At least in Mexico, Uber (besides a very small number of taxi companies) is the only company that provides "facturas", a government approved invoice. Without it no expenses are deductible. Standard taxis do not provide them most of the time.

That's part of the reason uber was such a big hit in mexico.

So Uber probably knows about the importance of the document, maybe the Chinese don't let them create them.

Cabs in Shenzhen all have little dashboard printers for the "fapiao." They aren't official and look like a cheap receipt from a corner store. I doubt it is a regulation thing.

Why would they not be official?

How fanciful do you expect of an invoice that comes from a some component of a taxi? A full POS standard?

Official meaning not on a government form

They're totally official. I used them all the time to claim taxi expenses in Beijing. Same in Shenzhen.

Official meaning not on a government form.

Chinese IRS collects sales tax through fapiao (at 17%). So it has no incentives to not let them create invoices.

Sure it does - the Chinese government is protectionist. They're ALWAYS going to find a way to give preference to local companies, and this sounds like an EXTREMELY easy way to do so.

Exactly what I was thinking, it might be a way for the chinese government to make sure a chinese company wins the war. People will very obviously select the provider with whom you can deduct the expense.