The Beijing Municipal Office of the State Administration of Taxation says that they have received consumer complaints about online book seller Joyo.com's improper issuing of invoices and they are now conducting an investigation.

A Beijing consumer surnamed Yu is reported to have purchased seven books from Joyo.com, but the order bill shows that three of the books are CNY0.1 yuan more expensive than Joyo.com had marked on its website. In addition, Joyo.com issued her an invoice endorsed by its Suzhou branch office instead of Joyo's Beijing office, and therefore she can't seek reimbursement from her company. Yu asked Joyo.com to issue her a Beijing invoice, but was refused.

Joyo.com explains that the books bought by Yu were delivered from their Suzhou branch due to a lack of supply in Beijing. Therefore they issued Yu the invoice from the Suzhou company, but they say Yu can change it into a Beijing invoice after the company makes some accounting adjustments or she can return the goods if she can't be reimbursed.

Taxation experts quoted in local media say that businesses must issue local invoices to consumers and according to the rule regarding invoice use, businesses are not allowed to issue invoices from a different city.