When is the invoicing time in business activities on e-commerce trading platforms in Vietnam?

What is an E-commerce trading platform?

An e-commerce trading platform is defined in Clause 9, Article 3 of Decree 52/2013/ND-CP as an e-commerce website that allows traders, organizations, and individuals who are not the owners of the website to carry out part or all of the process of buying and selling goods and services on it.

Note: The e-commerce trading platform in Decree 52/2013/ND-CP does not include online stock trading websites.

In this context:

- E-commerce activities are the process of conducting part or all of the commercial activities by e-means connected to the Internet, mobile telecommunications networks, or other open networks.

- E-commerce website (hereinafter referred to as the website) is an e-information page established to serve part or all of the process of buying and selling goods or providing services, from displaying and introducing goods and services to concluding contracts, providing services, payment, and after-sales service.

When is the invoicing time in business activities on e-commerce trading platforms in Vietnam? (Image from the Internet)

When is the invoicing time in business activities on e-commerce trading platforms in Vietnam?

According to Official Dispatch 3723/CTCTH-TTHT of 2024 and Article 9 of Decree 123/2020/ND-CP, the invoicing time in the sale of goods and services is determined as follows:

- The invoicing time in the sale of goods (including the sale of state assets, confiscated assets, assets added to the state budget, and national reserve goods) is the moment of transferring ownership rights or usage rights of the goods to the buyer, regardless of whether the payment has been collected or not.

- The invoicing time in the provision of services is when the service provision is completed, regardless of whether the payment has been collected or not. If the service provider collects payment before or during the provision of services, the invoicing time is the moment of collecting payment (excluding cases where deposits or advance payments are collected to ensure the execution of services: accounting, auditing, financial consulting, tax; valuation; surveying, technical design; supervisory consultancy; investment project planning).

- For cases of multiple deliveries or handovers of different stages of service, each delivery or handover is invoiced for the corresponding quantity and value of goods or services delivered.

See details in Official Dispatch 3723/CTCTH-TTHT of 2024: Download

What are the primary contents on e-invoices in Vietnam?

According to Article 10 of Decree 123/2020/ND-CP and Article 4 of Circular 78/2021/TT-BTC which specify the contents of e-invoices:

- Invoice name, invoice symbol, invoice form number symbol.

- Name of invoice copies applicable to invoices printed by tax authorities following the guidelines from the Ministry of Finance.

- Invoice number.

- Name, address, tax code of the seller.

- Name, address, tax code of the buyer.

- Name, unit of measure, quantity, unit price of goods, services; the total amount excluding VAT, VAT rate, total VAT amount according to each tax rate, total VAT amount, and total amount including VAT.

- Signature of the seller, signature of the buyer.

- Time of invoice issuance.

- Time of digital signature on e-invoices.

- Tax authority's code for e-invoices with codes from the tax authority.

- Fees, charges belonging to the state budget, commercial discounts, promotions (if any) as instructed at Point e, Clause 6 of this Article and other related contents (if any).

- Name, tax code of the organization receiving the invoice printing for invoices printed by tax authorities.

- Words, numbers, and currency shown on the invoice.

- Other contents on the invoice.

What are the principles for issuing, managing, and using e-invoices?

According to Article 90 of the Law on Tax Administration 2019 stipulating the principles for issuing, managing, and using e-invoices as follows:

(1). When selling goods or providing services, the seller must issue an e-invoice to deliver to the buyer in a standard data format and must fully record the contents as prescribed by tax laws, accounting laws, without distinguishing the value of each sales or service provision transaction.

(2). In case the seller uses a cash register, the seller must register to use an e-invoice generated from the cash register with a connection to transmit e-data to the tax authority.

(3). The registration, management, and use of e-invoices in sales transactions and service provision must comply with the provisions of e-transaction laws, accounting laws, and tax laws.

(4). The issuance of the tax authority’s code on e-invoices is based on the information provided by enterprises, economic organizations, other organizations, business households, and business individuals on the invoices.

Enterprises, economic organizations, other organizations, business households, and business individuals are responsible for the accuracy of the information on the invoices.