Shall an invoice be issued and sent to buyers when providing advertising service in Vietnam?

Shall an invoice be issued and sent to buyers when providing advertising service in Vietnam?

According to Clause 1, Article 4 of Decree 123/2020/ND-CP, the regulations are as follows:

Article 4. Principles of preparing, managing, and using invoices and documents

1. When selling goods or providing services, the seller must prepare an invoice to give to the buyer (including cases where goods or services are used for promotion, advertisement, sample goods; goods and services used for giving, gifting, exchanging, or as remuneration to employees and internal consumption (excluding goods circulated internally for further production processes); dispatching goods under the forms of lending, borrowing, or returning goods) and must fully record the contents as stipulated in Article 10 of this Decree. In case of using electronic invoices, the format must follow the tax authority’s standard data format as stipulated in Article 12 of this Decree.

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According to the above regulation, if an enterprise receives money from a partner to perform advertising services for their product, it is required to issue an invoice and ensure all content is recorded in accordance with Article 10 of Decree 123/2020/ND-CP.

Is it permissible to use unaccented Vietnamese characters on invoices?

Based on the regulations in Clause 13, Article 10 of Decree 123/2020/ND-CP regarding the script, numerals, and currency displayed on invoices are as follows:

Contents of invoices

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13. The script, numerals, and currency displayed on invoices

a) The script displayed on invoices is Vietnamese. In cases where foreign script needs to be added, the foreign script must be placed to the right in parentheses () or placed right below the Vietnamese line with a font size smaller than the Vietnamese script. In cases where the script on invoices is unaccented Vietnamese, the unaccented script must not lead to misunderstanding the contents of the invoice.

b) Numerals displayed on invoices are Arabic numerals: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. The seller can choose: after the numerals of thousands, millions, billions, thousand billions, million billions, billion billions, a period (.) must be placed. If digits are recorded after the unit numeral, a comma (,) must be placed after the unit numeral, or a natural number separator in the form of a comma (,) can be used after thousands, millions, billions, thousand billions, million billions, billion billions and a period (.) after the unit numeral on accounting documents.

c) The currency recorded on invoices is Vietnamese Dong, national symbol is “đ”.

- In cases where economic and financial transactions arise in foreign currency, according to foreign exchange laws, unit price, amounts, total value-added tax by tax type, total value-added tax, and total amount payable should be recorded in foreign currency, and the currency unit must be named in the foreign currency. The seller must also display on the invoice the exchange rate with the Vietnamese Dong according to the regulations of the Law on Tax Administration and guiding documents.

- Exchange rate code according to international standards (e.g., 13,800.25 USD - Thirteen thousand, eight hundred US dollars and twenty-five cents, e.g., 5,000.50 EUR - Five thousand euros and fifty cents).

- In cases where goods are sold in foreign exchange according to foreign exchange laws and taxes are paid in foreign currency, the total amount payable shown on the invoice is in foreign currency and not converted to Vietnamese Dong.

Thus, in the case of using unaccented Vietnamese on invoices, the unaccented script must ensure no misunderstandings of the invoice content.

Shall an invoice be issued and sent to buyers when providing advertising service in Vietnam? (Image from Internet)

Is the enterprise required to declare and pay VAT when providing advertising service in Vietnam?

According to the provisions in Clause 1, Article 5 of Circular 219/2013/TT-BTC the regulations are as follows:

Cases where VAT declaration and payment are not required

1. Organizations and individuals receiving payments for compensation in cash (including compensation for land and assets on land when land is recovered according to decisions of competent state authorities), bonuses, support money, emission rights transfer, and other financial revenues.

When a business establishment receives compensation, bonuses, or support money, transfers emission rights, and other financial revenues, a receipt voucher must be prepared in accordance with regulations. For business establishments that pay out money, the purpose of the disbursement should be the basis for preparing disbursement vouchers.

In cases of compensation in goods or services, the compensating establishment must prepare invoices and declare, calculate, and pay VAT as with selling goods or services; the receiving establishment must declare and deduct in accordance with regulations.

In cases where a business establishment receives funds from organizations or individuals to perform services for them, such as repairs, warranty, promotion, or advertising, it must declare and pay taxes as per regulations.

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According to the above regulations, an enterprise receiving money for advertising services for a partner's product is required to declare and pay VAT.