When is the invoicing time for service provision in Vietnam?

When is the invoicing time for service provision in Vietnam?

According to Article 9 of Decree No. 123/2020/ND-CP, the time for issuing invoices is regulated as follows:

Time for issuing invoices

1. The time for issuing invoices for the sale of goods (including the sale of state assets, confiscated assets, surrendered national reserves, and national reserve goods) is the time of transfer of ownership or right to use the goods to the buyer, regardless of whether payment has been received.

2. The time for issuing invoices for service provision is the time of completion of service provision, regardless of whether payment has been received. In cases where the service provider collects payment before or during the service provision, the time for issuing the invoice is the time of payment collection (excluding cases of deposit or advance payment to secure the execution of service provision contracts such as accounting, auditing, financial consulting, taxation; valuation; survey, technical design; supervisory consultancy; construction investment project formulation).

3. In cases of multiple deliveries or staged handovers of service items or processes, an invoice must be issued for each delivery or handover according to the volume or value of the goods or services delivered.

Thus, the time to issue an invoice for service provision is when the service is completed, regardless of whether payment has been received.

What is the specific invoicing time for service provision in large quantities in Vietnam?

According to Clause 4, Article 9 of Decree No. 123/2020/ND-CP, the time for issuing invoices in specific cases is regulated as follows:

Time for issuing invoices

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4. The time for issuing invoices in specific cases is as follows:

a) For cases where services are provided in large quantities, occurring frequently, requiring time for data verification between the service provider and the customer or partner, such as direct support services for air transportation, supply of aviation fuel to airlines, electricity supply activities (except as specified in point h of this clause), water, television services, postal services (including agency services, collection and expenditure services), telecommunication services (including value-added telecommunication services), logistics services, information technology services (except as regulated in point b of this clause) sold on a specified periodic basis, the time for issuing the invoice is the time of completion of data verification between parties but not later than the 7th of the month following the month in which the service provision occurred or no later than 7 days from the end of the agreed period. The agreed period as a basis for calculating the quantity of goods and services provided is based on the agreement between the goods and services provider and the buyer.

b) For telecommunication services (including value-added telecommunication services), information technology services (including payment intermediary services on the telecommunication and IT platforms) that require connection data verification among service business establishments, the time for issuing invoices is the completion of data verification on service charges according to economic contracts among service business establishments but not later than 2 months from the month of service charge occurrence.

In case of providing telecommunication services (including value-added telecommunication services) through selling prepaid cards, charging a network fee when the customer registers using the service and the customer does not require a VAT invoice or does not provide a name, address, tax code, at the end of each day or periodically in the month, the service business establishment issues a general VAT invoice recording the total revenue generated from each service where the buyer does not take an invoice or does not provide name, address, tax code.

c) For construction and installation activities, the time for issuing the invoice is the time of acceptance, handover of the construction project, project item, completed construction volume, regardless of whether payment has been received.

Thus, for the issuance of invoices in cases of providing services in large quantities, the time for issuing the invoice is upon completion of data verification between parties, but not later than the 7th of the month after the service provision month or no more than 7 days from the end of the agreed period.

The agreed period to serve as a basis for calculating the quantity of goods or services provided is based on the agreement between the seller or service provider and the buyer.

When is the invoicing time for service provision in Vietnam? (Image from the Internet)

What is the penalty for issuing e-invoices at incorrect times in Vietnam?

According to the provisions of Article 24 of Decree No. 125/2020/ND-CP, Clause 4 is supplemented by Clause 3, Article 1 of Decree No. 102/2021/ND-CP, stated as follows:

Penalty for violations concerning the issuance of invoices when selling goods or services

1. A warning for the following acts:

a) Issuing invoices at incorrect times but does not result in delayed tax obligation fulfillment and has mitigating circumstances;

b) Continuously issuing invoices from smaller to larger numbers but in different books (using a book with a larger serial number and not yet using a book with a smaller serial number) and the organization or individual, upon detection, has canceled the books with smaller serial numbers;

c) Issuing the wrong type of invoice according to the provisions that have been given to the buyer or have been declared tax, but the seller and buyer discover the incorrect invoice issuance and reissue the correct type according to regulations before the competent authority announces the decision to inspect or audit at the taxpayer’s office and does not affect the determination of tax obligations.

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3. A fine ranging from VND 3,000,000 to VND 5,000,000 for issuing invoices at incorrect times that do not lead to delayed tax obligation fulfillment, except for the case specified at point a, clause 1 of this Article.

4. A fine ranging from VND 4,000,000 to VND 8,000,000 for any of the following acts:

a) Issuing invoices at incorrect times according to regulations concerning sales invoices and service provision, except as specified at point a, clause 1, and clause 3 of this Article;

b) Issuing invoices not in sequential order from smaller to larger numbers as regulated, except for warning at point b, clause 1 of this Article;

c) Issuing invoices with dates prior to purchasing invoices from the tax authority;

d) Issuing the wrong type of invoice according to the legal provisions on sales and service provision invoices that have been given to the buyer or declared tax, except for warning at point c, clause 1 of this Article;

đ) Issuing e-invoices without notification of acceptance by the tax authority or before the tax authority accepts the use of e-invoices with or without a code;

e) Issuing invoices for goods and services during business suspension, except for issuing invoices to deliver to customers for executing contracts signed before the business suspension notice;

g) Issuing e-invoices from cash registers or other methods without connecting and transferring e-data to the tax authority.

h) Issuing invoices without fully recording the mandatory contents on the invoice as required.

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6. Remedial measures: Compulsory issuance of invoices according to regulations for the act specified at point d, clause 4, and clause 5 of this Article when requested by the buyer.

Thus, the issuance of invoices at incorrect times may result in a penalty up to 8 million VND.

Additionally, there will be remedial measures, which include compulsory issuance of invoices according to regulations.