No. General taxpayers’ catering invoices cannot be deducted. Catering invoices are special invoices for the catering industry. Invoice refers to the written proof of receipt and payment provided by all units and individuals to the other party when purchasing and selling goods, providing labor services or accepting labor services, and engaging in other business activities. It is the legal voucher for financial revenue and expenditure and the original basis for accounting. It is also an important basis for law enforcement inspections by audit agencies and tax authorities. Catering invoices cannot be deducted for VAT, and the catering industry cannot issue special VAT invoices. Even if it is issued, the payee cannot deduct VAT, because the catering industry is for personal consumption, and the purpose is very clear. According to the relevant regulations on value-added tax, tax deduction is not allowed for personal consumption. Even if it is deducted, the input tax must be transferred out. Catering services in the catering industry fall within the scope of catering services covered by the tax-to-VAT reform, and are also catering and accommodation services under the category of life services. According to regulations, they are items where input tax cannot be deducted from output tax. If the restaurant has other concurrent businesses, such as accommodation, which are accounted for separately, the accommodation invoice can be deducted.

What is VAT deduction?

VAT invoice deduction refers to the deduction of VAT input tax allowed when calculating VAT. Input tax refers to the VAT paid or borne by taxpayers when purchasing goods or taxable services. In accordance with relevant VAT regulations, VAT invoices are used to deduct the VAT input tax, that is, special VAT invoices are used to deduct the VAT input tax. Special value-added tax invoices need to be certified within 180 days. Financial personnel need to log in to the online certification platform, select the invoices that need certification, and then they can be deducted after completing the certification. Only certified special VAT invoices can deduct input tax.

To sum up, special VAT invoices issued directly by general taxpayers can be certified as deducting 17%. (Note that not all products are 17%. Different taxable products have different tax rates. Some products in the country adopt low tax rates. The specific tax rate is shown on the invoice).

Legal basis:

Article 43 of the "Enterprise Income Tax Law of the People's Republic of China"

Enterprises submit annual corporate income tax to the tax authorities When filing a tax return, an annual related-party business transaction report form should be attached with respect to its business transactions with related parties.

When the tax authorities conduct related-party business investigations, enterprises and their related parties, as well as other companies related to the related-party business investigation, shall provide relevant information in accordance with regulations.