Can e-invoices be written in a foreign language? Is a digital signature required for invoices generated from cash registers connected to tax authorities in Vietnam?
What do the contents of the invoice include according to Vietnamese regulations?
According to Article 10 of Decree 123/2020/ND-CP, the contents of invoices are:
- Invoice name, invoice symbol, invoice model number symbol.
- The name of the invoice, applicable to invoices ordered by tax authorities, shall comply with the guidance of the Ministry of Finance.
- Invoice number
- Name, address, and tax code of the seller
The invoice must show the name, address, and tax identification number of the seller in accordance with the name, address, and tax identification number stated in the enterprise registration certificate, branch operation registration certificate, business household registration, tax registration certificate, tax identification number notification, investment registration certificate, cooperative registration certificate.
- Buyer's name, address, tax code
- Name, a unit of calculation, quantity, and unit price of goods and services; into money excluding value-added tax, value-added tax rate, total value-added tax amount by each tax rate, total value-added tax, total payment with the value-added tax increase.
- Signature of the seller, a signature of the buyer, specifically:
- The time of making invoices shall comply with the instructions in Article 9 of this Decree and be displayed in the format of day, month, and year of the calendar year.
- The time of digital signing on an e-invoice is the time when the seller and buyer use the digital signature to sign on the e-invoice displayed in the format of day, month, and year of the calendar year. In case the e-invoice has been issued with a different time of digital signature on the invoice, the time of tax declaration is the time of making the invoice.
- Tax authority's code for e-invoices with tax authority's code as prescribed in Clause 2, Article 3 of this Decree.
- State budget fees and charges, trade discounts, and promotions (if any) as guided at Point e, Clause 6 of this Article and other relevant contents (if any).
- Name and tax identification number of the invoice printing organization, for invoices printed by tax authorities.
- Letters, numbers, and currency showed on the invoice.
+ In addition to the instructions from Clauses 1 to 13 of this Article, businesses, organizations, business households, and individuals may create additional information about their logos or logos to represent their trademarks, brands, or logos. Representative image of the seller. Depending on the characteristics, nature of the transaction, and management requirements, the invoice may show information about the Purchase and Sale Contract, shipping order, customer code, and other information.
- The contents of the public property sale invoice shall comply with the guidance on making the public property sale invoice according to Form No. 08/TSC-HD issued together with the Decree No. 151/2017/ND-CP dated December 26, 2017 of the Government. The Government shall detail a number of articles of the Law on Management and Use of Public Property.
Can e-invoices be written in a foreign language? Is a digital signature required for invoices generated from cash registers connected to tax authorities in Vietnam?
Are the e-invoice written in a foreign language in Vietnam?
According to Clause 13, Article 10 of Decree 123/2020/ND-CP stipulating the letters, numbers, and currency shown on invoices are:
- The text on an invoice must be written in Vietnamese. If foreign language text is necessary, it must be placed between parentheses ( ) or next to the Vietnamese text, in which case it must be smaller than the Vietnamese text. If the text has to be written in Vietnamese without diacritics, it must not cause the readers to misunderstand its contents.
- Numbers on the invoice must be written in Arabic numerals: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. The seller may decide whether to use a period (.) as thousand separator and a comma (,) as a decimal separator, or vice versa.
- The currency on invoices shall be VND, expressed as “D".
+ If a foreign currency is used in an economic/financial transaction in accordance with regulations of the law on foreign exchange, the unit price, amounts, VAT amount by VAT rate, total VAT amount, and total amount payable shall be written in the foreign currency. The currency unit shall be the name of that foreign currency. The seller shall write the exchange rate of the foreign currency to VND on invoices in accordance with the Law on Tax administration and its instructional documents.
+ International currency symbols shall be used. (e.g. 13.800,25 USD – Thirteen thousand eight hundred US dollars and twenty-five cents, or 5.000,50 EUR - Five thousand euros and fifty cents).
+ If the goods/services are paid for in a foreign currency in accordance with the Law on foreign exchange and on which tax is also paid in a foreign currency, the total amount payable shall be written in the foreign currency instead of converted into VND.
Is digital signature required for invoices generated from cash registers with data transfer connection to tax authorities in Vietnam?
Article 11 of Decree 123/2020/ND-CP of Vietnam stipulates:
“Article 11. Invoices generated by POS cash registers that are digitally connected to tax authorities
Invoices generated by POS cash registers that are digitally connected to tax authorities must meet the following rules:
1. Invoices printed out from POS cash registers that are digitally connected to tax authorities must be recognizable;
2. Digital signatures on such invoices are optional;
3. The spending on goods or services written in the invoice (or is described in the scanned invoice or the information search result on the e-invoice page in the Web Portal of the General Department of Taxation) which is generated by a POS cash register may be defined as an expense supported by adequate legal invoices and records upon determination of tax obligations.”
Thus, the text displayed on the invoice must be in Vietnamese. In case it is necessary to write more foreign words, the foreign words shall be placed on the right side in parentheses ( ) or placed directly below the Vietnamese line and the font size is smaller than the Vietnamese word.
Decree 123/2020/ND-CP comes into force from July 1, 2022.
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