1. What is an electronic invoice?
According to Article 3 of Circular No. 32/2011/TT-BTC, the concept of an electronic invoice is defined as follows:
"Electronic invoices are defined as a collection of electronic data messages regarding the sale of goods and the provision of services. The initialization, preparation, sending, receipt, storage, and management of electronic invoices are carried out through electronic means and must comply with the regulations of the Ministry of Finance."
2. Types of electronic invoices
Electronic invoices include the following types:
- Export invoices, value-added invoices, sales invoices, and other invoices including stamps, tickets, cards, and insurance receipts;
- Air freight fare receipts, documents for the collection of international transport charges, documents for the collection of banking service charges, and similar documents.
The form and content must be established in accordance with international practices and the provisions of relevant law.
3. Regulations on the principles of using electronic invoices
The regulations on the use of electronic invoices ensure the following principle: invoice numbers must be assigned according to a continuous and chronological order, and each invoice number is guaranteed to be issued and used only once.
Invoices created in paper form but processed, transmitted, or stored electronically are not considered electronic invoices. An electronic invoice is legally valid only if all of the following conditions are met simultaneously:
- There is sufficiently reliable assurance of the integrity of the information contained in the electronic invoice from the time the information is first generated in its final form as the electronic invoice.
- The integrity assessment criteria require that the information is complete and has not been altered, aside from changes in form that may occur during the exchange, storage, or display of the electronic invoice.
- The information contained in the electronic invoice is accessible and usable in its complete form whenever necessary.
4. Electronic invoices must meet the following content requirements:
a) Invoice name, invoice symbol, sample symbol, and invoice order number. Invoice symbols, sample symbols, and order numbers on invoices must comply with Appendix No. 1 of the Ministry of Finance's Circular No. 153/2010/TT-BTC.
b) The seller's name, address, and tax identification number.
c) The buyer's name, address, and tax identification number.
d) Names of goods and services; units of measurement, quantity, and unit price of goods and services; and amounts written in both numbers and letters. For value-added invoices, in addition to the unit price line showing the price excluding value-added tax, there must also be a line for the value-added tax rate, the value-added tax amount, and the total amount payable, written in both numbers and letters.
e) Electronic digital signatures of the seller as prescribed by law, along with the date the invoice is created and sent. The electronic signature of the buyer is also required in accordance with the law if the buyer is an accounting unit.
g) The invoice must be expressed in Vietnamese. If foreign-language text is also needed, the foreign text should be placed to the right in parentheses () or just below the Vietnamese line, and must be smaller than the Vietnamese characters. The digits used on the invoice are natural digits: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. After the thousands, millions, billions, and trillions digits, a dot (.) must be placed; if a digit is written after the units row, a comma (,) must be placed after the units digit.
5. Mandatory regulations on the use of electronic invoices
On October 19, 2020, the Government issued Decree No. 123/2020/ND-CP. Specifically, Article 59 of this Decree clearly states:
"1. This Decree takes effect from July 1, 2022. Agencies, organizations, and individuals that meet the information technology infrastructure conditions are encouraged to apply the provisions on invoices and electronic documents of this Decree before July 1, 2022."
Accordingly, the mandatory deadline for adopting electronic invoices is July 1, 2022.
At the same time, Article 60 of Decree No. 123/2020/ND-CP stipulates that enterprises and economic organizations that have already announced the issuance of printed invoices, self-printed invoices, or electronic invoices without tax authority codes, or have registered to use electronic invoices with tax authority codes, or have purchased invoices from tax authorities before October 19, 2020, may continue to use them until the end of June 30, 2022.
6. What are the requirements for organizations that issue electronic invoices?
According to Circular No. 32/2011/TT-BTC, sellers that issue electronic invoices must meet the following conditions:
a) Be an economic organization that is eligible for and currently conducting electronic transactions in tax declarations with the tax authorities, or an economic organization that uses electronic transactions in banking activities.
b) Have premises, information transmission lines, information networks, and communication equipment that meet the requirements for the exploitation, control, processing, use, preservation, and storage of electronic invoices.
c) Have a team of qualified and capable personnel whose skills are commensurate with the requirements for initializing, preparing, and using electronic invoices in accordance with the regulations.
d) Have an electronic digital signature in accordance with the law.
dd) Have goods sales software and customer management software connected to the accounting software, ensuring that data from the sales contract for goods and services is automatically transferred to the accounting software (or database) at the time of invoicing.
e) Have processes for data backup, data recovery, and data storage that meet the minimum requirements for storage quality, including:
- The data storage system must comply with, or be demonstrated to be compatible with, the relevant standards for data storage systems;
- There must be a process for backing up and recovering data in the event of a system failure: ensuring that electronic invoice data is backed up to storage media or that all data is backed up online.
7. Notice of issuance of electronic invoices
Before creating electronic invoices, the issuing organization must issue a decision on the application of electronic invoices, initialize the electronic invoice template, establish the electronic invoice form, and submit the notice of issuance of electronic invoices in accordance with the form set out in Circular No. 32/2011/TT-BTC. This notice must be sent to the tax authority directly in writing or as an electronic document submitted through the tax authority's electronic portal.
The dossier of procedures for the first-time notice of issuance of electronic invoices includes:
- A notice of issuance of electronic invoices (per Form No. 2 of the Appendix issued together with Circular No. 32/2011/TT-BTC).
- A decision on the application of electronic invoices (per Form No. 1 of the Appendix issued together with Circular No. 32/2019/TT-BTC).
- A sample invoice created in the correct format to be sent to the buyer, signed with a digital signature.
Before preparing the dossier, enterprises should contact the tax officer in charge to confirm the format in which the Tax Department accepts dossiers, so that the documents can be prepared accordingly.
Note: If there is no response from the tax authority within two days of sending the notice, the enterprise is allowed to use electronic invoices as stated in the notice of issuance. Businesses can look up submitted notices and invoice templates at http://tracuuhoadon.gdt.gov.vn.
The above is all the essential information about electronic invoices and notices of invoice issuance that you need to know. We wish you every success!
If you have any questions, please contact our hotline at (028) 3620-8140 or email [email protected] for prompt advice and support. With a team of experienced professionals, ketoan.wacontre.com is always ready to serve customers in the most dedicated and effective way. (Japanese customers can contact us via hotline: (050) 5534 5505.)
