In Vietnam, does an e-invoice data storage service provider have to pay a deposit?

In Vietnam, does an e-invoice data storage service provider have to pay a deposit?

Pursuant to Clause 2, Article 10 of the Circular 78/2021/TT-BTC stipulating eligibility criteria to be satisfied by e-invoice service providers to enter into contracts for provision of authenticated e-invoice services, e-invoice data receipt, transmission and storage services, and other relevant services in Vietnam as follows:

2. An e-invoice data receipt, transmission and storage service provider is required to meet the following criteria:

a) Entity:

- It is an IT organization established under the law of Vietnam, and has been operating in the IT field for at least 05 years;

- Information about e-invoice services is published on its website;

b) Finance: it has paid a deposit at a bank lawfully operating in Vietnam or has obtained a guarantee of not less than VND 5 billion from a bank lawfully operating in Vietnam to manage risks and make compensation for any damage that may occur during the service provision;

c) Personnel: There are at least 20 employees possessing bachelor’s degree in IT;

d) Technology: There are IT infrastructure and equipment, and software system meeting the following requirements:

- They are adequate to provide solutions for creating, handling and storing data on authenticated e-invoices in accordance with the Law on e-invoices and relevant laws;

- There are solutions for connecting, receiving, transmitting and storing e-invoice data with organizations providing authenticated and unauthenticated e-invoice services for sellers and buyers; solutions for connecting, receiving, transmitting and storing e-invoice data with tax authorities. Information about data receipt and transmission must be fully recorded to serve verification purposes;

- The technical infrastructure system used for providing e-invoice services is operated on both the main data center and backup center. The backup center is located at least 20 km away from the main data center and is ready for use when the main data center encounters problem;

- The system must be capable of detecting, giving warning and preventing illegal access and cyberattacks to ensure the confidentiality and integrity of data exchanged between parties;

- The system for backing up and recovering data must be available;

- It is connected to the General Department of Taxation through a separate channel or MPLS VPN of Layer 3 or equivalent, which consists of 1 main channel and 2 backup channels. Each channel has a minimum bandwidth of 20 Mbps; use an encrypted Web Service or Message Queue (MQ) for connection; use SOAP/TCP to compile, transmit and receive data.

As regulations above, apart from meeting other requirements, your company is only eligible to operate after depositing at a bank lawfully operating in Vietnam with the value of not less than VND 5 billion in order to manage risks and make compensation for any damage that may occur during the service provision.

In Vietnam, how to handle erroneous e-invoices?

Pursuant to Article 19 of the Decree 123/2020/NĐ-CP stipulating handling of erroneous invoices in Vietnam as follows: 

1. When a seller discovers that the authenticated e-invoices which have not been sent to buyers contain errors, the seller shall inform the tax authority by using the Form No. 04/SS-HDDT in Appendix IA enclosed herewith of cancellation of such erroneous authenticated e-invoices, and prepare new e-invoices with digital signatures for submission to the tax authority for its issue of new authentication codes in place of the previous ones before sending them out to buyers. The tax authority shall cancel the erroneous authenticated e-invoices on its system.

2. If an authenticated or unauthenticated e-invoice which has been sent to the buyer is detected by either the buyer or seller to contain errors, it shall be handled as follows:

a) If the buyer’s name or address is wrong but the TIN and other information are correct, the seller shall inform the buyer of the errors and is not required to re-issue the invoice. The seller shall inform the tax authority of the erroneous e-invoice by using Form No. 04/SS-HDDT provided in Appendix IA enclosed herewith, unless data about the erroneous unauthenticated e-invoice is not yet sent to the tax authority.

b) If the information about TIN, amount, tax rate, tax amount or goods on the invoice is wrong, the error shall be handled by adopting one of the following methods:

b1) The seller shall create an e-invoice to correct the erroneous one. The seller and the buyer shall prepare a document specifying the errors as agreed upon between them before the seller issues a correction e-invoice.

The correction e-invoice shall bear the text “Điều chỉnh cho hóa đơn Mẫu số... ký hiệu... số... ngày... tháng... năm” (“This invoice corrects the invoice form No……….., reference No………, No………dated……….”).

b2) The seller issues a new e-invoice to replace the erroneous one. The seller and the buyer shall prepare a document specifying the errors as agreed upon between them before the seller issues a new e-invoice to replace the erroneous one.

The replacing invoice shall bear the text “Thay thế cho hóa đơn Mẫu số... ký hiệu... số... ngày... tháng... năm” (“This invoice replaces the invoice form No……….., reference No………, No………dated……….”).

The seller shall add the digital signature on the e-invoice which is issued to correct or replace the erroneous one, then send it to the buyer (in case of unauthenticated invoices) or send it to the tax authority for its issue of a new authentication code (in case of authenticated invoices).

c) In the civil aviation branch, ticket change/refund invoices are considered as correction invoices without bearing the text “Điều chỉnh tăng/giảm cho hóa đơn Mẫu số... ký hiệu... ngày... tháng... năm” (“Making an increase/decrease in the invoice form No…….., reference No……… dated…….”. Airlines are allowed to issue invoices in case of change/refund of tickets issued by their agents.

3. In case the tax authority discovers the errors on authenticated or unauthenticated e-invoices, it shall send a notice (using Form No. 01/TB-RSDT provided in Appendix IB enclosed herewith) to the seller.

The seller shall a notice specifying result of its examination of erroneous e-invoices (using the Form No. 04/SS-HDDT in Appendix IA enclosed herewith) to the tax authority by the deadline specified in the notice form No. 01/TB-RSDT provided in Appendix IB enclosed herewith.

If the tax authority receives no notice from the seller after the deadline specified in the notice form No. 01/TB-RSDT, it shall give another notice (using Form No. 01/TB-RSDT in Appendix IB) to the seller. After the deadline specified in the second notice (form 01/TB-RSDT), if the seller fails to give a notice to the tax authority, the tax authority shall consider to carry out inspection of the seller’s use of e-invoices.

4. The tax authority shall inform the receipt and the handling result (using form No. 01/TB-HDSS in Appendix IB enclosed herewith) within 01 working day. Though a cancelled electronic invoice has no value, it may be retained for reference.

Best regards!