Vietnam: Invoicing time in each specific case

According to Article 9 of the Decree No. 123/2020/NĐ-CP of Vietnam’s Government, invoicing time is specified as follows:

- Invoices for sale of goods (including the sale of state-owned property, property confiscated and put into state fund, and the sale of national reserve goods) shall be issued when the right to own or use goods is transferred to buys, whether the payment of the invoiced amount is made or not.

- Invoices for provision of services shall be issued upon completion of the provision of services, whether the payment of the invoiced amount is made or not. In case a service is provided with payments collected in advanced or during the provision of that service, an invoice shall be issued when each payment is collected (excluding payments of deposited amounts or advance payments which are made to ensure the execution of contracts for provision of accounting, audit, financial consulting or taxation services; valuation services; technical survey and design services; supervision consulting services; investment construction project formulation services).

Note: In case where multiple deliveries are required, or each goods item or service phase is accepted, it shall be mandatory to issue an invoice showing quantity, value of goods or service for each respective delivery or acceptance.

In particular, invoicing time in some specific cases is as follows:

- In cases where a service is provided regularly and in large quantities, and needs time for checking and verifying figures between the service provider and its clients/partners such as air transport support services, supply of aviation fuel to airlines, supply of electricity (except the case prescribed in Point h of this Clause), supply of water, television services, postal and delivery services (including agency services, cash collection and payment services), telecommunications services (including value-added telecommunications services), logistics services, IT services (except the case prescribed in Point b of this Clause) which are periodically provided, invoices shall be issued upon completion of figures checking and verification between the parties but no later than the 07th of the month following the month in which the service is provided or within 07 days after the end of a cycle. This cycle shall be agreed upon between the service provider and the buyer.

- With regard to telecommunications services (including value-added telecommunications services) and IT services (including intermediary payment services provided on telecommunications or IT platforms) of which the payments require checking and verification of data connections between the service providers, invoices shall be issued upon completion of service charge data under economic contracts signed between service providers but within 2 months following the month in which connection service charges arise.

Note: In case telecommunications services (including value-added telecommunications services) are provided by selling prepaid cards or collecting interconnection charges when clients register for use of services without requesting the issue of VAT invoices or providing name, address and TIN, at the end of each day or on the periodical basis of each month, the service provider shall issue a VAT invoice recording total revenue from each service provided to the buyer for which the buyer does not request invoice or does not provide name, address and TIN.

- Invoices for construction and installation shall be issued at the time of commissioning and acceptance of the finished work, work item or construction/installation amounts, whether the payment of the invoiced amount is made or not.

- For organizations trading real estate or building infrastructure facilities and houses for sale or transfer:

+ In case the ownership or use right is not yet transferred: an invoice shall be issued every time an installment is made in accordance with the agreement or contract.

+ In case the ownership or use right has been transferred: an invoice shall be issued in accordance with the provisions in Clause 1 of this Article.

- An invoice for air tickets issued via websites or e-commerce systems established according to international practices shall be issued within 05 days from the day on which the ticket is issued on the website or e-commerce system.

- For exploration, extraction and processing of crude oil: Invoices for the sale of crude oil, condensate and products processed from the crude oil (including product offtake as undertaken by the Government) shall be issued when the official selling price is determined agreed upon between the buyer and the seller, whether the payment of invoiced amounts is made or not.

+ For the sale of natural gas, associated gas or coal gas which is transported through the pipelines to buyers, invoices shall be issued when the buyer and the seller agree upon the quantity of gas delivered every month but within 07 days after the seller notifies in writing the quantity of gas delivered in the month.

+ If the invoicing time is provided for in an underwriting agreement or commitment given by the Government, invoices shall be issued according to the provisions of such Government’s underwriting agreement or commitment.

- For retailers, and foods and drinks trading establishments that sell foods and drinks directly to consumers through their stores but all business operations are recorded at their head offices (the head office directly enters into contracts for sale of goods/provision of services; each store shall issue sales invoices to clients through its POS cash register in the name of the head office), POS cash registers are connected to computers but incapable of transmitting data to tax authorities, bills are printed out and presented to clients who do not request for e-invoices and data thereof is stored on the system, at the end of a business day, the business establishment shall, based on bill data, issue e-invoices for goods or foods and drinks sold during the day, and send them to clients if requested.

- For the sale of electricity by electricity generators, e-invoices shall be issued according to the time of checking and verifying payment amounts between the electricity grid and market operator, electricity generator and buyer as prescribed by the Ministry of Industry and Trade or the power purchase agreement which has been instructed and approved by the Ministry of Industry and Trade but by the deadline for submission of tax declaration dossier for the month in which tax is incurred in accordance with regulations of the law on taxation. With regard to the retailing of electricity by electricity generators that possess Government guarantees on payments, e-invoices shall be issued according to the provisions of such Government guarantees, guidance and approval given by the Ministry of Industry and Trade, and the power purchase agreement signed by and between the seller and the buyer.

- In case of retailing of oil and gas, e-invoices shall be issued to buyers upon completion of each sale. The seller shall retain e-invoices for sale of oil and gas to non-business individuals and business individuals, and make sure they can be accessed at the request of competent authorities.

- In case of provision of air transport services or insurance services through agents, invoices shall be issued upon completion of data checking and verification between the parties but by the 10th of the month following the month in which the service is provided.

- In case of provision of banking, securities, insurance or e-wallet money transfer services, electricity supply suspension and resumption services rendered by electricity distributors to non-business individuals (or business individuals) that do not request for invoices, at the end of each day or each month, the service provider shall issue a consolidated invoice based on details on each transaction conducted in the day or month at its data management system. The service provider shall be held responsible for the accuracy of information on transactions and provide lists of services provided at the request of competent authorities. An invoice may be also issued to a client for each transaction at his/her request.

- In case of provision of passenger transport services by taxis equipped with using taxi fare calculation software as prescribed by law:

+ At the end of the trip, the enterprise or cooperative that provides passenger transport services by taxis equipped with using taxi fare calculation software shall send information about the trip to the passenger and to the tax authority according to the format prescribed by the tax authority. Information sent includes the name of transport service provider, number plate and trip distance (measured in km) and total fare payable by the passenger.

+ If an e-invoice is requested, the passenger shall update or send his/her particulars (including name, address and TIN) to the software or the relevant service provider. Based on the information provided or updated by the passenger, the enterprise or cooperative that provides passenger transport services by taxis equipped with using taxi fare calculation software shall send an invoice for the trip to the passenger, and transmit the invoice data to the relevant tax authority in accordance with the provisions in Article 22 hereof.

- With regards to health facilities that use software for managing medical examination and treatment, and hospital fees, if physical receipt (hospital fee receipt or medical service charge receipt) is printed out upon each provision of medical service or x-ray or testing services, and stored on the IT system, and the client (i.e. patient) does not request for invoices, at the end of each day, the health facility shall, based on information on medical services provided and contained in physical receipts, compile e-invoices for medical services provided in the day, and send e-invoices to clients at their request.

- In case of non-stop electronic toll collection (ETC), an invoice shall be issued on the day on which the vehicle charged runs through the tollbooth. If a client using the ETC service owns two or more vehicles using the service multiple times in a month, the ETC service provider may issue e-invoices to that client periodically but by the last day of the month in which the ETC service is provided. The invoice must specify each vehicle passing the tollbooth (including the time of passing and toll rate).

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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