New guidance on invoice usage in Vietnam

There are various regulations governing the usage of invoice such as Decree 51/2010/ND-CP and Decree 04/2014/ND-CP on sale and service invoices and Decree 119/2018/ND-CP on e-invoices. Decree 123/2020/ND-CP was issued on 19 October 2020 and it will take effect from 1 July 2022. E-invoices can come with and without verification code of the tax authorities. Under the current regulations, businesses in some sectors such as electricity, petroleum, telecommunication, transportation, ecommerce, insurance, supermarkets and trading, and businesses satisfying certain conditions can use e-invoices without tax verification codes, except for businesses with high tax risks.

Decree 123, on the other hand, provides that businesses with prior-approval of the tax authorities can use e-invoices without tax verification codes. Further guidance from the tax authorities on details of the conditions to grant such approval is expected to follow. Decree 123 also sets out that e-invoice service can be obtained from a service provider or the tax authorities while paper invoice must be bought from the tax authority.

Currently, businesses have to implement the use of e-invoices from 01 November 2020. However, Decree 123 has delayed the application of e-invoices until 01 July 2022. During this transition period, Decree 51/2010/ND-CP and Decree 04/2014/ND-CP will remain effective. It is worth noting that even though businesses have until 3 June 2022 to prepare the necessary infrastructure to implement e-invoicing, they are required to switch to the electronic format as soon as they receive such request from the tax authority.

If they do not have the necessary infrastructure to implement e-invoicing, they can still use the current paper invoices but must submit information relating to invoices together with report on VAT returns to the tax authority.