Vietnam: Guidance on filling some specific items on an invoice

Item “Ngày tháng năm” (Date of invoice)

Item “Tên, Địa chỉ, mã số thuế của người bán” (name, address, TIN of the seller), “tên, Địa chỉ, mã số thuế của người mua” (name, address, TIN of the buyer)

Item “Tên, Địa chỉ, mã số thuế của người bán” (name, address, TIN of the seller), “tên, Địa chỉ, mã số thuế của người mua” (name, address, TIN of the buyer): write the full name or abbreviated name according to the Certificate of Business Registration or Tax registration.

If the name or address of the buyer is too long, the seller may shorten some common nouns (P instead of Phường (ward), Q instead of Quận (district), TP instead of Thành Phố (city), etc.) as long as the house number, names of the street, ward, district, city, name of the company are written and conformable with business registration or tax registration of the company.

In case goods are sold by an affiliated unit of the organization using a separate TIN, the name, address, and TIN of such affiliated unit must be written. If the affiliated unit does not have a TIN, the TIN of the headquarter shall be written.

When a buyer of goods or services worth VND 200,000 or more does not take the invoice or provide his/her name, address, and TIN, an invoice shall still be issued and say “người mua không lấy hóa Đơn" (the buyer refuses to take this invoice) or “người mua không cung cấp tên, Địa chỉ, mã số thuế" (the buyer refuses to provide his/her name, address, TIN).

If buyers refuse to take invoices at an oil/gas retail outlet, an invoice for total revenue from buyers that refuse to take invoices in the day shall be issued.

In case the invoice has an error in the name and address of the buyer but the correct tax code is written, the parties shall make an adjustment record and not have to issue an adjustment invoice. In cases where invoices have been made with other errors, follow the instructions in Article 20 of Circular No. 39/2014/TT-BTC.

Item “Số thứ tự, tên hàng hóa, dịch vụ, Đơn vị tính, số lượng, Đơn giá, thành tiền” (Number, name of goods/services, unit, quantity, unit price, amount payable”

Enumerate the goods/services sold in order; cross out the blank (if any). It is not required to cross out blank space on self-printed invoices or ordered invoice issued by computers.

If goods/services are encoded by the seller, the invoice must specify both the codes and names of goods.

If the right to ownership or the right to enjoyment of goods must be registered, the invoice must specify the identification numbers, symbols of such goods that are required by law when goods are registered.  Example: chassis numbers, engine numbers of motor vehicles; address, class, length, width, number of stories of a house, etc.

Invoices for special goods such as electricity, water, telephone service, oil and gas, insurance, etc. that are sold periodically must specify the goods/service provision period.

Item “người bán hàng (ký, đóng dấu, ghi rõ họ tên)” - Seller (signature, seal, full name)

If the head of the unit does not sign in this box, the head of the unit must authorize the shopkeeper in writing to sign, write his/her name, and append the organization’s seal on the upper left of the invoice.

Item “người mua hàng (ký, ghi rõ họ tên)” - Buyer (signature, seal, full name)

Invoices for indirect purchases such as shopping by phone, via the Internet or fax, the buyer is not required to append his/her signature and name on the invoice.  In the box “người mua hàng (ký, ghi rõ họ tên)” - Buyer (signature, seal, full name), the seller must specify that goods are sold by telephone, the Internet, or fax.

Invoices for sale of goods and services to abroad are not required to have signatures of foreign buyers.

Currency on invoices

Currency on invoices is Vietnam dong.

If a seller is permitted to collect foreign currencies when selling goods, the total amount of payment shall be foreign currencies, the amount in words shall be written in Vietnamese language.

Example: USD 10,000 - Mười nghìn Đô la Mỹ.

The seller must write the exchange rate on the invoice according to the average exchange rate on inter-bank foreign exchange market announced by the State bank of Vietnam when the invoice is issued.

If the foreign currency collected does not have an exchange rate with Vietnam dong, an exchange rate between that currency and another foreign currency of which the exchange rate is announced by the State bank of Vietnam shall be written.

Instructions on issuing sale invoices in some cases are provided in Appendix 4 enclosed with Circular No. 39/2014/TT-BTC of the Ministry of Finance of Vietnam.

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