Vietnam: Are e-invoices allowed to record decimal numbers?

What is a legal e-invoice in Vietnam?

According to Clause 2, Article 3 of Decree 123/2020/ND-CP:

An e-invoice is an invoice with or without a tax authority code, displayed in e-data format by organizations or individuals selling goods or providing services created via e-means to record information on the sales of goods or services in accordance with the laws on accounting and taxation. This includes invoices generated from cash registers connected to transfer e-data to the tax authority, in which:

(i) An e-invoice with a tax authority code is an e-invoice given a code by the tax authority before the organization or individual selling goods or providing services sends it to the buyer.

The tax authority code on the e-invoice includes a transaction number, which is a unique sequence of numbers generated by the tax authority's system, and a string of characters encoded by the tax authority based on the seller's information on the invoice.

(ii) An e-invoice without a tax authority code is an e-invoice sent to the buyer by the organization selling goods or providing services without a tax authority code.

Simultaneously, Clause 7, Article 3 of Decree 123/2020/ND-CP stipulates that a legal e-invoice is one that ensures the correctness, completeness regarding form and content according to the regulations in Decree 123/2020/ND-CP.

Vietnam: Are e-invoices allowed to record decimal numbers? (Image from the Internet)

Vietnam: Are e-invoices allowed to record decimal numbers?

Based on Point b, Clause 13, Article 10 of Decree 123/2020/ND-CP which regulates the content of invoices:

Content of Invoices

...

13. Writings, digits, and currency presented on the invoice

a) Writings displayed on invoices are in Vietnamese. In cases where a foreign language needs to be added, the foreign language is placed to the right in parentheses ( ) or directly below the Vietnamese line with a smaller font size than the Vietnamese writings. In cases where the characters on the invoice are in Vietnamese without diacritics, the characters must ensure no misunderstanding of the invoice content.

b) The digits displayed on the invoice are Arabic numbers: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. The seller can choose: after the thousands, millions, billions, thousand billions, million billions, trillion digits, a period (.) must be placed, if numbers are written after the unit numbers, a comma (,) must be placed after the unit numbers, or use a comma (,) as a natural number separator after the thousands, millions, billions, thousand billions, million billions, trillion digits and a period (.) after the unit digit on accounting documents.

c) The currency written on the invoice is Vietnamese Dong, with the national symbol “đ”.

- In cases of economic, financial transactions arising in foreign currencies according to foreign exchange law, the unit price, total amount, total value-added tax for each tax rate, total value-added tax, and total payment amount are recorded in foreign currency, the currency unit records the foreign currency name. The seller simultaneously shows on the invoice the foreign exchange rate with Vietnamese Dong according to the exchange rate as prescribed by the Law on Tax Management and guiding documents.

- The foreign currency sign 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 of selling goods arising in foreign currencies according to foreign exchange law and being able to pay taxes in foreign currencies, the total payment amount shown on the invoice is in foreign currency, and it is not necessary to convert to Vietnamese Dong.

Thus, the above regulation allows recording numbers after the unit digit on invoices, including e-invoices.

Therefore, displaying decimal numbers on an e-invoice is still compliant with legal regulations.

What are the principles of using e-tax invoices in Vietnam?

Based on Article 90 of the Law on Tax Administration 2019 which stipulates principles for creating, managing, and using e-invoices, specifically as follows:

- When selling goods or providing services, the seller must create an e-invoice to issue to the buyer according to the standard data format and record all prescribed contents according to the laws on taxation and accounting, regardless of the value of each sale or supply of service.

- In cases where the seller uses a cash register, the seller registers to use e-invoices generated from the cash register with a connection to transfer e-data to the tax authority.

- The registration, management, and use of e-invoices in transactions of selling goods and services must comply with the law on e-transactions, accounting, and taxation.

- The granting of codes by the tax authority on e-invoices is based on the information of the enterprise, economic organization, other organization, business household, or individual business listed on the invoice.

Enterprises, economic organizations, other organizations, business households, and individual businesses are responsible for the accuracy of the information on the invoice.