Mobile apps provide relief from headache of China’s new VAT codes
New 18-digit tax code can be saved and shared at the click of a phone camera thanks to new services rolled out by mainland internet giants
Accurately reproducing an 18-digit number is a tricky business. Mistakes can easily be made.
That’s why tech-savvy consumers and merchants in mainland China are turning to mobile apps like WeChat and Alipay to ease the pain caused by a complicated new procedure for claiming tax deductible expenses.
It follows a recent tightening of the process for claiming reimbursement of corporate expenses as Beijing steps up its oversight of revenue collection to plug loopholes that could potentially cost the state.
Since July 1, employees who want to obtain an invoice to prove the amount of money, including value-added tax (VAT), paid for things like meals, stationery and office equipment must provide an 18-digit corporate tax series code to the merchant in question.
Fortunately help is on hand from some of China’s biggest technology companies who have made it possible to save and share the confusing numerical sequence by simply scanning a QR code on their smartphone cameras.
