Is an e-invoice issued first and signed later valid in Vietnam?

Is an e-invoice issued first and signed later valid in Vietnam?

Based on the regulations specified in Article 14 of the Law on Value-Added Tax 2008 as follows:

Invoices and Documents

1. The sale of goods and services must have invoices and documents as per the provisions of law and the following regulations:

a) Business establishments paying tax by the credit method use value-added tax invoices; invoices must be filled out completely and correctly with all required details, including surcharges and additional fees (if any). In the case of selling goods or services subject to value-added tax but the invoice does not show the value-added tax amount, the output value-added tax is determined by multiplying the payment amount on the invoice by the value-added tax rate, except for cases specified in Clause 2 of this Article;

b) Business establishments paying tax by the direct method on added value use sales invoices.

2. For pre-printed payment vouchers such as tickets, the payment price includes value-added tax.

Additionally, according to Clause 7 Article 3 of Decree 123/2020/ND-CP as follows:

Terminology Explanation

In this Decree, the following terms are understood as follows:

...

7. Legal invoices and documents are those that comply fully and correctly with the format and contents as specified in this Decree.

And Clause 9 Article 10 of Decree 123/2020/ND-CP regulates invoices and documents:

Contents of the Invoice

...

9. The time of digital signing on e-invoices is the time when the seller and the buyer use digital signatures to sign on the e-invoice, displayed in the format of day, month, year of the Gregorian calendar. In cases where the e-invoice is signed digitally at a different time than when the invoice was issued, the tax declaration time is the time of the invoice issuance.

...

The time of digital signing on the e-invoice is the time when the seller and buyer use digital signatures to sign on the e-invoice displayed in the format of day, month, year of the Gregorian calendar.

In cases where the e-invoice is digitally signed at a different time than when it was issued, the tax declaration time is the time of invoice issuance.

Thus, according to these regulations, an e-invoice issued first and signed later is still valid, which refers to the time the invoice was issued.

Is an e-invoice issued first and signed later valid in Vietnam? (Image from the Internet)

What are the 2 e-invoice service providers in Vietnam?

Based on Clause 12 Article 3 of Decree 123/2020/ND-CP it is regulated as follows:

Terminology Explanation

In this Decree, the following terms are understood as follows:

...

10. Canceling invoices and documents means making the invoice or document unusable.

11. Destroying invoices and documents:

a) Destroying e-invoices and documents means making them no longer exist on the information system and unable to be accessed or referred to for the information contained within them.

b) Destroying pre-printed invoices or documents involves using methods such as burning, cutting, shredding, or other forms to ensure that the invoices or documents cannot be reused for the information or data they contain.

12. An e-invoice service provider is an entity offering solutions for creating, connecting, transmitting, receiving, storing, and processing e-invoice data with and without tax agency codes. e-invoice service providers include: Organizations offering e-invoice solutions with and without tax agency codes to sellers and buyers, and organizations connecting, receiving, transmitting, and storing e-invoice data with tax agencies.

There are 2 types of e-invoice service providers:

[1] Organizations that provide e-invoice solutions with and without tax agency codes to sellers and buyers;

[2] Organizations that connect, receive, transmit, and store e-invoice data with tax agencies.

How to select an e-invoice service provider in Vietnam?

Based on Clause 3 Article 10 of Circular 78/2021/TT-BTC, the General Department of Taxation publicizes the information of organizations providing e-invoice solutions and selects e-invoice service providers to sign service contracts for data receipt, transmission, and storage with tax agencies as follows:

- Publicly posting information of organizations providing e-invoice solutions on the Portal of the General Department of Taxation: Organizations providing e-invoice solutions submit documentation proving compliance with the criteria specified in Clause 1 of this Article, service description documents, and commitments to the General Department of Taxation.

Within 10 days from receipt of the documentation, the General Department of Taxation publicly posts the service description and commitments of the organization on its Portal. Organizations shall be responsible for the accuracy of the documents provided.

In the course of operations, if it is found that the service provider does not comply, the General Department of Taxation will notify and remove the public information of the organization from its Portal.

- Selecting e-invoice service providers to sign contracts for data receipt, transmission, and storage services with tax agencies

+ Organizations that fully meet the conditions specified in Clause 2 of this Article submit a written request to sign a contract for data receipt, transmission, and storage services along with proving documentation to the General Department of Taxation.

Within 10 working days from the date the organization provides complete proving documentation, the General Department of Taxation cooperates with the organization to implement technical connections and data transmission checks between both parties.

After successful connection, the General Department of Taxation and the organization sign a contract to provide data receipt, transmission, and storage services with tax agencies. Information about the organization providing data receipt, transmission, and storage services will be publicly posted on the Portal of the General Department of Taxation.

+ During the contract execution, the General Department of Taxation and the e-invoice service provider will agree on the authorization terms for coding in case the tax agency's coding system encounters issues or delegating the provision of free e-invoices with codes for entities specified in Clause 1 Article 14 of Decree 123/2020/ND-CP.