How to Spot a Fake Fapiao

Maybe it’s got something to do with the recent announcement that customers have the right to refuse to pay the bill if they're not given a fapiao, but anecdotal reports suggest that the number of fake fapiao circulating in the city has been on the rise this past month.

If, like that’s Beijing’s editorial staff, you’re one of those people who collect fapiao for reimbursement purposes or simply to off set your tax, here are a few tips on how to recognize a fake fapiao:

1. On the back of every fapiao there is normally a link to the tax department’s website (http://www.tax861.gov.cn) but on the fake fapiaos this is often abbreviated to simply tax861.

2. The quality of the fake fapiao paper is also noticeably poorer than that of the genuine ones.

3. Fake fapiaos are normally of the tear-off slip variety not the ones that have been printed out.

But if you want to be really sure, as of this month you can now check if a fapiao is fake or not by going to a special tax department website that has been set-up precisely for this purpose:

in the box marked 发票号码： enter the invoice code plus the invoice number, together they should add up to either 18 or 20 digits.

in the box marker 密码： enter the password – you'll have to scratch, it's normally 8 digits.

if it is a genuine fapiao you'll see this:

此发票为真发票.

if it's fake you'll see this:

此发票为假发票。请向当地税务机关举报

Links and Sources:
Official site for testing 发票 (Images)
Sina: 北京拟规定餐厅不给发票顾客有权拒绝付款
Sohu: 北京发现首张新版百元定额假发票 如何防假 (Image)
Qianlong: 机打税票下月执行“国标” 发票真伪可网上查询
that's Beijing: City Scene: Faux Pas