In Western countries, there are receipts and more receipts. In China there is a receipt and there is a “Fapiao” — a legally recognized receipt used mainly for tax filing. Electronic fapiaos are nothing new, but in the southern city of Shenzhen, a new breed of fapiao has been officially announced — the Blockchain receipt.

Here we are offering some insight and analysis into the content of this announcement, wistfully named “Implementation of Blockchain Receipts by Shenzhen Municipal Tax Bureau and State Administration of Taxation.”

Background

As part of the State Administration’s overall policy to optimize the business environment and relinquish centralized control to meet the needs of advances toward modernization and market economy, a goal for building up smart tax systems has been set, which will be built up around Blockchain Receipts.

The Uses and Significance of Blockchain Receipts

Blockchain receipts are basically an “Internet + Tax” two-in-one system, and are helping to make the all-new “Innovation+” tax modernization system more than just a theory. Blockchain technology allows for total traceability and protection against tampering with records. This goes hand in hand with the needs of issuing receipts — no ability to produce fake receipts, and improving their oversight. It’s a neat solution to many existing problems in the current system of tax receipts.

The Extent of the Blockchain Receipt Trial

The new system has been gradually introduced and implemented within the entire city limits of Shenzhen. So far, it has been pushed more in industries such as restaurants, car parks, small retailers, repair shops and other SMEs. Over time this list will grow and more industries will become part of the trial.

Notes on using the Blockchain Receipt

Blockchain receipts may represent great steps forward in technology, but, in reality, they bare many hallmarks of the traditional ones. They can be printed onto paper, and are recognized, regulated and used in the same way as the ones we know now.

Taxpayers involved in the pilot scheme need to establish solid internal management systems to properly protect recipients’ identities and ensure the authenticity and security of the “fapiao”. Companies and individuals receiving these Blockchain receipts are to verify them with the Shenzhen Tax Administration website, where any failing to meet the requirements could be rejected.

Tencent offered a less generous comparison of the old and new system, highlighting the night-and-day difference in efficiency. Compared with the constant cycle of submitting, waiting, submitting, waiting of the traditional “fapiao”, a Blockchain “fapiao” is a simple matter of click, submit and watch. Their conclusion is stark – with a Blockchain “fapiao”, one click and your reimbursement receipt is done. What’s more, all data is secure, traceable, and unable to be tampered with. In short, it is the future of receipts.