What does "tax receipt available" mean?
 

I'm seeing on China hotel reservation sites, some room quotes say "tax receipt available" others do not

What does this mean?

Thanks

Some businesses will give you a discount if you don't require fapiao; unless I'm in a rush, I always get them whether I need them or not unless it's a struggling mom and pop place.

So it's not the same as getting a VAT tax refunded at the airport?

No.
A "tax receipt" in this context is simply an "official" receipt that is required to properly account for the expense. It will have two red stamps on it, show the amount, who it is made out to, and what it was used for.

Not all all fapiao are so detailed. Taxi receipts are an obvious example, many cities use fapiao coupons that look sort of like money (if money was printed on thermal paper), and some machines don't have the ability to print the customers' business names.

This is an official receipt for tax purposes unlike the regular receipt that is probably sufficient for your expense account if you do not work for a Chinese company.
There is a bit of a commerce for official receipts (fapiao). We have a few friends who have their business and we always ask for a fapiao in their name even though we paid for dinner. And when we think about it, we also ask for one elsewhere, including hotels, and give it to them.

If you aren't needing reimbursement from a Chinese company, you don't need a fapiao (official receipt). But with some hotels and other Chinese businesses, you might be able to ask for a discount by telling them that you don't need a fapiao. The reason is that Chinese business revenue for accounting purposes is usually tallied/crosschecked by their fapiao receipt totals. Money that is made on customers who don't require fapiao is less traceable (or untraceable) to the tax system, sort of like "phantom income." For this reason, the proprietor is more likely to be open to giving out a discount, if you ask. Note that this is likely to work only with smaller, independent businesses that aren't part of a chain and where the owner/proprietor is also managing the place directly. This is a gross oversimplification of the situation, but enough so a visiting short-term foreigner can get the essence.

Got it

tahnks all

I was specifically referencing hotel receipts. But yes, you are correct.

There are still two types of hotel fapiaos - general invoice, and special VAT invoice.