Vietnam issues E-Invoices Decree

Decree “Decree 119” (No.119/2018/ND-CP) will be in effect from November 1, 2018 and presents two types of e-invoices: one with the tax authority’s verification code and one without.

E-invoices with the verification codes can be used for tax declarations. On the other hand, companies in the electricity, petroleum, telecommunication, credit financing, transportation, ecommerce, insurance, supermarkets, and trading sectors can use e-invoices without verification codes. Enterprises that transact directly with the tax authorities electronically or have the technology infrastructure, accounting software, and e-invoice software as per regulations do not require to use e-invoices with verification codes.

For individual and companies involved in the agriculture, forestry, fishery, industry, and construction sectors employing more than 10 labourers and having an annual revenue over VND 3 billion in the preceding year must use e-invoices with verification codes.

Companies need to register before they use e-invoices (with or without tax codes) to get approval from the tax authorities through the General Department of Taxation’s website.

Business and individuals selling goods or providing services need to issue an e-invoice (with or without tax codes) to the buyer in a standardized format prescribed by the tax authorities. They are required to provide all the necessary information, regardless of the invoice value. In case a POS system is used, the seller needs to register for the use of e-invoices sent by the POS system for online transfer of data with the tax department.

Moreover, in the case where the tax authorities have notified businesses to switch to e-invoices between November 1, 2018, and October 31, 2018, and the businesses fail to meet the information technology infrastructure requirements, they need to send their invoice data to the tax office. The tax office will use those invoices for their database and post them on the General Department of Taxation’s information portal.

Public organizations, such as medical establishments and schools that use fee receipts, are allowed to continue using the receipts but need to move to electronic receipts or e-invoices according to the roadmap of the Ministry of Finance.