Many enterprises and business entities in Vietnam are quite confused about the use of electronic invoices, especially in handling erroneous e-invoices. Regarding this matter, Decree 123/2020/ND-CP provides detailed guidance as follows:
Article table of contents
Vietnam: What is the guidance on handling erroneous e-invoices? (Illustrative image)
1. Case of detecting an erroneous e-invoice before sending it to the buyer in Vietnam
According to Clause 1 Article 19 of Decree 123/2020/ND-CP, when a seller discovers that the authenticated e-invoices that have not been sent to buyers contain errors, the seller shall:
+ inform the tax authority by using Form No. 04/SS-HDDT in Appendix IA enclosed herewith of cancellation of such erroneous authenticated e-invoices, and
+ prepare new e-invoices with digital signatures for submission to the tax authority for its issue of new authentication codes in place of the previous ones before sending them out to buyers.
The tax authority shall cancel the erroneous authenticated e-invoices on its system.
2. Case of detecting an erroneous e-invoice after sending it to the buyer in Vietnam
According to Clause 2 of Article 19 of Decree 123/2020/ND-CP, if an authenticated or unauthenticated e-invoice that has been sent to the buyer is detected by either the buyer or seller to contain errors, it shall be handled as follows:
- If the buyer’s name or address is wrong but the TIN and other information are correct, the seller shall inform the buyer of the errors and is not required to re-issue the invoice. The seller shall inform the tax authority of the erroneous e-invoice by using Form No. 04/SS-HDDT provided in Appendix IA enclosed herewith, unless data about the erroneous unauthenticated e-invoice is not yet sent to the tax authority.
- If the information about TIN, amount, tax rate, tax amount or goods on the invoice is wrong, the error shall be handled by adopting one of the following methods:
+ The seller shall create an e-invoice to correct the erroneous one. The seller and the buyer shall prepare a document specifying the errors as agreed upon between them before the seller issues a correction e-invoice.
The correction e-invoice shall bear the text “Điều chỉnh cho hóa đơn Mẫu số... ký hiệu... số... ngày... tháng... năm” (“This invoice corrects the invoice form No……….., reference No………, No………dated……….”).
+ The seller issues a new e-invoice to replace the erroneous one. The seller and the buyer shall prepare a document specifying the errors as agreed upon between them before the seller issues a new e-invoice to replace the erroneous one.
The replacing invoice shall bear the text “Thay thế cho hóa đơn Mẫu số... ký hiệu... số... ngày... tháng... năm” (“This invoice replaces the invoice form No……….., reference No………, No………dated……….”).
The seller shall add the digital signature on the e-invoice which is issued to correct or replace the erroneous one, then send it to the buyer (in case of unauthenticated invoices) or send it to the tax authority for its issue of a new authentication code (in case of authenticated invoices).
- In the civil aviation branch, ticket change/refund invoices are considered as correction invoices without bearing the text “Điều chỉnh tăng/giảm cho hóa đơn Mẫu số... ký hiệu... ngày... tháng... năm” (“Making an increase/decrease in the invoice form No…….., reference No……… dated…….”.
Airlines are allowed to issue invoices in case of change/refund of tickets issued by their agents.
3. Case of detecting an erroneous e-invoice by the tax authority in Vietnam
In case the tax authority discovers the errors on authenticated or unauthenticated e-invoices, it shall send a notice (using Form No. 01/TB-RSDT provided in Appendix IB enclosed herewith) to the seller.
The seller shall a notice specifying result of its examination of erroneous e-invoices (using the Form No. 04/SS-HDDT in Appendix IA enclosed herewith) to the tax authority by the deadline specified in the notice form No. 01/TB-RSDT provided in Appendix IB enclosed herewith.
If the tax authority receives no notice from the seller after the deadline specified in the notice form No. 01/TB-RSDT, it shall give another notice (using Form No. 01/TB-RSDT in Appendix IB) to the seller. After the deadline specified in the second notice (form 01/TB-RSDT), if the seller fails to give a notice to the tax authority, the tax authority shall consider to carry out inspection of the seller’s use of e-invoices.
- The tax authority shall inform the receipt and the handling result (using form No. 01/TB-HDSS in Appendix IB enclosed herewith) within 01 working day. Though a canceled electronic invoice has no value, it may be retained for reference.
Thus, Decree 123/2020/ND-CP provides very detailed guidance on handling erroneous e-invoices in specific cases. The seller only needs to follow these regulations to handle any errors that occur with e-invoices.
Thuy Tram
