What is the T-VAN service provider in the field of taxation in Vietnam?

What is the T-VAN service provider in the field of taxation in Vietnam?

Based on Clause 7, Article 3 of Circular 19/2021/TT-BTC:

Terminology Explanation

In this Circular, the following terms are understood as follows:

1. “Electronic tax transaction” refers to transactions carried out by agencies, organizations, and individuals via electronic means under the scope of this Circular.

2. “Electronic document” refers to information generated, sent, received, and stored via electronic means when taxpayers, tax authorities, agencies, organizations, and other related individuals perform electronic tax transactions.

3. “Electronic transaction code” refers to a string of characters generated according to a unified principle, uniquely corresponding to each electronic document on the General Department of Taxation's electronic portal.

4. “Electronic tax transaction account” refers to the username and password used to log in to the General Department of Taxation's electronic portal for performing electronic tax transactions, provided by the tax authority to the taxpayer.

The electronic tax transaction account includes one main account and up to 10 auxiliary accounts. The main account is issued by the tax authority to the taxpayer as per the regulations in Article 10 of this Circular. Auxiliary accounts are registered by the taxpayer through the main account to delegate permissions for specific electronic tax services.

5. “Electronic transaction authentication code” refers to a one-time password used when taxpayers lack a digital certificate to perform electronic transactions. This password is sent from the electronic portal of the General Department of Taxation or systems of related agencies to the registered phone number or email address of the taxpayer, or it is randomly generated every minute by an automatic electronic device provided by the tax authority or related agency, or it randomly generates after a certain period via an application provided by the tax authority or related agency and installed on a smartphone or tablet.

6. “Payable item identifier (ID)” refers to a string of characters generated in the tax management application system, uniquely corresponding to each tax file or payable item of the taxpayer.

7. “T-VAN service provider” refers to an intermediary prescribed in the Law on E-Transactions and accepted by GDT to connect with its web portal to provide representative services (in part or in whole) to taxpayers so that they can send, receive, store and recover e-documents; to facilitate initiation and processing of e-documents; to confirm e-transactions between the taxpayers and the tax authority.

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Thus, according to the regulations, T-VAN service provider in the field of taxation is the short form of "Value-added service provider organization in the field of electronic transactions in taxation."

A T-VAN service provider in the field of taxation acts as an intermediary representing taxpayers to perform tasks such as sending, receiving, storing, recovering electronic documents; supporting the creation, processing of electronic documents; and confirming the execution of electronic transactions between taxpayers and the tax authority.

*Note: A T-VAN service provider is an intermediary as per the Law on Electronic Transactions and is accepted by the General Department of Taxation to connect to the General Department of Taxation's electronic portal to provide representative services (partially or fully) for taxpayers.

What is the T-VAN service provider in the field of taxation in Vietnam? (Image from the Internet)

Can taxpayers in Vietnam choose a T-VAN service provider when conducting electronic tax transactions?

Based on Clause 2, Article 4 of Circular 19/2021/TT-BTC:

Principles of electronic tax transactions

1. Taxpayers conducting electronic tax transactions must have access to and be able to use the Internet, have an email address, a digital signature in accordance with Article 7 of this Circular, or a mobile phone number issued by a telecommunications company in Vietnam (for individuals not yet issued a digital certificate) registered for use in transactions with the tax authority, except in cases where taxpayers choose the method of electronic tax payment as per point dd, clause 2 of this Article following the regulations of banks or intermediary payment service providers.

2. Taxpayers can choose the following methods to carry out electronic tax transactions through:

a) The electronic portal of the General Department of Taxation.

b) The National Public Service Portal, the electronic portal of the Ministry of Finance, connected to the electronic portal of the General Department of Taxation.

c) The electronic portal of other competent state agencies (except for point b of this Clause) connected to the electronic portal of the General Department of Taxation.

d) T-VAN service providers accepted by the General Department of Taxation to connect to the electronic portal of the General Department of Taxation.

dd) Electronic payment services of banks or intermediary payment service providers to conduct electronic tax payments.

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As mentioned above, the T-VAN service provider is an intermediary between taxpayers and the tax authority.

Therefore, taxpayers can certainly choose a T-VAN service provider to conduct electronic tax transactions.

How to resolve issues when the T-VAN service provider in Vietnam fails to conduct electronic transactions due to technical infrastructure errors?

According to Clause 5, Article 9 of Circular 19/2021/TT-BTC, in case where electronic transactions cannot be conducted due to technical infrastructure errors of the T-VAN service provider:

- The T-VAN service provider is responsible for notifying the taxpayer of the timing of the system failure and the system’s restoration time; simultaneously, send notification to the tax authority on the same working day and cooperate with the General Department of Taxation for prompt support.

- During the technical infrastructure failure of the T-VAN service provider, taxpayers are allowed to conduct electronic transactions through the electronic portal of the General Department of Taxation to submit tax documents, pay taxes electronically, or choose other electronic tax transaction methods stipulated in Clause 2, Article 4 of Circular 19/2021/TT-BTC.