Vietnam: Time limit for imposition of an invoice-related administrative penalty shall be only 01 year

According to Clause 1 Article 8 of the Decree No. 125/2020/NĐ-CP of Vietnam’s Government, time limits for imposition of invoice-related administrative penalties is specified as follows:

1. Time limit for imposition of an invoice-related administrative penalty shall be 01 year.

2. Start dates of time limits for imposition of invoice-related administrative penalties shall be regulated as follows:

- As for in-progress administrative violations which are stipulated in point c of this clause, the time limits for imposition of administrative penalties for these violations shall start from the dates on which competent law enforcement officers detect such violations.

- As for completed administrative violations which are stipulated in point d of this clause, the time limits for imposition of administrative penalties for these violations shall start from the dates on which these violations terminate.

3. In-progress invoice-related administrative violations constitute those prescribed in clause 4 of Article 21; point b of clause 2 and clause 3 of Article 23; clause 2 and 5 of Article 24; point b of clause 3 of Article 25; point b of clause 2 and point b, c and d of clause 3 of Article 27; point b of clause 5 of Article 29; point b of clause 3 of Article 30 of the Decree No. 125/2020/NĐ-CP of Vietnam’s Government.

4. Invoice-related administrative violations which are not classified as those prescribed in point c of this clause constitute completed administrative violations. The time of termination of an act of violation is the date of commission of that act.

- As for acts that cause the loss, burning of or damage to invoices, if the occurrence date cannot be defined, the time of termination of such act shall be the date of discovery of these events.

- As for acts of violation against regulations on invoice-related notification or reporting time limits referred to in clause 1 and 3 of Article 21; point a and b of clause 1, point c and d of clause 2 of Article 23; clause 1 and 2 and point a of clause 3 of Article 25; clause 1, point a of clause 2, 3 and 4 and point a of clause 5 of Article 29 of the Decree No. 125/2020/NĐ-CP of Vietnam’s Government, the time of termination of these acts shall be the date on which taxpayers submit invoice-related notifications or reports.

Note: If a violating entity or person evades or militates against penalties, time limits for imposition of administrative penalties shall be reset, starting from the time of abandonment of acts of evading or militating against penalties.

Current regulation: According to Clause 1 Article 5 of the Circular No. 10/2014/TT-BTC of the Ministry of Finance of Vietnam, time limits for imposition of invoice-related administrative penalties is specified as follows:

1. The statute of limitations for sanctioning administrative violations in the field of invoices shall be one year.

For administrative violations on invoices causing tax evasion, tax fraud, late payment of tax, failing to declare tax obligations then statute of limitations for sanctioning in accordance with legal provisions on tax is 5 years.

View more details at the Decree No. 125/2020/NĐ-CP of Vietnam’s Government, effective from December 05, 2020.

Thuy Tram

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