Page 61 - Doing Business in China

ACCOUNTING

SPECIAL VAT INVOICE PURCHASING AND UPGRADING PROCEDURES

Who can purchase special VAT invoices?
Only general VAT taxpayers can purchase special VAT invoices and companies should note the steps below to
obtain the general VAT taxpayer certificate:

(1) Submit application forms with the company’s U-key through the STA website
(2) Normally, STA verifies and approves application within three working days

The company can check the STA website to find out if its application is successful�

How to purchase special VAT invoices?
The company’s appointee for handling tax affairs should complete verification of the types of VAT invoices through
the STA website� Normally, the company can check the verification results through the STA website within three
working days�

Once verification is complete, the tax authorities will provide a golden tax disk to the company� Thereafter, the
appointee for handling tax affairs can apply for VAT invoices from STA�

Upgrading the special VAT invoice version
Special VAT invoice version upgrading rules
The upper limit amount of the original VAT invoice version is RMB 9,999�99 per invoice (excluding output VAT)�
And the upper limit issuance quantity is 50 VAT invoices a month� That means the company can only issue RMB
500,000 worth of invoices a month� Typically, if a company’s monthly sales total is more than RMB 500,000, the
company may apply to upgrade its special VAT invoice version� There are two kinds of upgrading—temporary and
permanent� And the different versions of special VAT invoices are listed as follows:
▪ RMB 9,999�99 (Original Version 10K)

▪ RMB 99,999�99 (Version 100K)
▪ RMB 999,999�99 (Version 1M)

▪ RMB 9,999,999�99 (Version 10M)
▪ RMB 99,999,999�99 (Version 100M)

Temporary upgrading
A company may apply for a temporary
upgrading of its special VAT invoice
upper limit amount where the
upgraded limit is effective for 10 days
only� For example, a company whose
original special VAT invoice upper limit
amount is RMB 9,999�99 may apply for
a temporary special VAT invoice with an
upper limit of RMB 99,999,999�99 if its
contract amount is above its original
special VAT invoice upper limit�

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