What is the destruction of e-records in tax administration in Vietnam?

What are regulations on storage of e-records in tax administration in Vietnam?

Based on Clause 2, Article 6 of Decree 123/2020/ND-CP stipulates as follows:

Storage and retention of invoices and records

1. Invoices and records are stored and retained ensuring:

a) Safety, security, integrity, completeness, and no alteration or distortion throughout the storage period;

b) Storage in accordance with the legally prescribed duration according to accounting laws.

2. E-invoices and e-records are stored and retained by e-means. Agencies, organizations, and individuals have the right to choose and apply appropriate methods of preserving and storing e-invoices and e-records in accordance with their operational characteristics and technology application capabilities. e-invoices and e-records must be readily printable or accessible upon request.

3. Invoices printed by tax authorities, printed records, and self-printed records must be stored and retained in accordance with the following requirements:

a) Unissued invoices and records must be stored and preserved in a warehouse in accordance with the policies for storing valuable records.

b) Issued invoices and records at accounting units should be stored in accordance with the policies for storing accounting records.

c) Issued invoices and records at organizations, households, and individuals who are not accounting units should be stored and preserved as their private property.

Thus, according to the above regulations, e-records in tax administration are preserved by e-means.

*Note: Agencies, organizations, and individuals have the right to choose and apply appropriate methods of preserving and storing e-invoices and e-records in accordance with their operational characteristics and technology application capabilities.

What is the destruction of e-records in tax administration? (Image from Internet)

Are e-records required to be legal when converted to paper invoices in Vietnam?

According to Article 7 of Decree 123/2020/ND-CP stipulates as follows:

Conversion of e-invoices and e-records to paper invoices and records

1. Legal e-invoices and e-records can be converted to paper invoices and records when necessary for economic, financial, or tax administration purposes, auditing, inspection, investigation, and according to the regulations of the laws on inspection, auditing, and investigation.

2. The conversion from e-invoices and e-records to paper invoices and records must ensure the accuracy between the contents of the e-invoices and e-records and the paper invoices and records after conversion.

3. e-invoices and e-records converted to paper invoices and records are only valid for record-keeping, tracking according to the laws on accounting, laws on e-transactions, and are not valid for transactions or payments, except for invoices generated from cash registers connected to e-data transfer systems with tax authorities as prescribed in this Decree.

Legal e-records can be converted to paper invoices and records when necessary for economic, financial, or tax administration purposes, auditing, inspection, investigation, and according to the laws on auditing, inspection, and investigation.

Thus, according to the above regulations, e-records must ensure legality when converted to paper invoices.

What is the destruction of e-records in tax administration in Vietnam?

First, according to Article 94 of the Law on Tax Administration 2019 stipulates regarding e-records as follows:

- e-records include types of vouchers and receipts expressed in e-data format issued by tax administration agencies or organizations responsible for tax deduction to taxpayers through e-means when performing tax procedures or other payments to the state budget and other types of e-vouchers and receipts.

- The Government of Vietnam prescribes the details of e-records mentioned in this Article and the management and use of e-records.

Additionally, Clause 11, Article 3 of Decree 123/2020/ND-CP prescribes the destruction of invoices and records as follows:

- Destruction of e-invoices and e-records is a method to ensure that e-invoices and e-records no longer exist in the information system and cannot be accessed or referenced.

- Destruction of printed invoices by tax authorities, destruction of printed and self-printed records means using methods such as burning, cutting, tearing into small pieces, or other demolition methods to ensure that the destroyed invoice or record information and data cannot be reused.

Thus, according to the above regulations, the destruction of e-records in tax administration involves methods to ensure that e-records no longer exist in the information system, and cannot be accessed or referenced.