The Ministry of Finance ("MOF") has recently issued the Circular on Fully Promoting the Reform of the Administration of Electronic Financial Bills (the "Circular").
The Circular states that regions covered by the pilot program on electronic financial bills shall, on the basis of good practices summarized from this pilot reform, expand the reform of the administration of electronic financial bills to all units situated in the local region and subject all types of financial bills to this reform. Further, the Circular expressly states that a region or a department, previously not covered by the said pilot program on electronic financial bills, shall, as of the date this Circular is issued, work earnestly on planning the implementation of the reform in the administration of electronic financial bills within the local region or this department, for the purpose of fully promoting the reform in the administration of electronic financial bills. Furthermore, the Circular stipulates that, in principle, each region shall use the uniform electronic financial bill management system developed by the MOF, as required by the Plan for Steadily Promoting the Pilot Reform on the Administration of Electronic Financial Bills. To ensure the hassle-free implementation of the policy on additional special deductions for individual income tax, each region must complete the reform of the administration of electronic financial bills prior to January 31, 2019.