What is an invoice? Regulations on content on invoices in Vietnam

What is an invoice? Regulations on content on invoices in Vietnam

1. What is an invoice?

“invoice” means an accounting record which is created by a goods seller or service provider to record information about the sale of goods or service provision. Invoices are represented in the electronic form or are printed according to orders placed by tax authorities.

2. Regulations on contents of invoices in Vietnam

In Article 10 of Decree 123/2020/ND-CP, the content of invoices is as follows:

- Name, reference number and form number of the invoice. To be specific:

+ The invoice name shall comply with the provisions in Article 8 of Decree 123/2020/ND-CP. For instance:

VAT invoice,

VAT invoice cum tax refund declaration,

VAT invoice cum receipt, sales invoice, public property sales invoice,

Stamp, ticket, card, and sales invoice on national reserve goods.

+ Form number and reference number of the invoice shall comply with regulations of the Ministry of Finance of Vietnam.

- Names of copies of tax authority-ordered printed invoices shall comply with regulations of the Ministry of Finance of Vietnam.

- Invoice number

+ Invoice number is an ordinal number written on the invoice when it is issued by the seller. An invoice number consists of 8 digits, from 1 to 99 999 999, written in Arabic numerals, begins on January 01 or the first day on which the invoices are used and ends on December 31. Numbers of invoices of the same reference number and form number shall be issued in ascending order. Buyers of tax authority-ordered printed invoices may use the invoice numbers pre-printed on such invoices.

If a business entity has multiple points of sale or multiple establishments using the same type of e-invoices of the same reference number by adopting the random access method from an e-invoicing system, invoices shall be issued in ascending order from the date on which the digital or electronic signature is added to the invoice.

+ If the aforementioned rules are not followed, the electronic invoicing system shall ensure that the numbers are generated in chronological order, every invoice number is unique and has no more than 8 digits.

- The seller’s name, address and TIN

Invoices shall contain the same seller's name, address and TIN as those written on the certificate of enterprise registration, certificate of branch registration, certificate of household business registration, taxpayer registration certificate, TIN notification, investment registration certificate, or certificate of cooperative registration.

- The buyer’s name, address and TIN

+ If the buyer is a business establishment that has a TIN, the buyer’s name, address and TIN shall be written on the invoice shall be same as those written on the certificate of enterprise registration, certificate of branch registration, certificate of household business registration, taxpayer registration certificate, TIN notification, investment registration certificate, or certificate of cooperative registration.

If the buyer’s name or address is too long, the seller may shorten some common nouns (such as P instead of “Phường” (war+, Q instead of “Quận” (district), TP instead of “Thành Phố” (city), TNHH instead of “Trách nhiệm Hữu hạn" (limited liability), KCN instead of “khu công nghiệp” (industrial park), SX instead of “sản xuất” (manufacturing/ production), CN instead of “Chi nhánh” (branch), 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.

+ If the buyer does not have a TIN, the invoice will not have the buyer's TIN. In case of sale of special goods/services to an individual mentioned in Clause 14 of Article 10 of Decree 123/2020/ND-CP, the buyer’s name and address are not mandatory on the invoice. In case of sale of goods/services to a foreigner in Vietnam, the buyer’s information and address may be replaced with information in his/her passport or travel document and his/her nationality.

- The name, unit, quantity, unit price, amount payable exclusive of VAT, VAT rate, total VAT amount calculated by each VAT rate, total VAT payable and total amount payable inclusive of VAT:

+ Name, unit, quantity, unit price:

- Name of good/service: written on the invoice in Vietnamese language. If the goods fall into different categories, their names shall contain the categories (e.g. Samsung phone, Nokia phone, etc.). In case the right to use or ownership of the goods has to be registered, the invoice shall bear the number or symbol of the goods that is needed for registration (e.g. chassis number, engine number of a vehicle, address, level, dimensions and number of stories of a house, etc.).

If foreign language text is necessary, it must be placed between parentheses () or next to the Vietnamese text, in which case it must be smaller than the Vietnamese text. If the good or service has a pLU code, both the name and the pLU code must be written on the invoice.

- Unit: determined by the seller according to the nature and characteristics of the goods. It can be a unit of measurement (e.g. tonne, kg, g, mg, tael, once, piece, box, can, pack, tube, m3, m2, m...). An invoice for provision of services does not necessarily have the item “Đơn vị tính” (unit). The unit of services is the time of provision of the services and contents of the services.

- Quantity: written by the seller in Arabic numerals according to the unit of goods/services. For special goods/services that are periodically sold/supplied like electricity, water, telecommunications services, IT services, television services, postal and delivery services, banking, securities or insurance, the invoice shall specify the good purchase or service provision cycle. An invoice for a service periodically provided may be accompanied by a list of goods/services supplied. This list shall be retained together with the issued invoice to serve inspections by competent authorities.

The invoice must bear the text “kèm theo bảng kê số…, ngày...tháng...năm” (“This invoice is accompanied by the list No…..date….”). This list shall bear the seller’s name, TIN and address, name, quantity and unit of goods/services, total amount payable, date, name and signature of the person preparing the list. If the seller pays VAT by adopting the credit-invoice method, the list must have the items “thuế suất giá trị gia tăng” (VAT rat+ and “tiền thuế giá trị gia tăng” (VAT amount). Total amount payable must be same as that specified on the VAT invoice. Goods/services sold shall be enumerated in chronological order. The list must bear the text “kèm theo hóa đơn số ngày...tháng...năm” (“This list is accompanied with the invoice No…..date….”).

- Unit price: written by the seller according to the unit of goods/services. If the invoice is accompanied by a list of goods/services supplied, this invoice does not necessarily bear the unit price.

+ VAT rate: The VAT rate specified in an invoice varies according to the type of goods/services as prescribed by the Law on VAT.

+ The amount payable exclusive of VAT, VAT amount by VAT rate, total VAT amount payable, and amount payable inclusive of VAT shall be written in Arabic numerals and expressed as VND currency, unless the goods/services are paid for in a foreign currency without having to be converted into VND.

+ Total amount payable on the invoice shall be written in Arabic numerals and Vietnamese language, and expressed as VND currency, unless the goods/services are paid for in a foreign currency without having to be converted into VND.

+ In case a discount or sales promotion is offered by the seller, the invoice must clearly specify that discount or sales promotion. The price on which VAT is imposed (VAT-exclusive pric+ in case of discount or sales promotion shall be determined in accordance with the Law on VAT.

+ In case an airline runs a ticketing system established in accordance with international practices, service charges on air tickets (including system administration fees, air ticket change fees, and other fees) and airport service charges (including passenger service fees, X-ray screening fees and other fees) on invoices are inclusive of VAT. Amounts on air tickets may be rounded to the nearest thousandth in accordance with regulations of the International Air Transport Association (IAT+.

- Signatures of the buyer and the seller:

+ Tax authority-ordered printed invoices must bear the seller’s signature and seal (if any) and the buyer’s signature (if any).

+ With regard to e-invoices:

In case the seller is an enterprise or organization, the seller’s digital signature on the invoice is the digital signature of such enterprise or organization; in case the seller is an individual, it will be the digital signature of the individual or another person authorized by the individual.

In case an electronic invoice does not necessarily have the seller’s and the buyer’s digital signatures, the provisions in Clause 14 of Article 10 of Decree 123/2020/ND-CP shall apply.

- The issuance date of the invoice shall comply with the provisions in Article 9 of Decree 123/2020/ND-CP and be written in "ngày, tháng, năm” (day/month/year) format of the calendar year.

- The date of the digital signature on an e-invoice is the date on which the seller or buyer adds his/her digital signature to that e-invoice and expressed in "ngày, tháng, năm” (day/month/year) format of the calendar year. If the date of a digital signature on an issued e-invoice is different from the issuance date of the e-invoice, the tax declaration date shall be the issuance date of that e-invoice.

- The tax authority’s authentication codes on authenticated e-invoices shall comply with the provisions in Clause 2 Article 3 hereof.

- Fees and charges payable to state budget, discounts and sales promotions (if any) shall comply with the provisions in Point e Clause 6 of Article 10 of Decree 123/2020/ND-CP and relevant contents (if any).

- Name and TIN of the invoice printing service provider shall be specified in tax authority-ordered printed invoices.

- Text, numbers and currencies on invoices:

+ The text on an invoice must be written in Vietnamese language. If foreign language text is necessary, it must be placed between parentheses ( ) or next to the Vietnamese text, in which case it must be smaller than the Vietnamese text. If the text has to be written in Vietnamese without diacritics, it must not cause the readers to misunderstand its contents.

+ Numbers on the invoice must be written in Arabic numerals: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. The seller may decide whether to use a period (.) as thousands separator and a comma (,) as a decimal separator, or vice versa.

+ The currency on invoices shall be VND, expressed as “D".

Ngoc Nhi

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