Tencent Gets Green Light for Blockchain-Enabled Invoice Standard

Chinese internet giant Tencent has been given the go-ahead by China’s State of Administration of Taxation to generate a draft for a blockchain-powered invoice standard. Tencent will be partnering with the Shenzhen Taxation Bureau and the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology to oversee this project. 

The projectis called the “General Framework of DLT-Based Invoices.” Notably, this initiative has been favored by nations, such as Brazil, Sweden, Switzerland, and the UK. This information was availed during an ITU-T international meeting where e-invoice standards were discussed.

The thumbs up for Tencent comes at a time when Chinese President Xi Jinping has askedfor an acceleration of blockchain development in the nation. Expressly, an e-voice standardization backed by blockchain is in tandem with Xi’s wishes for transparent, faster, and safer agency operations. 

Li Ming, the director of the Blockchain Research Department at the China Electronics Standardization Institute, noted:

“The project shows China's industry and market activity in the blockchain tech application. E-invoicing is an appropriate field for blockchain application probes and trials currently, which could, in turn, promote tech development.”

Tencent’s initiative prudent in mitigating tax-fraud

An e-voice backed by blockchain technology is advantageous because it has the capability of reducing or even eradicating tax evasion. 

The issue of tax fraud is rampant in China’s underground economy estimated to be worth $852 million. This challenge is critical to the extent that sellers usually peddle fake receipts. Blockchain technology is being viewed as an ideal solution as it offers an immutable and transparent distributed ledger. 

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