Three departments, including the State Taxation Administration (STA), have jointly issued the Announcement on the Promotion and Use of Fully Digitalized Electronic Invoices for Railway Passenger Transport (the "Announcement") recently, effective from November 1, 2024.
The Announcement specifies the basic content of electronic invoices (electronic railway passenger tickets), their numbering and coding rules, and the inquiry, verification, downloading, and usage by passengers and entities, among other matters. According to the Announcement, passengers may obtain, inquire about, download, and print the electronic invoices via the "Railway 12306" website or mobile app after completing their travel or paying the fees ticket refunds or rescheduling. Entities may both use their digital taxation accounts to inquire about, verify, download, print, and confirm the purpose of the electronic invoices, and verify the invoices through the National VAT Invoice Verification Platform. For entities that are general VAT taxpayers, electronic invoices may be used as VAT deduction certificates, and the input tax amount will be determined as per the existing regulations. A transition period for the full implementation of digitalized electronic invoices for railway passenger transport has been set, ending on September 30, 2025.
Source: chinatax.gov.cn