What are criteria for authenticated and unauthenticated e-invoice service providers in Vietnam?

What are criteria for authenticated and unauthenticated e-invoice service providers in Vietnam?

According to Clause 1, Article 10 of Circular 78/2021/TT-BTC, authenticated and unauthenticated e-invoice service providers must meet the following criteria:

First, criteria regarding the entity include:

(i) The entity is a legally established organization operating in the field of information technology under Vietnamese law;

(ii) Information about electronic invoice services is disclosed on the organization's website;

Second, criteria regarding personnel:

The organization must have at least 5 personnel with a university degree in the field of information technology;

Third, technical criteria include 5 points:

(i) The organization must have technical infrastructure, information technology equipment, and software systems that meet requirements:

(ii) Provide solutions for creating, processing, storing electronic invoice data with tax agency codes and electronic invoices without codes for sellers and buyers according to the legal regulations on electronic invoices and other relevant laws;

(iii) Possess solutions for receiving, transmitting electronic invoice data with service users; solutions for transmitting, receiving electronic invoice data with the tax agency through organizations receiving, transmitting, storing electronic invoice data. The information on the data reception and transmission process must be logged to serve reconciliation work;

(iv) Have solutions for backing up, restoring, securing electronic invoice data;

(v) Possess documents of successful technical test results on solutions for transmitting electronic invoice data with the organization providing data reception, transmission, and storage services.

What are criteria for authenticated and unauthenticated e-invoice service providers in Vietnam? (Image from Internet)

What are regulations on transition to using authenticated e-invoice in Vietnam?

Pursuant to Article 5 of Circular 78/2021/TT-BTC, the transition to using authenticated e-invoice is implemented as follows:

- For taxpayers currently using electronic invoices without codes who wish to transition to using authenticated e-invoice, they must change their electronic invoice usage information according to the provisions of Article 15 of Decree 123/2020/ND-CP.

- For taxpayers utilizing electronic invoices without codes as specified in Clause 2, Article 91 of the Tax Administration Law 2019, if they are determined to be high-risk according to the provisions of Circular 31/2021/TT-BTC and are notified by the tax agency about switching to using authenticated e-invoice, they must transition to this type of electronic invoice.

+ Within ten (10) working days from the date of the tax agency's notification, taxpayers must change their electronic invoice usage information (switching from using electronic invoices without codes to those with tax agency codes) as stipulated in Article 15 of Decree 123/2020/ND-CP and follow the tax agency's notification.

+ After 12 months from the transition to authenticated e-invoice, if taxpayers wish to use electronic invoices without codes, they must update their electronic invoice usage information according to Article 15 of Decree 123/2020/ND-CP, and the tax agency will consider and decide based on Clause 2, Article 91 of the Tax Administration Law 2019 and provisions in Circular 31/2021/TT-BTC.

What are the rules for authorization to issue e-invoices in Vietnam?

According to Clause 1, Article 3 of Circular 78/2021/TT-BTC, the rules for preparing invoices are:

- Businesses, economic organizations, and other organizations selling goods and providing services can authorize a third party that has a linked relationship with the seller, who is eligible to use electronic invoices and does not fall under cases prohibited from using electronic invoices according to Article 16 of Decree 123/2020/ND-CP, to prepare electronic invoices for selling goods and services. The linked relationship is determined according to tax management law;

- Authorization must be documented in writing (contract or agreement) between the authorizing party and the authorized party;

- Authorization must be reported to the tax agency when registering to use electronic invoices;

- Electronic invoices prepared by the authorized organization can be with or without tax agency codes and must show the names, addresses, tax codes of both the authorizing and authorized parties;

- Both the authorizing and authorized parties are responsible for announcing on their respective websites or publicly through media outlets for buyers to be informed about the authorization of invoice preparation. Upon expiration of the authorization period or termination of the authorization to prepare electronic invoices before the agreed time, both parties must cancel notices on their websites or publicly announce the termination of the authorization through media outlets;

- If the authorized invoice is an electronic invoice without a tax agency code (henceforth referred to as an electronic invoice without a code), the authorizing party must transmit electronic invoice data to the directly managing tax agency or through a service provider to send the data to the managing tax agency;

- The authorized party is responsible for accurately preparing authorized electronic invoices based on actual transactions, according to the agreement with the authorizing party, and adhering to the above rules.