Supplementing Certain Penalties in the Invoice Sector According to New Regulations

1. Fines ranging from 500,000 VND to 1,500,000 VND for the following actions:

- Ordering the printing of invoices without signing a written printing contract;- Submitting a notification to adjust information in the invoice issuance notification to the direct tax management agency and submitting a list of unused invoices to the tax agency of the new location late by over 10 days from the first use of the invoice at the new address when a business changes its business address leading to a change in the direct tax management agency;- Using an invoice issued to the tax agency but not yet valid for use (5 days from the date the issuance notification is sent).

1. Fines ranging from 2,000,000 VND to 4,000,000 VND for the following actions:

- Ordering the printing of invoices when the tax agency has issued a written notice that the organization or enterprise does not meet the conditions to order the printing of invoices. This fine does not apply if the tax agency has no written opinion upon receiving the proposal to use printed invoices from the organization or enterprise as guided by the Ministry of Finance;- Creating an invoice issuance notification without all required contents according to regulations;- Failing to publicly post the invoice issuance notification as required;- Submitting a notification to adjust information in the invoice issuance notification to the direct tax management agency and submitting a list of unused invoices to the tax agency of the new location over 20 days from the first use of the invoice at the new address when a business changes its business address leading to a change in the direct tax management agency.

1. Fines ranging from 4,000,000 VND to 8,000,000 VND for the following actions:

- Issuing invoices not according to the timeline prescribed by the law on the sale of goods and supply of services;- Issuing invoices not in numerical order from small to large numbers as required;- Having the date on the issued invoice earlier than the date of purchase of the invoice from the tax agency;- Issuing invoices but not delivering them to the buyer, except where the invoice clearly states the buyer does not require the invoice or the invoice is listed;- Failing to create a list or aggregate invoice as prescribed by law on the sale of goods and supply of services;- Issuing incorrect types of invoices as prescribed by law on the sale of goods and supply of services, and the issued invoices have been provided to the buyer or declared for tax purposes;- Losing, burning, or damaging issued invoices that have not been created yet or issued invoices (customer copies) that the customer has not yet received, or invoices listed for retail sale of goods and services, except for cases where the loss, fire, or damage of the invoice is due to a natural disaster, fire, or other unexpected or force majeure events which will not be fined.

In cases where issued invoices (customer copies) are lost, burned, or damaged, the seller and buyer must create a written record of the incident. If the seller has declared and paid tax, has a contract, proof of purchase, and at least one mitigating circumstance, the minimum fine will be applied; if there are two mitigating circumstances, a warning will be issued.

In cases of losing, burning, or damaging invoices, other than the customer copy, during storage time, fines will be applied according to accounting laws.

In cases where the seller finds the lost invoice (customer copy) before the tax agency issues a penalty decision, no fine will be imposed on the seller.

During the enforcement period by notifying that invoices are no longer valid, if the seller issues an invoice to the buyer, both the seller and buyer will be administratively fined for illegal use of invoices.

Particularly, organizations and individuals penalized for administrative violations must understand the principle of penalty application: For the same administrative violation concerning invoices, the fine for organizations is twice the fine for individuals.

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