Vietnam: Invoices/records must be stored and retained to ensure security, integrity and completeness

According to Article 6 of the Decree No. 123/2020/NĐ-CP of Vietnam’s Government, invoices/records must be stored and retained to ensure:

- Safety, security, integrity, completeness, avoidance of any change or deviation during the retention period;

- They are stored and retained for a period prescribed in the Law on accounting.

E-invoices/electronic records shall be stored and retained by electronic instruments. Authorities, organizations and individuals are entitled to select and apply methods for storage and retention of e-invoices/electronic records in conformity with their specific operations and capacity to apply information technology. They must be printed out or searched upon request.

Moreover, storage and retention of tax authority-ordered printed invoices, externally- or internally-printed records must meet the following requirements:

- Invoices/records which are not yet issued must be stored and retained in accordance with regulations on storage and retention of valuable papers.

- Invoices/records issued by accounting units shall be retained in accordance with regulations on storage and retention of accounting vouchers.

- Invoices/records issued by organizations, households or individuals other than accounting units shall be stored and retained in the same manner as their assets.

In particular, Article 7 of the Decree No. 123/2020/NĐ-CP of Vietnam’s Government stipulates that legal e-invoices/electronic records may be converted into paper invoices/records to meet the requirements of economic/financial transactions or at the request of tax authorities, audit, inspection or investigation authorities, and in accordance with regulations of laws on inspection and investigation.

Note: Contents of a paper invoice or record which is converted from an e-invoice or electronic record must correspond to those of the original e-invoice or electronic record.

In case where an e-invoice or electronic record is converted into a paper invoice or record, this paper invoice or record shall be retained for bookkeeping and monitoring purposes only in accordance with regulations of the Laws on accounting and electronic transactions, and shall not be valid for use in transactions or payments, except for cases where invoices are generated from POS cash registers that are digitally connected to tax authorities in accordance with the provisions herein.

View more details at the Decree No. 123/2020/NĐ-CP of Vietnam’s Government, effective from July 01, 2022.

Le Vy

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