what are they selling outside xizhimen subway station?

[etcetera24]

Whenever I switch between line 13 and line 2 at xizhimen subway station in Beijing, there are always people asking "要发票?" in the outside area between the two line stations.

I understand 发票 to mean "receipt" which in turn means that they are selling receipts?? This doesn't make sense to me - I think I definitely lost something in translation.

What are the people selling or trying to get when they ask 要发票?

谢谢!

[roddy]

Receipts, pure and simple. And once you've got the receipts you can use them to claim expenses from your company, or offset the amount against tax, or in some other nefarious way use them to your advantage.

A while ago there was a bunch of people arrested for controlling the trade in fake receipts there. Guess they need to arrest someone again.

Roddy

[gato]

Take a look at this article. They are apparently selling two kinds of receipts. One kind is for cheating the value-added tax system, the other allows the customers to cheat the income tax system by claiming extra expenses. Both are illegal, of course, but somehow this still goes on in public in many places in Beijing..

http://finance.qianlong.com/26/2004/12/01/1100@2399723.htm

暗访:黑发票岁末成抢手货 卖发票如同卖报纸

一小时能接四五单生意，其中不乏团购业务

http://www.qianlong.com/ 　 2004-12-01 08:13:05

　　岁末将至，在北京站、北京西站和西直门等地聚集的黑发票贩子越来越多。记者通过暗访发现，京城市场流通的黑发票主要有两种：一是部分公司虚开、倒卖增值税发票牟取暴利；二是大量广东的黑发票北上进京。而一些公司因年终“冲账”产生的发票需求，直接催热了京城街头的发票市场。

　　在近一个小时的暗访中，“黑皮包”接了四五个电话，其中不乏“团购”业务。记者称要买10万元发票，“黑皮包”表示如果买的是普通发票，那就是 “小买卖”，“年底生意火得一塌糊涂，10万元的单子很一般。”“黑皮包”随后验证了一个温州人一次买走30万元发票的传闻，“在平时，这样的买卖是天文数字，但年关这阵100万的都不算大。”

　　据“黑皮包”介绍，年底是“黑票”市场的“黄金季节”，各大公司做财务报表、报销结算、年终分红甚至虚报账目时，都需要发票来“抵税”。

　　就“黑皮包”描述的现象，安永会计师事务所税务部的一名工作人员给予了证实。他认为目前一些公司尚未形成合理与透明的财税运作机制，基本工资外的奖金、分红、佣金和绩效提成等均无法通过适当的渠道入账并缴税，许多公司把员工应得的收入以“因公开销”的名义派发，最好的方式就是用发票来冲账，客观上造成了对黑发票的依赖。马先生是一家意大利独资企业的销售经理，“有多年的黑发票购买经历”。他透露其供职的公司需要大量的发票冲账销售人员的年终分红。“完成全年任务的销售人员要筹措5万元的发票才能拿到全额奖金，多出部分以20％的比例提成，不足则拿不到全奖。”马先生私下告诉记者，此种做法也是无奈之举，个人和公司都不想多缴税，“黑发票已经成为维持一些公司正常运转的必备'零件'，不是一朝一夕就能绝迹的东西。”

[liuzhou]

They never seem to make any serious effort to stop it. I first came across them at Xizhimen about ten years ago, and I don't suppose they were new then!

If a poor LaowaI in the South of China knows where to get fake receipts in Beijing, it can't be much of a secret!

[yonitabonita]

Hi folks

I've noticed these last few months that there are always people by the train station yelling out "fa piao, fa piao". The only "fa piao" I know is 'receipt'. What are they selling? What are they doing? Can anyone tell me?

Thanks,

Y

[roddy]

Merged your new topic with one that answers your question