Zhejiang Discontinues Provincial Invoices in Favour of Fully Digitalized E-Invoices

• Phase-out timeline confirmed: The State Taxation Administration’s Zhejiang Provincial Tax Service issued Announcement No. 2 (2026), dated 2 April 2026, confirming that “province-managed invoices” (省管发票) — invoices supervised and printed by the Zhejiang provincial and municipal tax bureaus — will be fully discontinued. From 30 April 2026, tax authorities stopped accepting applications for issuance and printing quotas; from 30 June 2026, taxpayers can no longer issue these invoices at all, though previously issued invoices remain valid. [zhejiang.c…tax.gov.cn]
• Full replacement by digital invoices: Province-managed invoices are being uniformly replaced by China’s “fully digitalized electronic invoices” (数电发票, e-fapiao), which must be issued through the nationally unified standardized Electronic Tax Bureau (Zhejiang) or the Lehui (乐企) platform, and can be verified via the national VAT invoice verification platform or the Zhejiang Electronic Tax Bureau. [zhejiang.c…tax.gov.cn]
• Clean-up deadline for legacy stock: Taxpayers must complete verification and cancellation (“验旧、缴销”) of any remaining paper province-managed invoices with their competent tax authority by 31 December 2026. If a red-letter (credit) invoice is needed for an already-issued province-managed invoice, current invoice management rules apply, and any re-issuance must be done via a digital invoice. [zhejiang.c…tax.gov.cn]

Extended Article

1. Background

Since December 2024, China has been rolling out “fully digitalized electronic invoices” (数电发票, commonly referred to as e-fapiao) nationwide, replacing the country’s legacy paper and VAT-controlled invoice system administered under the Golden Tax framework. The reform is designed to simplify invoice issuance (taxpayers no longer need dedicated tax-control hardware), streamline delivery and verification through a single national platform, and enable near real-time data exchange between taxpayers and tax authorities. The regime gained further legal weight on 1 January 2026, when the implementing regulations under China’s new VAT Law entered into force, cementing e-fapiao as the country’s primary statutory invoice format under the so-called Golden Tax Phase IV system. [english.www.gov.cn], [edicomgroup.com] [chinatax.gov.cn] [edicomgroup.com], [vatupdate.com]

1.1. Zhejiang’s Announcement No. 2 (2026)

Within this broader national push, provincial and municipal tax bureaus are now progressively withdrawing legacy invoice types that pre-date the digital rollout. On 2 April 2026, the Zhejiang Provincial Tax Service (国家税务总局浙江省税务局) published Announcement 通告〔2026〕2号, formally discontinuing “province-managed invoices” — i.e., invoices supervised and printed by the Zhejiang provincial tax authority and its municipal branches. Read the original announcement [zhejiang.c…tax.gov.cn]

2. Key Dates and Obligations

2.1. 30 April 2026 – End of Supply As of this date, Zhejiang tax authorities no longer accept applications for the collection or printing quotas of province-managed invoice types; supply of these invoices has been fully halted. [zhejiang.c…tax.gov.cn]

2.2. 30 June 2026 – End of Issuance From this date, taxpayers across the province may no longer issue province-managed invoices, including any remaining blank stock. Invoices issued before this cut-off date remain fully valid and unaffected. [zhejiang.c…tax.gov.cn]

2.3. 31 December 2026 – Verification and Cancellation Deadline All Zhejiang taxpayers must, by this date, complete the formal “old-invoice verification and cancellation” (验旧、缴销) procedure with their competent tax authority for any remaining province-managed invoice stock. Where a previously issued province-managed invoice needs to be voided via a red-letter (credit) invoice, the existing invoice management rules continue to apply — but if a replacement invoice is subsequently required, it must be issued as a digital invoice, not another province-managed invoice. [zhejiang.c…tax.gov.cn]

3. Replacement Mechanism

Province-managed invoices are uniformly replaced by fully digitalized electronic invoices, issued through either:

• The nationally unified, standardized Electronic Tax Bureau (Zhejiang) platform, or
• The Lehui (乐企) platform — an API-based service allowing businesses to integrate invoicing directly into their own ERP/finance systems. [zhejiang.c…tax.gov.cn], [linkedin.com]

Verification of issued digital invoices can be performed via the National VAT Invoice Verification Platform operated by the State Taxation Administration, or directly via the Zhejiang Electronic Tax Bureau. [zhejiang.c…tax.gov.cn]

4. Wider National Context

Zhejiang’s move is not an isolated local measure but part of a broader, accelerating national trend. According to Thomson Reuters’ regulatory tracker, several Chinese regions have discontinued legacy paper and locally-supervised invoices in 2026, generally barring further issuance after 30 June 2026 while preserving the validity of invoices issued before that date. Dalian, for example, announced on 1 June 2026 that certain municipally-supervised invoices would be discontinued and replaced by digital invoices effective 1 July 2026. [vatupdate.com]

This regional phase-out builds on the nationwide rollout of fully digital e-fapiao completed in December 2024 and the entry into force of China’s new VAT Law implementing regulations on 1 January 2026, under which the digital invoice holds statutory standing as the legally authoritative invoice format. Academic research using a staggered difference-in-differences approach has found that the e-invoicing reform has already measurably improved firms’ effective tax rates (by an average of 0.91 percentage points), driven by tighter matching of reported revenues and costs — with the compliance effect most pronounced among non-state-owned enterprises and firms in regions with historically lower tax enforcement capacity. [english.www.gov.cn] [vatupdate.com] [journals.plos.org]

5. Practical Implications

• Timing: Businesses invoicing in Zhejiang should confirm internally that no province-managed invoices are being issued after 30 June 2026, and that all finance/AP teams are aware of the 31 December 2026 stock verification and cancellation deadline. [zhejiang.c…tax.gov.cn]
• System readiness: Entities not yet connected to the Electronic Tax Bureau (Zhejiang) or the Lehui platform should prioritize onboarding, given that digital invoices are now the sole route for issuance going forward. [zhejiang.c…tax.gov.cn], [linkedin.com]
• Credit notes on legacy invoices: Any correction (red-letter reversal) of a province-managed invoice issued before the cut-off remains subject to existing rules, but a fresh invoice, if needed, must be a digital invoice — relevant for AP/AR reconciliation processes still referencing legacy invoice numbers. [zhejiang.c…tax.gov.cn]
• Broader compliance monitoring: This reflects China’s continued shift from record-keeping to continuous, real-time transaction monitoring (the “Four Flows” mechanism cross-matching contracts, invoices, funds and logistics under Golden Tax Phase IV), a trend relevant for any multinational with Chinese entities or branches. [vatupdate.com]

Sources: Zhejiang Provincial Tax Service Announcement 通告〔2026〕2号; Thomson Reuters – China accelerates transition to fully digitalized e-invoices; VATupdate.com – Regional Phase-Outs of Paper Invoices Accelerate Digital Invoicing [zhejiang.c…tax.gov.cn] [vatupdate.com], [europe.tho…euters.com] [vatupdate.com]