Vietnam: How to issue an invoice when the buyer does not take the invoice?

Vietnam: How to issue an invoice when the buyer does not take the invoice?

Based on Official Dispatch 31856/CTBDU-TTHT of 2024 Download from Binh Duong Provincial Tax Department guiding the issuance of invoices for customers who do not take invoices as follows:

Based on Clause 1, Article 90 of the Law on Tax Administration 2019, which stipulates the principles of making, managing, and using e-invoices as follows:

Principles of making, managing, and using e-invoices

1. When selling goods or providing services, the seller must issue an e-invoice to give to the buyer in the standard data format and must complete all the required content in accordance with tax law and accounting law, irrespective of the value in each transaction.

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Based on Clause 1, Article 4 of Decree 123/2020/ND-CP, which stipulates as follows:

Principles of making, managing, and using invoices, vouchers

1. When selling goods or providing services, the seller must make an invoice to give to the buyer (including cases where goods or services are used for promotions, advertisements, samples; goods or services used for gifting, exchanging, paying salaries to employees, or internal consumption, excluding goods revolving internally for production continuity); dispatching goods under forms of lending, borrowing or returning goods) and must fill in all content as stipulated in Article 10 of this Decree. In cases of using e-invoices, they must follow the standard data format of the tax authority as stipulated in Article 12 of this Decree.

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Based on Article 10 of Decree 123/2020/ND-CP regarding invoice content as follows:

Content of invoices

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5. Name, address, and tax identification number of the buyer

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b) In cases where the buyer does not have a tax identification number, the tax identification number is not required on the invoice. In certain cases of selling goods or providing specific services to individual consumers as regulated in Clause 14 of this Article, the invoice is not required to show the buyer's name and address. When selling goods or providing services to foreign customers visiting Vietnam, the buyer's address information can be replaced with passport or entry/exit document information and nationality of the foreign customer.

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14. Some cases where e-invoices do not need to contain full content

a) e-invoices do not necessarily need to have the buyer's e-signature (including cases of issuing e-invoices when selling goods or providing services to foreign customers). If the buyer is a business entity and there is an agreement between the buyer and seller for the buyer to meet technical conditions for digital signatures on the e-invoices issued by the seller, then the e-invoice will contain digital signatures and e-signatures of both the seller and buyer according to their agreement.

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Additionally, Binh Duong Provincial Tax Department states the following:

In the event that the Company sells goods or provides services, the Company must issue an invoice to the buyer (including cases where goods or services are used for promotions, advertisements, samples; goods or services used for gifting, exchanging, paying salaries to employees, or internal consumption) and must fill in all the necessary content as stipulated. Even if the buyer does not take the invoice, the Company must still issue an invoice with all required information as specified in Article 10 of Decree 123/2020/ND-CP.

The Company is advised to base its actions on actual conditions to comply with legal conformity.

Thus, when selling goods or services, the company must issue an invoice to deliver it to the buyer (including cases where goods or services are used for promotions, advertisements, samples; goods or services used for gifting, exchanging, paying salaries to employees, or internal consumption) and must fill in all necessary content as stipulated. Even if the buyer does not take the invoice, the company must issue an invoice with all required information as specified in Article 10 of Decree 123/2020/ND-CP.

Vietnam: How to issue an invoice when the buyer does not take the invoice? (Image from the Internet)

When are e-invoices not required to have full content in Vietnam?

Based on Clause 14, Article 10 of Decree 123/2020/ND-CP, which specifies cases where e-invoices do not need to contain full content, includes:

- e-invoices do not necessarily need to have the buyer's e-signature (including when issuing e-invoices for selling goods or providing services to foreign customers). If the buyer is a business entity, and there is an agreement for the buyer to meet technical conditions to sign digitally on e-invoices issued by the seller, then the invoice will contain digital signatures and e-signatures of both sides according to their agreement.

- For e-invoices issued by tax authorities on an ad-hoc basis, the seller’s and buyer’s digital signatures are not required.

- For e-invoices for sales at supermarkets or shopping centers where the buyer is an individual non-business, the invoice does not necessarily need to have the buyer's name, address, or tax identification number.

+ For e-invoices related to fuel sales to non-business individuals, these do not require indicators such as invoice name, template symbol, invoice symbol, invoice number; buyer's name, address, tax identification number; e-signature of the buyer; seller's digital signature, and VAT rate.

- For e-invoices in the form of stamps, tickets, cards, they are not required to have the seller's digital signature (except in the case of stamps, tickets, cards as e-invoices with codes issued by tax authorities), buyer information fields (name, address, tax ID), tax amount, and VAT rate. If e-stamps, tickets, cards have pre-determined face values, the indicators of unit, quantity, and unit price are not required.

- For e-vouchers related to air transport services issued through websites and e-commerce systems following international standards for buyers who are non-business individuals classified as e-invoices, these do not need to contain invoice symbols, form symbols, invoice serial numbers, VAT rate, tax ID, buyer address, seller's digital signature.

+ In cases where business or non-business organizations purchase air transport services, e-vouchers for air transport services issued through websites and e-commerce systems following international standards for individuals within business or non-business organizations are not classified as e-invoices. Air transportation service businesses must issue fully compliant e-invoices to be submitted to organizations purchasing the service.

- For invoices related to construction, installation, and housing sales activities paid per progress as per contracts, units, quantities, and unit prices are not required on the invoice.

- For internal transport warehouse release vouchers, information reflects internal dispatch orders, recipient, issuer, warehouse dispatch location, warehouse receipt location, and transportation means. Specifically: the buyer's name reflects the recipient, the buyer's address reflects the warehouse receipt location; the seller's name reflects the issuer, the seller's address shows the warehouse dispatch location and transportation means; tax amount, tax rate, and total payment amount are not displayed.

+ For transport warehouse release vouchers for consignment sales agents, they contain contract details, transporter, transportation means, dispatch location, receipt location, product name, unit, quantity, unit price, total amount. Specifically: recording number, date, contract details signed between organizations, names of transporter, transport contract (if any), and seller's address shows dispatch location.

- Invoices used for Interline settlements between airlines complying with the regulations of the International Air Transport Association need not contain invoice symbols, form symbols, buyer's details including name, address, and tax ID, buyer's digital signature, unit details, quantity, and unit price.

- Invoices from air transportation businesses to agents based on verification reports between the parties and aggregated lists need not include unit price.

- For military and security activities regulated by the Government of Vietnam, military security enterprises' invoices for construction, installation, production, and service provision do not require units, quantities, or unit prices; goods and services description should reflect goods, services provision per contracts signed between parties.

What are the principles of making, managing, and using e-invoices in Vietnam?

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

- When selling goods or providing services, the seller must issue an e-invoice to deliver to the buyer in a standard data format and complete all required content in compliance with tax law and accounting law, regardless of value per transaction.

- If the seller uses a cash register, they must register to use e-invoices generated from the cash register with e-data connections to the tax authority.

- The registration, management, and use of e-invoices in the sale of goods and services must comply with the established legal frameworks governing e-transactions, accounting, and tax.

- The tax authority's issuance of codes on e-invoices is based on the information provided by businesses, economic organizations, other organizations, business households, and individuals constituting the invoice. The entities issuing the invoices are responsible for the accuracy of the information contained therein.