May an e-invoice be issued at the wrong time in Vietnam?

May an e-invoice be issued at the wrong time in Vietnam?

According to Article 24 of Decree 125/2020/ND-CP, which is supplemented by Clause 3, Article 1 of Decree 102/2021/ND-CP, the penalties for violations regarding the issuance of invoices when selling goods and services are stipulated as follows:

Penalties for violations of regulations on issuing invoices when selling goods and services

1. A warning shall be given for any of the following acts:

a) Issuing invoices at the wrong time but not resulting in delayed tax obligations and having mitigating circumstances;

...

3. A fine ranging from 3,000,000 VND to 5,000,000 VND shall be imposed for issuing invoices at the wrong time but not resulting in delayed tax obligations, except for the case specified at Point a, Clause 1 of this Article.

4. A fine ranging from 4,000,000 VND to 8,000,000 VND shall be imposed for any of the following acts:

a) Issuing invoices at the wrong time as per the regulations on invoices for selling goods and providing services, except for the cases specified at Point a, Clause 1 and Clause 3 of this Article;

...

Thus, according to the legal provisions mentioned above, enterprises are not allowed to issue e-invoices at the wrong time as per legal regulations.

Issuing invoices at the wrong time will lead to administrative penalties concerning invoices. The specific penalties are as follows:

(1) Warning:

- Issuing invoices at the wrong time but not resulting in delayed tax obligations and having mitigating circumstances;

(2) A fine ranging from 3,000,000 VND to 5,000,000 VND

For the act of issuing invoices at the wrong time but not resulting in delayed tax obligations, except for case (1);

(3) A fine ranging from 4,000,000 VND to 8,000,000 VND:

- Issuing invoices at the wrong time according to the regulations on invoices for selling goods and providing services, except for cases (1), (2).

Note: The fines mentioned apply to organizations. For taxpayers who are households or business households, the fine applicable is half of that for organizations as stipulated in Clause 4, Article 7 of Decree 125/2020/ND-CP

May an e-invoice be issued at the wrong time in Vietnam?(Image from the Internet)

What is the specific format of an e-invoice in Vietnam?

According to Article 1 of Decree 123/2020/ND-CP, the format of e-invoices is regulated as follows:

- The e-invoice format is a technical standard specifying data types and data lengths of information fields for the purpose of transmitting, storing, and displaying e-invoices. The e-invoice format uses the XML format (XML is the abbreviation of "eXtensible Markup Language" created to share e-data between IT systems).

- The e-invoice format consists of two components: a component containing e-invoice business data and a component containing digital signature data. For e-invoices with a tax authority code, there is an additional component containing data related to the tax authority code.

- The General Department of Taxation develops and publishes the component containing e-invoice business data, the component containing digital signature data, and provides tools for displaying the contents of e-invoices as per the regulations in this Decree.

- Organizations, enterprises selling goods, and providing services must meet the following requirements when transmitting e-invoice data directly to the tax authority:

+ Connect to the General Department of Taxation through a dedicated channel or MPLS VPN Layer 3 channel, consisting of one main transmission channel and one backup channel. Each channel must have a minimum bandwidth of 5 Mbps.

+ Use Web Service or Message Queue (MQ) with encryption as the method for connection.

+ Use the SOAP protocol to package and transmit data.

- e-invoices must be displayed fully and accurately with all contents of the invoice, ensuring no misinterpretation so the buyer can read them using e-means.

What are the principles for issuing, managing, and using e-invoices in Vietnam?

According to Article 90 of the Law on Tax Administration 2019, the principles for issuing, managing, and using e-invoices are as follows:

- When selling goods or providing services, the seller must issue e-invoices to deliver to the buyer in a standard data format and must record all contents according to tax laws and accounting laws, regardless of the value of each sale or service provided.

- If the seller uses a cash register, they must register to use e-invoices generated from the cash register that can connect and transfer e-data to the tax authorities.

- The registration, management, and usage of e-invoices in transactions of selling goods and providing services must comply with e-transaction laws, accounting laws, and tax laws.

- The issuance of tax authority codes on e-invoices is based on the information of enterprises, economic organizations, other organizations, business households, and business individuals indicated on the invoices. These entities are responsible for the accuracy of the information on the invoices.