Criteria for e-invoice service provider in Vietnam

Criteria for e-invoice service provider in Vietnam (Internet image)

Regarding this issue, LawNet would like to answer as follows:

1. What is e-invoice service provider?

According to Clause 12, Article 3 of Decree 123/2020/ND-CP, e-invoice service provider means an organization that provides solutions for generating, receiving, transmitting, storing and processing authenticated and unauthenticated e-invoice data.

E-invoice service providers includes organizations that provide authenticated and unauthenticated e-invoice solutions for sellers and buyers, and organizations that make connections for receiving, transmitting and storing e-invoice data with tax authorities.

2. Criteria for e-invoice service provider in Vietnam

Eligibility criteria to be satisfied by e-invoice service providers to enter into contracts for provision of authenticated e-invoice services, e-invoice data receipt, transmission and storage services, and other relevant services in Vietnam according to Article 10 of Circular 78/2021/TT-BTC are as follows:

* An organization that provides authenticated and unauthenticated e-invoice solutions for sellers and buyers is required to meet the following criteria:

** Entity:

- It is an IT organization established under the law of Vietnam;

- Information about e-invoice services is published on its website;

** Personnel: There are at least 5 employees possessing bachelor’s degree in IT;

** Technology: There are IT infrastructure and equipment, and software system meeting the following requirements:

- They are adequate to provide solutions for creating, handling and storing data on authenticated and unauthenticated e-invoices for sellers and buyers as prescribed by the Law on e-invoices and relevant laws;

- There are solutions for receiving and transmitting e-invoice data from and to service users; solutions for transmitting and receiving e-invoice data to and from tax authorities through the e-invoice data receipt, transmission and storage service provider. Information about data receipt and transmission must be fully recorded to serve verification purposes;

- There are solutions for backup, recovery and protection of confidentiality of e-invoice data;

- There are records of successful technical testing on solutions for transmission and receipt of e-invoice data with the e-invoice data receipt, transmission and storage service provider.

* An e-invoice data receipt, transmission and storage service provider is required to meet the following criteria:

** Entity:

- It is an IT organization established under the law of Vietnam, and has been operating in the IT field for at least 05 years;

- Information about e-invoice services is published on its website;

** Finance: t has paid a deposit at a bank lawfully operating in Vietnam or has obtained a guarantee of not less than VND 5 billion from a bank lawfully operating in Vietnam to manage risks and make compensation for any damage that may occur during the service provision;

** Personnel: There are at least 20 employees possessing bachelor’s degree in IT;

** Technology: There are IT infrastructure and equipment, and software system meeting the following requirements:

- They are adequate to provide solutions for creating, handling and storing data on authenticated e-invoices in accordance with the Law on e-invoices and relevant laws;

- There are solutions for connecting, receiving, transmitting and storing e-invoice data with organizations providing authenticated and unauthenticated e-invoice services for sellers and buyers; solutions for connecting, receiving, transmitting and storing e-invoice data with tax authorities. Information about data receipt and transmission must be fully recorded to serve verification purposes;

- The technical infrastructure system used for providing e-invoice services is operated on both the main data center and backup center. The backup center is located at least 20 km away from the main data center and is ready for use when the main data center encounters problem;

- The system must be capable of detecting, giving warning and preventing illegal access and cyberattacks to ensure the confidentiality and integrity of data exchanged between parties;

- The system for backing up and recovering data must be available;

- It is connected to the General Department of Taxation through a separate channel or MPLS VPN of Layer 3 or equivalent, which consists of 1 main channel and 2 backup channels. Each channel has a minimum bandwidth of 20 Mbps; use an encrypted Web Service or Message Queue (MQ) for connection; use SOAP/TCP to compile, transmit and receive data.

* The General Department of Taxation shall publish information about organizations providing e-invoice solutions and select qualified e-invoice service providers to enter into contracts for provision of e-invoice data receipt, transmission and storage services with tax authorities.

** Publish information about organizations providing e-invoice solutions on the website of the General Department of Taxation: The organization providing e-invoice solutions shall send an application which includes documents proving its satisfaction of the criteria specified in Clause 1 of Article 10 of Circular 78/2021/TT-BTC, description of its services, and commitment to the General Department of Taxation.

Within 10 days from the receipt of the application, the General Department of Taxation shall publish the organization’s description of its services and commitment on its website. The organization shall assume responsibility for its provided documents.

During its operation, if the organization is found to provide services against regulations, the General Department of Taxation shall give a notification to the organization and remove the information about the organization published on the website of the General Department of Taxation.

** Select e-invoice service providers qualified to enter into contracts for provision of e-invoice data receipt, transmission and storage services with tax authorities

- The service provider that meets all of the conditions specified in Clause 2 of Article 10 of Circular 78/2021/TT-BTC shall submit an application for conclusion of the contract for provision of e-invoice data receipt, transmission and storage services, which is accompanied by its supporting documents, to the General Department of Taxation.

Within 10 working days from the receipt of adequate supporting documents, the General Department of Taxation shall cooperate with the service provider to make technical connections and check data transmission and receipt between two parties.

After the connection has been successfully made, the General Department of Taxation and the service provider shall enter into a contract for provision of e-invoice data receipt, transmission and storage services for tax authorities Information about the e-invoice data receipt, transmission and storage service provider shall be published on the website of the General Department of Taxation.

- During the performance of contract, the General Department of Taxation and the e-invoice service provider shall reach agreement on contents of the authorization to issue identification codes in case the tax authority’s code issuing system malfunctions or the authorization to provide free of charge authenticated e-invoices for the entities specified in Clause 1 Article 14 of Decree 123/2020/ND-CP.

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