3 ms·

you are supposed to receive a stack of fapiao of equivalent face value. In the past 9 months I've never received more than one of these fapiao, if they even g

by zrgiu_ 14y ago

you are supposed to receive a stack of fapiao of equivalent face value. In the past 9 months I've never received more than one of these fapiao, if they even gave it to me at all. Also, the prizes are pretty small, enough that there isn't that much of an incentive to ask for these "lottery tickets". The largest "prize" i heard about (because i've never seen anyone win) was about the equivalent of $6 USD.

seanmcdirmid 14y ago
It used to be more common in the past: you buy something, and the fapiao (certified tax receipt) would include some sort of scratch off thing that was like a lottery; so you had some incentive to collect your fapiao and preventing the department store from low balling their taxes. Store owners are not supposed to recycle unclaimed fapiaos, that is definitely illegal, and many companies who follow the law to the letter (like Starbucks) make it very convenient for you to exchange your xiaopiaos (normal receipts) for one fat fapiao in bulk, since they are not gaining anything by not issuing a fapiao. Likewise, Microsoft (my employer, an American company) doesn't require us to play the fapiao game for most of our benefits. However, we need fapiaos for any expenses that occur in China, while there are a few benefits that require fapiaos (a travel and gym benefit) that are easy to get and one foreigner-only benefit where we can get back our tax on rent if only we could ever get our landlord to issue a fapiao (unlikely, they would just jack up the rent for the taxes they weren't dodging). And let's not get started on getting the name right for the fapiao. It must be in Chinese and it must be the official name of our company. I think for Microsoft China its something like Microsoft (China) Limited, but all in Chinese characters, and its bad if you can't write that down exactly right. [Edit] Let me describe the fapiao game: your company (usually a Chinese one) low balls your salary (say 2 or 3K RMB a month) but allows you to claim lots of personal expensive as business expenses. Even more fun: some require you to collect fapiaos but don't reimburse you for your expenses (universities do this a lot!). Fapiaos now require the name of the company that will be claiming the tax benefit so you can't just exchange them with your friends, meaning you need to be diligent about collecting fapiaos. Taxi fapiaos are the easiest, as they don't require names (so you can collect them and exchange them with friends if you want).
- PakG1 14y ago
  If you're getting only 2 or 3K RMB per month, I think that's seriously robbery, even if you do have the ability to claim expenses on everything else. That's what only new graduates get, and low-level Chinese university new grads at that. I have a friend who just moved from IBM to Microsoft recently (we're both in China). Microsoft definitely pays more than that. I have no idea where you're getting this 2 or 3K number? To the gp, I usually don't get fapiao if I don't ask for it, but it sometimes comes. I always get it if I ask for it, or they offer me a Pepsi on the house or something to avoid giving me fapiao. So it's always in play, as far as I can see.
  - culturestate 14y ago
    > If you're getting only 2 or 3K RMB per month, I think that's seriously robbery Agreed. Even english teachers get 8k minimum, AND they often have the majority of their expenses (rent, utilities, food allowances, etc) covered.
  - ephermata 14y ago
    I read that as "the employer pays you 2K or 3K RMB less than what it otherwise would" , not "the employer pays only 2K or 3K RMB per month."
    - PakG1 14y ago
      That would logically make much more sense.
  - seanmcdirmid 14y ago
    I'm employed by a western company that doesn't play fapiao games, and I get a lot more than that (how much is confidential, but I make just a bit less than I would in the states for a comparable position). Many of my friends get fairly low salaries (2/3K may be outdated, its probably more like 4/5K now), but get a lot of "benefits" that I don't; especially if they work for SOEs (state owned companies); i.e., many have nice cars (provided) but not enough money to really park them (not provided).

by zrgiu_ 14y ago

seanmcdirmid 14y ago

It used to be more common in the past: you buy something, and the fapiao (certified tax receipt) would include some sort of scratch off thing that was like a lottery; so you had some incentive to collect your fapiao and preventing the department store from low balling their taxes. Store owners are not supposed to recycle unclaimed fapiaos, that is definitely illegal, and many companies who follow the law to the letter (like Starbucks) make it very convenient for you to exchange your xiaopiaos (normal receipts) for one fat fapiao in bulk, since they are not gaining anything by not issuing a fapiao. Likewise, Microsoft (my employer, an American company) doesn't require us to play the fapiao game for most of our benefits. However, we need fapiaos for any expenses that occur in China, while there are a few benefits that require fapiaos (a travel and gym benefit) that are easy to get and one foreigner-only benefit where we can get back our tax on rent if only we could ever get our landlord to issue a fapiao (unlikely, they would just jack up the rent for the taxes they weren't dodging). And let's not get started on getting the name right for the fapiao. It must be in Chinese and it must be the official name of our company. I think for Microsoft China its something like Microsoft (China) Limited, but all in Chinese characters, and its bad if you can't write that down exactly right. [Edit] Let me describe the fapiao game: your company (usually a Chinese one) low balls your salary (say 2 or 3K RMB a month) but allows you to claim lots of personal expensive as business expenses. Even more fun: some require you to collect fapiaos but don't reimburse you for your expenses (universities do this a lot!). Fapiaos now require the name of the company that will be claiming the tax benefit so you can't just exchange them with your friends, meaning you need to be diligent about collecting fapiaos. Taxi fapiaos are the easiest, as they don't require names (so you can collect them and exchange them with friends if you want).

PakG1 14y ago
If you're getting only 2 or 3K RMB per month, I think that's seriously robbery, even if you do have the ability to claim expenses on everything else. That's what only new graduates get, and low-level Chinese university new grads at that. I have a friend who just moved from IBM to Microsoft recently (we're both in China). Microsoft definitely pays more than that. I have no idea where you're getting this 2 or 3K number? To the gp, I usually don't get fapiao if I don't ask for it, but it sometimes comes. I always get it if I ask for it, or they offer me a Pepsi on the house or something to avoid giving me fapiao. So it's always in play, as far as I can see.
- culturestate 14y ago
  > If you're getting only 2 or 3K RMB per month, I think that's seriously robbery Agreed. Even english teachers get 8k minimum, AND they often have the majority of their expenses (rent, utilities, food allowances, etc) covered.
- ephermata 14y ago
  I read that as "the employer pays you 2K or 3K RMB less than what it otherwise would" , not "the employer pays only 2K or 3K RMB per month."
  - PakG1 14y ago
    That would logically make much more sense.
- seanmcdirmid 14y ago
  I'm employed by a western company that doesn't play fapiao games, and I get a lot more than that (how much is confidential, but I make just a bit less than I would in the states for a comparable position). Many of my friends get fairly low salaries (2/3K may be outdated, its probably more like 4/5K now), but get a lot of "benefits" that I don't; especially if they work for SOEs (state owned companies); i.e., many have nice cars (provided) but not enough money to really park them (not provided).