingly.

Article 1
Special invoices of Value-Added Tax (herenafter re
-ferred to as "speial invoices") shall be obtained
, bought and used only by general taxpayers that p
-ay Value-Added Tax, and not by small-scale taxpay
-ers or non-Value-Added-Tax taxpayers.

Article 2
General taxpayers shall not obtain, buy or use spe
cial invoices in any one of the following cases:

(1)The accounting system is unsound, i. e., it can
-not accurately compute the output tax, input tax
and the amount of Value-Added Tax payable as requi
red under the accounting regulations and by tax au
-thorities;

(2)Accurate information for the output tax, input
tax, the amount of Value-Added Tax payable and oth
-er information relating to Value-Added Tax cannot
be provided to tax authorities.

The content of "other information relating to Valu
-e-Added Tax" mentioned above shall be defined by
the taxation bureaux which are directly under the
State Administration of Taxation;

(3)Engagement in the following activities and fail
ure to correct itself within the time limit prescr
ibed by tax authorities:

a. Printing special invoices without authorization
;
b. Buying special invoices from individual persons
or units other than tax authorities;
c. Using special invoices borrowed from others;
d. Providing special invoices for use by others;
e. Failing to issue special invoices in accordance
with the requirements as prescribed in Article 5
of the Provisions:
f. Failing to priserve special invoices in accorda
nce with the requiremints under the Provisions;
g. Failing to file the information on the status o
f the purchase, use and inventory of special invoi
ces as prescribed in Article 16 of the Provisions;
h. Failing to accept inspection by tax authorities
according to the requirements under the Provision
s.
(4)Sale of goods which fall within the tax exempt
items.
If any of the aforesaid cases occur with a general
taxpayer that has obtained, bought and used specia
l invoices, the tax authorities shall take away th
-e special invoices retained by that taxpayers.

Article 3
Except for the circumstances specified in Article
4 of these Provisions, general taxpayer selling go
-ods (including those regarded as selling goods),
taxable services, or non-taxable services on which
Value-Added Tax shall be levied as prescribed in t
he Detailed Rules for the Implementation of Value
-Added Tax (hereinafter referred to as "selling ta
xable items") must issue special invoices to purch
asers.

Article 4
Special invoices cannot be issued in the following
circumstances:

(1)Selling taxable items to consumers;

(2)Selling tax exempt items;

(3)Selling goods that have been declared export at
the customs office or selling taxable services ab
-road;

(4)Using goods on items not subject to Value-Added
Tax ;

(5)Using goods on group welfare or for persomal co
nsumption;

(6)Presenting goods as gifts to others without a c
onsideration; or

(7)Providing non-taxable services (except services
on which Value-Added Tax shall be levied ),transf
erring intangible assets, or selling immovable pro
perty.

Taxable items can be sold to small-scale taxpayers
without issuing special invoices.

Article 5
Special invoices must be issued in accordance with
the following requirements:

(1)The writing must be legible;

(2)There shall be no alteration;

If a special invoice is filled out incorrectly, it
should be affixed with the words "canceled for mi
stakes" and a new special invoice would be issued,
If a special invoice that has been issued and bec
omes invails as a result of not being claimed by t
he purchasers, it shall also be handled as if the
invoice is filled out incorrectly.

(3)All the items should be filled in;

(4)The special invoice and the goods must tally
with each other, the amount specified on the speci
al invoice and the amount of money collected must
tally with each other;

(5)The content of all items are correct;

(6)All copies of the invoice shall be filled out a
t one time and the content and amount on all copie
s shall be consistent;

(7)The "invoice copy" and the "credit copy" shall
be affixed with the special stamp for use by the f
inancial department or for use in invoices;

(8)Special invoices must be issued at the time pre
scribed in Article 6 of the Provisions;

(9)Counterfeit special invoices shall not be issue
d ;

(10)Special invoices detached from invoice books s
hall not be used; and

(11)Special invoices that do not conform with the
forms produced on an unified basis by the State A
dministration of Taxation shall not be used.

Any special invoeces that do not conform with the
aforesaid requirements will not be used as tax-cre
diting certificates and purchasers shall have the
right not to accept them.

Article
The time limit for issuance of special invoies is
special invoices is prescribed as follows:

(1)If accounts are settled by the methods of advan
ce, or by authorizing banks to collect payments ,
it is the day when the goods are despatched;

(2)If accounts are settled by the method of paymin
t on delivery , it shall be the day when the payme
nt is received;

(3)If the accounts are settled by the mithods of c
redit sales or hire purchase , it is the day of co
llection prescribed in contracts;

(4)If goods are sold through consignment agents, i
t is the day when the bille of consignment sales a
re received from consignee;

(5)For the transfer of goods from one establishmen
t to another for sale by a taxpayer who maintains
two jor more establishments and keeps their accoun
ts on a consolidated basis, if Value-Added Tax sha
ll be levied on such goods according to the provis
ions, it is the day when the goods are transferred
;

(6)For goods provided to other units or individual
business operators in the form of investment, it
is the day when the goods are transferred; or

(7)For goods distributed to shareholders, it is th
e day when the goods are transferred.

General taxpayers must issue special invoices at t
he prescribed time , neither earlier nor later.

Article 7
Special invoices are basically in quadruplicate ,a
s stipulated on a unified basis, and each copy sha
ll be used on accordance with the following provis
ions:

(1)The first copy is the "stub copy," which is kep
t by the seller for reference ;

(2)The second copy is the "invoice copy," which is
used by the purchaser as payment record for bookk
eeping ;

(3)The third copy is the "credit copy," which is u
sed by the purchaser as a certificate for claiming
input tax credit; and

(4)The fourth copy is the "bookkeeping copy," whic
h is used by the seller as sales record for bookke
eping .

Article 8
Except for the purchase of tax-exempt agricural pr
oducts and import of goods , th input tax on purch
asing of taxable items shall not be coedited again
st the output tax in any one of the following circ
umstances:

(1)Failing to obtain special invoices as stipulate
d ;

(2)Failing to preserve special invoices as stipula
ted ; or

(3)The special invoices issued by sellers do not c
onform with the requirements prescoibed in paragr
aphs (1) to (9) and Paragraph (11) of Article 5 of
the Provisions.

Article 9
"Failing to obtain special invoices as stipulated"
mintioned on Article in Article 8 of the Provision
s refers to one of the following circumstances:

(1)Failing to obtain special invoices from sellers
;or

(2)Obtaining only the "bookkeeping copy" or obtain
ing only the credit copy.

Article 10
"Failing to preserve special invoices as stipulate
d " mentioned in Articles 2 and 8 of the Provision
s refers to one of the following circumstances:

(1)Failing to institute a special invoices control
system as required by tax authorities;

(2)Failing to assign a special person to safe-keep
special invoices as required by tax authorities;

(3)Failing to assign a special person place for th
e safe-keeping of special invoices as required by
tax authorities;

(4)Failing to bind "credit copies" into booklets a
s required by tax authorities;

(5)Unauthorezed destruction of the basic copies of
special invoices that have not been checked or ex
amined by tax authorities;

)6)Loss of the special invoices;

(7)Damaging (or tearing apart ) special invoices;
or

(8)Failing to meet other requirements for the pres
ervation of special invoices specified by the Stat
e Administration of Taxation or taxation bureaux w
hich are directly under it.

Article 11
If input tax on the purchase of taxable items has
already been credited with the output tax in any o
f the cases mintioned on Article 8 of the Provisio
ns, the credited amount shall be deducted from the
input tax on purchases in the period when the cir
cumstances are discovered by tax authorities.

Article 12
If , after goods have been sold and special invoic
es have been issued to a purchaser, the goods are
returned or having a discount allowed, they shall
be dealt with on the merits of each case and in ac
cordance with the following provisions:

In case when the purchaser has neither paid for th
e goods nor booked them in the accunts , he or she
should take the initative to riturn the original
"invoice copy" and "credit copy" to the seller. Af
-ter receiving these copies, the seller should wri
te the word "cancelled " on them and on the relate
d "stub copy" and "bookkeeping copy," which may be
used as certificates for deducting the output tax
of the current period. Before the seller receives
the special invoices riturned by a purchaser, he
or she cannot deduct the output tax of the current
period. In case of discount allowed, the seller s
hall issue special invoices anew on the basis of t
he discounted prices.

If a purchaser has paid for the goods or though th
e goods have not yet been paid but have been booke
d in the accounts, the purchaser cannot return the
"invoice copy" and "credit copy" , he or she must
secure a "goods returned" or "discount claimed" ce
rtificate (hereinafter referred to as the "certifi
cate") issued by local competent tax authorities a
nd send it to seller, so that the latter may use i
t as the legal certificates for issuing a red-lett
er special invoice, Before receiving the certifica
te, the seller may not issue any red-letter specia
l invoice. Having received the certificate, the se
ller shall issue a red -letter special invoice to
the purchaser in accordance with the amount and pr
ices of goods returned or the amount of money disc
ounted. The "stub copy " and "bookkeeping copy" of
the red-letter special invoice can be used by the
seller as certificates for deducting the output t
ax on sales of the current period, while the "invo
ice copy" and "credit copy" can be used by the pur
chaser as certificates for deducting the input tax
.
After receiving the red-letter special invoice, th
e purchaser should deduct the amount of Value-Adde
d Tax specified on that invoice from the input tax
of the current period . Any default or decrease o
f tax payment resulting from failure to make such
deduction shall be regarded as tax evasion.

Article 13
Taxpayers that use electronic compyters in issuing
special invoices must apply to the tax authoritie
s for approval and the use of non-computer-printed
invoices produced under the control and supervisi
on of the tax authorities.

Article 14
Generally taxpayers that meet the following condit
ions may apply to the tax authorities for the use
of electronic in issuing special invoices:

(1)Have specialized electronic computer techicians
and operators;

(2)Have the capacity and capability of issuing spe
cial invoices and printing out monthly reports of
purchases , sales and inventories through electron
ic computers; and

(3)Can meet other conditions prescribed by taxatio
n bureaux which are directly under the State Admin
istration of Taxation.

Article 15
Applicants for the use of electronic cmputers must
file their applications with the tax authorities
alongside the following information:

(1)An analog sample produced by electronic compute
r based on the form of special invoices (non-compu
ter-printed invoices);

(2)The reports of purchases, sales and inventories
of the latest month, which is in accordance with
the accounting operation procedures, produced by e
lectronic computer.

(3)The configuration of electronic computer equipm
int ;

(4)Information about the specialized electronic co
mputer technicians and operators; and

(5)Other information requested by the taxation bur
eaux which are directly under the State Administra
tion of Taxation.

Article 16
Users of special invoices must truthfully record i
nformation on purchase and use (including cancelle
d) of invoices and any invoices left unused in the
date columns appended to the < Value-Added Tax Re
turns> every month.

Article 17
The "goods returned" or "discount claimed" certifi
cate is basically in triplicate: the fires copy is
"stub copy", which shall be kept by tax authoritie
s for records; the second copy is "certificate cop
y", which the purchaser should send it to the sell
er and is to be used as the legal certificates for
issuing red-letter special invoeces; the third co
py shall be retained by the purchaser.

Certificates must be issued by tax authorities and
affixed with the stamp of the tax authorities;
certificates cannot be given to the taxpayers for
the issuance of the certificates by themselves.

Certificates shall be printed in accorcance with t
he < Measures of the People's Republic of China fo
r the control of Invoices> and the relevant provis
ions of the Detailed Rules and Regulations.

General taxpayers shall bind the certificate recei
ved into booklets as required by the tax authoriti
es and keep them in accordance with the relevant p
rovisions of the Detailed Rules and Regulations.

General taxpayers shall bind th ecertificate into
booklets as required by the tax authorities and ke
ep them in accordance with the relevant certifica
te preservation provisions.

Article 18
The forms of special invoices and the format of "g
oods returned claimed" certificates shall be drawn
up by the State Administration of Taxation on a un
-ified basis . They shall not be altered by other
organizations or taxpayers without authorization.

Article 19
"Tax authorities" and "competent tax authoritied"
mintioned in the Provisions refer to the State Adm
inistration of Taxation and the tax-collecting aut
horities that are one level above of the taxation
bureaux which are directly under the State Adminis
tration of Taxation.

Article 20
Provisions shall come into effetc on January 1, 19
94.