Circular 78/2021/TT-BTC guiding the Law on Tax Administration, Decree 123/2000/ND-CP on invoices and documents

CIRCULAR

Guiding the implementation of a number of articles of the June 13, 2019 Law on Tax Administration and the Government’s Decree No. 123/2020/ND-CP of October 19, 2020, on invoices and documents^[1]

Pursuant to the June 13, 2019 Law on Tax Administration;

Pursuant to the June 3, 2008 Law on Value-Added Tax; the June 19, 2013 Law Amending and Supplementing a Number of Articles of the Law on Value-Added Tax; the November 26, 2014 Law Amending and Supplementing a Number of Articles of the Tax Laws; and the April 6, 2016 Law Amending and Supplementing a Number of Articles of the Law on Value-Added Tax, the Law on Excise Tax, and the Law on Tax Administration;

Pursuant to the November 20, 2015 Accounting Law;

Pursuant to the November 29, 2005 Law on E-Transactions;

Pursuant to the June 29, 2006 Law on Information Technology;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 123/2020/ND-CP of October 19, 2020, on invoices and documents;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 87/2017/ND-CP of July 26, 2017, defining the functions, tasks, powers and organizational structure of the Ministry of Finance;

At the proposal of the General Director of Taxation;

The Minister of Finance promulgates the Circular guiding the implementation of a number of articles of the June 13, 2019 Law on Tax Administration and the Government’s Decree No. 123/2020/ND-CP of October 19, 2020, on invoices and documents.

Article 1. Scope of regulation

This Circular guides a number of provisions on invoices and documents of the June 13, 2019 Law on Tax Administration and the Government’s Decree No. 123/2020/ND-CP of October 19, 2020, on invoices and documents (below referred to as Decree No. 123/2020/ND-CP), including:

1. A number of provisions on e-invoices, including authorization for issuance of e-invoices; forms of e-invoices and serial numbers of e-invoices; shifting to application of e-invoices bearing tax offices’ codes; application of e-invoices in some other cases; processing of error-containing e-invoices and tables summarizing e-invoice data that have been sent to tax offices; e-invoices with tax offices’ codes created from cash registers electronically connected to tax offices; criteria for e-invoice service providers to enter into contracts on provision of services on e-invoices bearing tax offices’ codes, services of receipt, transmission and storage of invoice data, and other related services.

2. A number of provisions on paper invoices, including names of types of invoices, forms of invoices, serial numbers of invoices, and names of sheets of invoices printed under orders of provincial-level Tax Departments, and forms of invoices being stamps, tickets or cards printed under orders of provincial-level Tax Departments.

3. Use of receipts and documents.

4. Guidance for transitional handling.

Article 2. Subjects of application

This Circular applies to the organizations and individuals specified in Article 2 of Decree No. 123/2020/ND-CP.

Article 3. Authorization for issuance of e-invoices

1. Principles of authorization for issuance of invoices

a/ Goods sellers and service providers being enterprises, economic organizations or other organizations may authorize third parties that are seller-related parties eligible for using e-invoices and do not fall into any of the cases subject to cessation of use of e-invoices specified in Article 16 of Decree No. 123/2020/ND-CP to issue e-invoices for goods sale and service provision activities. Related parties shall be determined in accordance with the law on tax administration;

b/ The authorization shall be made in writing (contract or agreement) between the authorizing party and authorized party;

c/ The authorization shall be notified to tax offices upon registration for use of e-invoices;

d/ E-invoices issued by the authorized party are those bearing or not bearing tax offices’ codes and must show names, addresses and tax identification numbers of the authorizing party and authorized party;

dd/ The authorizing party and authorized party shall post notices of the authorization for issuance of invoices on their websites or in the mass media for goods buyers and service users to know. When the authorization duration expires or is prematurely terminated as agreed by the parties, the authorizing party and authorized party shall cancel such notices;

e/ In case invoices issued under authorization are e-invoices not bearing tax offices’ codes (below referred to as e-invoices without codes), the authorizing party shall transmit data on such e-invoices directly or via service providers to the managing tax office;

g/ The authorized party shall issue e-invoices based on actual figures and as agreed with the authorizing party, ensuring adherence to the principles specified in Clause 1 of this Article.

2. Authorization contracts or authorization agreements

a/ An authorization contract or authorization agreement must fully show information on the authorizing party and authorized party (name, address, tax identification number, digital certificate); information on e-invoices issued under authorization (type of invoice, serial number of invoice, form of invoice); purpose and duration of authorization; and mode of payment for invoices issued under authorization (clearly stating the responsibility to pay for goods and services stated in the invoices);

b/ The authorizing party and authorized party shall archive authorization documents and produce them upon request of competent agencies.

3. Notification of authorization for issuance of e-invoices to tax offices

a/ The authorization for issuance of e-invoices shall be considered a change in e-invoice use registration information under Article 15 of Decree No. 123/2020/ND-CP. The authorizing party and authorized party shall use Form No. 01DKTD/HDDT provided together with Decree No. 123/2020/ND-CP to send a notice of authorization for issuance of e-invoices to tax offices, including also cases in which the parties agree to prematurely terminate the authorization;

b/ The authorizing party shall fill information on the authorized party and the authorized party shall fill information on the authorizing party in Form No. 01DKTD/HDDT provided together with Decree No. 123/2020/ND-CP as follows:

- For the authorizing party and authorized party mentioned in Part 5 “List of digital certificates used”, to fully fill information on digital certificates of both parties;

- For the authorized party mentioned in Column 5, Part 6 “Registration of authorization for issuance of invoices”, to fill the name and tax identification number of the authorizing party.

Article 4. Forms of invoices, serial numbers of invoices, names of sheets of invoices

1. E-invoices

a/ The form of an e-invoice is the natural number 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6 showing the type of e-invoice, specifically as follows:

- Number 1 represents value-added tax e-invoices;

- Number 2 represents goods sale e-invoices;

- Number 3 represents public asset sale e-invoices;

- Number 4 represents national reserves goods sale e-invoices;

- Number 5 represents other types of e-invoices, including e-stamps, e-tickets, e-cards, e-receipts, or e-documents with other names but having contents of e-invoices specified in Decree No. 123/2020/ND-CP;

- Number 6 represents e-documents that are used and managed like invoices, including electronic delivery-cum-internal transport documents and electronic delivery notes for consignments.

b/ The serial form of an e-invoice consists of 6 characters including both letters and numerals to show that it is an e-invoice with tax office’s code or e-invoice without tax office’s code, year of invoice issuance, and type of e-invoice. These 6 (six) characters are specified as follows:

- The first character is 1 (one) letter, namely C which means that it is an e-invoice with tax office’s code, or K which means that it is an e-invoice without tax office’s code;

- The subsequent two characters are 2 (two) Arabic numerals showing the last 2 numerals of the calendar year of invoice issuance. For example: If an e-invoice is issued in 2022 or 2023, these 2 characters will be 22 or 23, respectively;

- The subsequent one character is 1 (one) letter which is T, D, L, M, N, B, G or H showing the type of e-invoice, specifically as follows:

+ Letter T is used for e-invoices registered by enterprises, organizations, business households or business individuals with tax offices for use;

+ Letter D is used for public asset sale invoices and national reserves goods sale invoices or specific e-invoices that are not required to contain certain criteria and registered by enterprises or organizations for use;

+ Letter L is used for e-invoices issued by tax offices whenever the tax liability arises;

+ Letter M is used for e-invoices created from cash registers;

+ Letter N is used for electronic delivery-cum-internal transport documents;

+ Letter B is used for electronic delivery notes for consignments;

+ Letter G is used for electronic stamps, tickets and cards that are value-added tax invoices;

+ Letter H is used for electronic stamps, tickets and cards that are sale invoices.

- The last two characters are scripts determined by the seller depending on management needs. If using different forms of e-invoices for the same type of invoice, the seller shall use these two characters for distinguishing such forms of invoice. If there is no management need, these two characters will be YY;

- The serial number and form of an e-invoice shall be shown at the top right corner of the invoice (or at a noticeable position);

- Examples of showing characters of forms of e-invoices and serial numbers of e-invoices:

+ “1C22TAA”: value-added tax invoices with tax offices’ codes issued in 2022 that are e-invoices registered by enterprises or organizations with tax offices for use;

+ “2C22TBB”: goods sale invoices with tax offices’ codes issued in 2022 that are e-invoices registered by enterprises, organizations, business households or business individuals with tax offices for use;

+ “1C23LBB”: value-added tax invoices with tax offices’ codes issued in 2023 that are e-invoices issued by tax offices whenever the tax liability arises;

+ “1K23TYY”: value-added tax invoices without codes issued in 2023 that are e-invoices registered by enterprises or organizations with tax offices for use;

+ “1K22DAA”: value-added tax invoices without codes issued in 2022 that are specific e-invoices not required to contain certain criteria and registered by enterprises or organizations for use;

+ “6K22NAB”: electronic delivery-cum-internal transport documents without codes issued in 2022 that are registered by enterprises with tax offices;

+ “6K22BAB”: electronic delivery notes for consignments without codes issued in 2022 that are registered by enterprises with tax offices.

c/ Name, address and tax identification number of the authorized party, for e-invoices issued under authorization.

2. Invoices printed under orders of provincial-level Tax Departments

a/ The form of an invoice printed under orders of provincial-level Tax Departments consists of 11 characters showing the name of type of invoice, number of sheets, and ordinal number of forms for one type of invoice (there may be multiple forms for one type of invoice), specifically as follows:

- The first 6 (six) characters show the name of type of invoice:

+ 01GTKT: value-added tax invoices;

+ 02GTTT: sale invoices;

+ 07KPTQ: sale invoices to be used by organizations and individuals in non-tariff areas;

+ 03XKNB: delivery-cum-internal transport documents;

+ 04HGDL: delivery notes for consignments;

- The subsequent 1 (one) character is the natural number 1, 2 or 3, showing the number of sheets of invoice;

- The subsequent 1 (one) character is symbol “/” for spacing;

- The subsequent 3 (three) characters represent the ordinal number of the form of a type of invoice, from 001 to 999.

b/ The serial number of an invoice printed under orders of provincial-level Tax Departments consists of 8 characters showing the provincial-level Tax Department that orders invoice printing; year of order placement; and serial number of invoice as determined by the tax office depending on management needs, specifically as follows:

- The first 2 (two) characters show the code of the provincial-level Tax Department that orders invoice printing, which are provided in Appendix I.A to this Circular;

- The subsequent 2 (two) characters are two capital letters among 20 letters of the Vietnamese alphabet, including A, B, C, D, E, G, H, K, L, M, N, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, X, and Y, which show the serial number of invoice as determined by the tax office depending on management needs;

- The subsequent 1 (one) character is symbol “/” for spacing;

- The subsequent 3 (three) characters include the first 2 (two) characters being two Arabic numerals showing the last 2 numerals of the calendar year of order placement and 1 (one) character being letter P showing that the invoice is printed under the order of the provincial-level Tax Department. For example, if the year of order placement is 2022 or 2023, these 3 characters will be 22P or 23P, respectively;

- Examples of showing characters of forms of invoices printed under orders of provincial-level Tax Departments and serial numbers of invoices printed under orders of provincial-level Tax Departments:

The form “01GTKT3/001”, and the serial number “01AA/22P” are understood as Form No. 001 of value-added tax invoices with 3 sheets printed under orders of the Hanoi Tax Department in 2022.

c/ Sheets of invoices printed under orders of provincial-level Tax Departments are the sheets of the same invoice number. Each invoice number has 3 sheets, of which:

- Sheet 1 is for filing;

- Sheet 2 is handed to the buyer;

- Sheet 3 is for internal use.

d/ The form of invoices being stamps, tickets or cards printed under orders of provincial-level Tax Departments consists of 3 characters for identifying whether such stamps, tickets or cards are value-added tax invoices or sale invoices, specifically as follows:

- Symbol “01/”: stamps, tickets and cards being value-added tax invoices;

- Symbol “02/”: stamps, tickets and cards being sale invoices.

Article 5. Shifting to application of e-invoices with tax offices’ codes

1. Taxpayers currently using e-invoices without codes that wish to shift to applying e-invoices with tax offices’ codes shall register for change of e-invoice use information under Article 15 of Decree No. 123/2020/ND-CP.

2. A taxpayer using e-invoices without codes as specified in Clause 2, Article 91 of the Law on Tax Administration that is identified as highly prone to tax risks under the Ministry of Finance’s Circular No. 31/2021/TT-BTC of May 17, 2021, providing the application of risks in tax administration (below referred to as Circular No. 31/2021/TT-BTC), and receives a tax office’s notice (made according to Form No. 01/TB-KTT provided in Appendix IB to Decree No. 123/2020/ND-CP) of the shift to application of e-invoices with tax offices’ codes, shall shift to applying e-invoices with tax offices’ codes. Within 10 (ten) working days after the tax office issues the notice, the taxpayer shall change e-invoice use information (shifting from e-invoices without codes to e-invoices with tax offices’ codes) under Article 15 of Decree No. 123/2020/ND-CP and comply with such notice. After 12 months from the date of shifting to use e-invoices with tax offices’ codes, if wishing to use e-invoices without codes, the taxpayer shall register for change of e-invoice use information under Article 15 of Decree No. 123/2020/ND-CP, and the tax office shall, in pursuance to Clause 2, Article 91 of the Law on Tax Administration and Circular No. 31/2021/TT-BTC, make consideration and decision.

Article 6. Application of e-invoices in some other cases

1. The transmission of data on issued e-invoices without codes to tax offices in the case specified at Point a.2, Clause 3, Article 22 of Decree No. 123/2020/ND-CP is as follows: The seller shall send the filled-in e-invoice to the buyer and concurrently to the tax office on the same day.

2. Business households and business individuals using e-invoices include:

a/ Business households and business individuals that pay taxes by the declaration method and are required to use e-invoices;

b/ Business households and business individuals that pay taxes by the presumption method and wish to use invoices. Tax offices shall issue e-invoices for them whenever the tax liability arises;

c/ Business households and business individuals that declare taxes whenever the tax liability arises and wish to use invoices. Tax offices shall issue e-invoices for them whenever the tax liability arises.

3. In case of provision of banking services, invoices shall be issued on a periodical basis under contracts between the two parties, and enclosed with a list or another document certified by the two parties, but the date of invoice issuance must not be later than the last day of the month when service provision is carried out.

In case of provision of banking services with a large quantity and on a regular basis, requiring time for the bank and related third parties (payment organization, international card-issuing organization or other organizations) to cross-check data, the time of invoice issuance is the time of completion of data collation between the parties but must not be later than the 10^th of the month following the month when service provision is carried out.

4. In case of selling petroleum to customers, sellers shall transmit data on petroleum sale invoices on the day under Point a.1, Clause 3, Article 22 of Decree No. 123/2020/ND-CP. In case it is agreed by the seller and the buyer that to facilitate goods circulation or data search, the seller shall send filled-in e-invoices to the buyer and concurrently to the tax office under Point a.2, Clause 3, Article 22 of Decree No. 123/2020/ND-CP.

Article 7. Processing of error-containing e-invoices and tables summarizing e-invoice data that have been sent to tax offices in some cases

1. For e-invoices:

a/ In case an issued e-invoice contains errors which requires re-issuance of the tax office’s code or which needs to be processed in the form of adjustment or replacement under Article 19 of Decree No. 123/2020/ND-CP, the seller may choose to use Form No. 04/SS-HDDT provided in Appendix IA to Decree No. 123/2020/ND-CP to send a notice of adjustment of every e-invoice containing errors or a notice of adjustment of multiple e-invoices containing errors and send such notice to the tax office no later than the last day of the value-added tax declaration period in which the adjustment is made;

b/ In case the seller issues an invoice upon charge collection before or while providing services under Clause 2, Article 9 of Decree No. 123/2020/ND-CP, then it/he/she cancels or terminates service provision, the seller shall cancel the issued e-invoice and send to the tax office a notice of such cancellation, made according to Form No. 04/SS-HDDT provided in Appendix IA to Decree No. 123/2020/ND-CP;

c/ In case an issued e-invoice contains errors and the seller has processed it in the form of adjustment or replacement under Point b, Clause 2, Article 19 of Decree No. 123/2020/ND-CP, then it/he/she detects other errors in the invoice, the seller shall process the invoice in the form applied when handling the previous errors;

d/ Based on the time limit for notification stated in Form No. 01/TB-RSDT provided in Appendix IB to Decree No. 123/2020/ND-CP, the seller shall send to the tax office a notice of inspection of the issued e-invoice containing errors, made according to Form No. 04/SS-HDDT provided in Appendix IA to Decree No. 123/2020/ND-CP, which must state that inspection is carried out on the basis of the tax office-issued Notice Form No. 01/TB-RSDT (stating the number and date of the notice);

dd/ In case an e-invoice is issued without form or serial number under regulations or the invoice number contains errors, the seller shall adjust the invoice but not cancel or replace it;

e/ Particularly for value-related errors in the invoice, it is required to use the mark (+) or (-) for writing an increase or a decrease, respectively, in the invoice as actually adjusted.

2. For tables summarizing e-invoice data:

a/ After the deadline for transmitting a table summarizing e-invoice data to the tax office, if the table sent to the tax office lacks e-invoice data, the seller shall send a supplemented table summarizing e-invoice data;

b/ In case there are errors in the table summarizing e-invoice data sent to the tax office, the seller shall send adjustments to the information declared in such table;

c/ The adjustment of invoices in the table summarizing e-invoice data under Point a.1, Clause 3, Article 22 of Decree No. 123/2020/ND-CP must ensure filling-in of the information on form of invoice, serial number of invoice, and number of invoice in column 14 “Relevant invoice information” provided in Form No. 01/TH-HDDT issued together with Decree No. 123/2020/ND-CP (except cases specified in Clause 14, Article 10 of Decree No. 123/2020/ND-CP).

3. The additional declaration of tax declaration dossiers relating to adjusted or replaced e-invoices (including also cancelled e-invoices) must comply with the law on tax administration.

Article 8. E-invoices with tax offices’ codes created from cash registers electronically connected to tax offices

1. E-invoices with tax offices’ codes created from cash registers electronically connected to tax offices must adhere to the principles specified in Article 11 of Decree No. 123/2020/ND-CP.

2. Enterprises, business households and business individuals that pay taxes by the declaration method and provide goods and services directly to consumers (after the model of trader centers, department stores, consumer goods retail, catering services, restaurant, hotel, pharmacies, entertainment and recreation services, and other services) may choose to use e-invoices created from cash registers electronically connected to tax offices or e-invoices with tax offices’ codes or e-invoices without codes.

3. E-invoices with tax offices’ codes created from cash registers electronically connected to tax offices must have the following contents:

a/ Name, address and tax identification number of the seller;

b/ Information on the buyer if so requested by the buyer (personal identification number or tax identification number);

c/ Names of goods and services; unit price, quantity, and payment price. In case of paying taxes by the deduction method, it is required to clearly write the selling price exclusive of value-added tax, value-added tax rate, value-added tax amount, and total payable amount inclusive of value-added tax;

d/ Time of invoice issuance;

dd/ Code of tax office.

4. Solution for issuing tax offices’ codes on e-invoices created from cash registers electronically connected to tax offices: Tax offices’ codes shall be issued automatically in a range of characters for every business establishment specified in Clause 2 of this Article when such establishments register for use of e-invoices with tax offices’ codes created from cash registers electronically connected to tax offices, ensuring no overlap.

5. Responsibilities of the General Department of Taxation

a/ To formulate and announce components of data on e-invoices with tax offices’ codes created from cash registers electronically connected to tax offices, and methods of data transmission and receipt with tax offices under Article 12 of Decree No. 123/2020/ND-CP, and guide taxpayers in connecting and transmitting e-invoice data to tax offices;

b/ To direct provincial-level Tax Departments, based on local reality, to assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with related units in, formulating schemes on connection from cash registers in order to manage retail turnover of business households and business individuals for reporting to the General Department of Taxation for the latter to submit such schemes to the Ministry of Finance for approval after reaching agreement with provincial-level People’s Committees for organization of implementation thereof;

c/ To formulate roadmaps for application of e-invoices with tax offices’ codes created from cash registers electronically connected to tax offices under this Article;

d/ To guide the use of tax offices’ codes issued for e-invoices with tax offices’ codes created from cash registers electronically connected to tax offices for participation in prize contests.

6. Responsibilities of sellers when using e-invoices with tax offices’ codes created from cash registers electronically connected to tax offices:

a/ To register for use of e-invoices with tax offices’ codes created from cash registers electronically connected to tax offices under Article 15 of Decree No. 123/2020/ND-CP;

b/ To issue e-invoices with tax offices’ codes created from cash registers under Article 11 of Decree No. 123/2020/ND-CP and this Article;

c/ To use a range of character codes of tax offices when issuing e-invoices with tax offices’ codes created from cash registers electronically connected to tax offices in order to ensure continuity and uniqueness;

d/ To transmit data on e-invoices with tax offices’ codes already created from cash registers to tax offices right on a day via e-data receipt, transmission and storage service providers.

Article 9. Use of receipts and documents

1. Provincial-level Tax Departments shall print, create and issue tax receipts according to Form No. CTT50 provided in Appendix I.C to this Circular by ordering e-invoice printing or self-printing e-invoices for use in the collection of taxes, charges and fees from business households and business individuals in localities that meet law-specified conditions on use of tax receipts, collection of debts from presumptive tax-paying households, and collection of agricultural or non-agricultural land use tax from households and individuals.

2. Criteria for identifying localities that meet law-specified conditions on use of tax receipts: Based on actual management conditions in localities where district-level Tax Branches are located, regional Tax Branches shall identify, and update lists of, localities that meet law-specified conditions on use of tax receipts and submit them to provincial-level Tax Departments for approval. A locality may use tax receipts if fully meeting the following 3 conditions: having no places for tax collection, having not yet authorized tax collection, and being identified as difficulty- or extreme difficulty-hit locality under regulations on commune-level administrative units in difficulty-hit areas.

3. In the course of tax, charge and fee management in accordance with the Law on Tax Administration, an organization that wishes to use other types of documents specified in Clause 2, Article 30 of Decree No. 123/2020/ND-CP shall send a request to the Ministry of Finance (the General Department of Taxation) for approval and implementation.

4. For charge- and fee-collecting organizations that use e-receipts and wish to adjust some criteria in the receipts under Clause 2, Article 32 of Decree No. 123/2020/ND-CP, they shall send a request to the Ministry of Finance (the General Department of Taxation) for approval and implementation.

Article 10. Criteria on e-invoice service providers for signing contracts on provision of services on e-invoices bearing tax offices’ codes, services on receipt, transmission and storage of invoice data, and other relevant services

1. Criteria on an organization providing solutions on e-invoices bearing tax offices’ codes and e-invoices without codes to sellers and buyers

a/ Criteria on subject:

- Such organization must be established under Vietnam’s law and operates in the information technology sector;

- Information about e-invoice services must be publicized on such organization’s website;

b/ Personnel criterion: Such organization must have at least 5 employees holding a bachelor degree in information technology;

c/ Technical criteria: Such organization must have technical infrastructure, information technology equipment and software systems that meet the following requirements:

- Providing solutions for creating, processing and storing data about e-invoices bearing tax offices’ codes and e-invoices without codes to sellers and buyers in accordance with regulations on e-invoices and other relevant regulations;

- Having solutions for receiving and transmitting e-invoice data from/to service users; solutions for transmitting and receiving e-invoice data from/to tax offices through an organization receiving, transmitting and storing e-invoice data. Information about the process of data receipt and transmission must be logged for data collation;

- Having solutions for backing up, restoring and securing e-invoice data;

- Having documents on results of successful technical testing of solutions for transmitting and receiving e-invoice data from/to organizations providing services on receipt, transmission and storage of e-invoice data.

2. Criteria on an organization providing services on receipt, transmission and storage of e-invoice data

a/ Criteria on subject:

- Such organization must be established under Vietnam’s law and have operated in the information technology sector for at least 5 years;

- Information about e-invoice services must be publicized on such organization’s website;

b/ Financial criterion: Such organization must make a deposit at, or receive a guarantee commitment from, a bank lawfully operating in Vietnam, which is worth at least VND 5 billion for dealing with risks and compensating for any damage that may arise in the course of service provision;

c/ Personnel criterion: Such organization must have at least 20 employees holding a bachelor degree in information technology;

d/ Technical criteria: Such organization must have technical infrastructure, information technology equipment and software systems that meet the following requirements:

- Providing solutions for creating, processing and storing data on e-invoices bearing tax offices’ codes in accordance with regulations on e-invoices and other relevant regulations;

- Having solutions for connecting, receiving, transmitting and storing e-invoice data from/to organizations providing services on e-invoices bearing tax offices’ codes and e-invoices without codes to sellers and buyers; and solutions for connecting, receiving, transmitting and storing e-invoice data from/to tax offices. Information about the process of receiving and transmitting data must be logged for data collation;

- The technical infrastructure system for providing e-invoice services must be operated in the data center and backup data center. The backup data center must be at least 20 kilometers away from the data center and available for operation when the data center encounters an incident;

- Being capable of detecting, warning and preventing illegal accesses and various attacks in the cyber environment in order to ensure the confidentiality and integrity of data exchanged between participating parties;

- Having a system for backing up and restoring data;

- Being connected to the General Department of Taxation through a separately leased channel or MPLS Layer-3 VPN or the equivalent, including 1 main channel and 2 backup channels. Each channel must have a data transmission bandwidth of at least 20 Mbps; use web services or encrypted queue services as a connection method; and use SOAP/TCP for data encapsulation and transmission.

3. The General Department of Taxation shall post information about organizations providing e-invoice solutions and select e-invoice service providers for signing contracts on provision of services on receipt, transmission and storage of invoice data with tax offices, specifically as follows:

a/ Posting information about organizations providing e-invoice solutions on the Portal of the General Department of Taxation: Organizations providing e-invoice solutions shall send dossiers proving their satisfaction of the criteria specified in Clause 1 of this Article, service documentations and commitments to the General Department of Taxation. Within 10 days after receiving such dossiers, the General Department of Taxation shall post on its Portal the service documentations and commitments. Organizations shall take responsibility for their provided dossiers and documents. If detecting that an organization provides services in contravention of regulations in the course of operation, the General Department of Taxation shall issue a notice and cancel the organization’s information on the Portal of the General Department of Taxation.

b/ Selecting e-invoice service providers for signing contracts on provision of services on receipt, transmission and storage of invoice data with tax offices

- An organization fully satisfying the conditions specified in Clause 2 of this Article shall send a written request for signing a contract on provision of services on receipt, transmission and storage of invoice data, enclosed with supporting documents to the General Department of Taxation. Within 10 working days after the organization provides complete supporting documents, the General Department of Taxation shall coordinate with such organization in carrying out technical connection and checking data transmission and receipt between the two parties. After the successful connection, the General Department of Taxation and such organization shall sign a contract on provision of services on receipt, transmission and storage of invoice data with the related tax office. Information about organizations providing services on receipt, transmission and storage of invoice data of tax offices shall be publicized on the Portal of the General Department of Taxation.

- In the course of contract performance, the General Department of Taxation and e-invoice service providers shall agree on the contents of authorization for issuance of codes in case the tax office’s code issuance system encounters an incident or entrustment for provision of e-invoices bearing tax offices’ codes without having to pay for services to the subjects specified in Clause 1, Article 14 of Decree No. 123/2020/ND-CP.

Article 11. Effect

1. This Circular takes effect on July 1, 2022. Agencies, organizations and individuals satisfying conditions on information technology infrastructure are encouraged to apply before July 1, 2022, the provisions on electronic invoices and documents of this Circular and Decree No. 123/2020/ND-CP.

2. E-invoices shall apply to business households and business individuals from July 1, 2022. Particularly, the entities specified in Clause 1, Article 14 of Decree No. 123/2020/ND-CP that do not conduct transactions with tax offices by electronic means, and do not have the information technology infrastructure, accounting software system and e-invoice issuance software for using e-invoices and transmitting e-data to buyers and tax offices may use paper invoices issued by tax offices for a maximum period of 12 months. At the same time, tax offices shall adopt a solution to gradually shift to use e-invoices. The above 12-month period shall be calculated for once from July 1, 2022, for business households and business individuals that start operating before July 1, 2022; or from the time of registration for commencement of use of invoices, for business households and business individuals established on or after July 1, 2022.

3. From July 1, 2022, the circulars and decisions below cease to be effective:

a/ The Ministry of Finance’s Decision No. 30/2001/QD-BTC of April 13, 2001, promulgating the Regime of printing, issuance, management and use of tax prints;

b/ The Ministry of Finance’s Circular No. 191/2010/TT-BTC of December 1, 2010, guiding the management and use of transport invoices;

c/ The Ministry of Finance’s Circular No. 32/2011/TT-BTC of March 14, 2011, guiding the creation, issuance and use of e-invoices for goods sale and service provision;

d/ The Ministry of Finance’s Circular No. 39/2014/TT-BTC of March 31, 2014, (which was amended and supplemented under the Ministry of Finance’s Circular No. 119/2014/TT-BTC of August 25, 2014, and Circular No. 26/2015/TT-BTC of February 27, 2015);

dd/ The Minister of Finance’s Decision No. 1209/QD-BTC of June 23, 2015, on the pilot use of e-invoices bearing tax offices’ codes, and Decision No. 526/QD-BTC of April 16, 2018, on expansion of the scope of pilot use of e- invoices bearing tax offices’ codes;

e/ The Minister of Finance’s Decision No. 2660/QD-BTC of December 14, 2016, on extension of the implementation of Decision No. 1209/QD-BTC of June 23, 2015;

 g/ The Ministry of Finance’s Circular No. 303/2016/TT-BTC of November 15, 2016,  guiding the printing, issuance, management and use of documents for the collection of charges and fees belonging to the state budget;

h/ The Ministry of Finance’s Circular No. 37/2017/TT-BTC of April 27, 2017, amending and supplementing the Ministry of Finance’s Circular No. 39/2014/TT-BTC of March 31, 2014 (which was amended and supplemented under the Ministry of Finance’s Circular No. 119/2014/TT-BTC of August 25, 2014, and Circular No. 26/2015/TT-BTC of February 27, 2015);

i/ The Ministry of Finance’s Circular No. 68/2019/TT-BTC of September 30, 2019, guiding the implementation of a number of articles of the Government’s Decree No. 119/2018/ND-CP of September 12, 2018, prescribing e-invoices for goods sale and service provision;

k/ The Ministry of Finance’s Circular No. 88/2020/TT-BTC of October 30, 2020, amending and supplementing Article 26 of the Ministry of Finance’s Circular No. 68/2019/TT-BTC of September 30, 2019, guiding the implementation of a number of articles of the Government’s Decree No. 119/2018/ND-CP of September 12, 2018, prescribing e-invoices for goods sale and service provision.

4. Two appendices to this Circular include Appendix I applicable to tax offices placing orders for printing of invoices and receipts; and Appendix II providing forms of some types of invoices as reference for organizations and enterprises.

5. Roadmap for the development of tax offices’ e-invoice management system:

a/ The General Department of Taxation shall invest in upgrading the e-invoice system’s technical infrastructure so that from July 1, 2022, such system will be capable of receiving requests of and connecting with all e-invoice service providers that fully satisfy the criteria specified in Clause 2, Article 10 of this Circular. For organizations and individuals wishing to use e-invoices before July 1, 2022, the General Department of Taxation shall take advantage of all available resources on technical and information technology infrastructure for facilitating such use. Qualified organizations are encouraged to provide services on receipt, transmission and storage of e-invoice data from/to tax offices.

b/ The General Department of Taxation shall announce the roadmap and bases for selection of e-invoice service providers connected to tax offices, ensuring the publicity and transparency. In case the number of organizations that fully satisfy the criteria specified in Clause 2, Article 10 of this Circular and wish to connect with tax offices falls beyond the system’s capacity, the General Department of Taxation shall, based on tax offices’ information about customers currently using such organizations’ e-invoice services by August 31, 2021, select organizations with a large number of customers, and sign contracts on provision of services on receipt, transmission and storage of e-invoice data under Clause 3, Article 10 of this Circular.

6. The General Department of Taxation shall guide the process of cancellation of invoices printed under orders of provincial-level Tax Departments and process of management and use of tax, charge, and fee receipts at tax offices at all levels.

Article 12. Transitional provisions

1. Enterprises and economic organizations that have notified the issuance of externally printed or internally printed invoices or e-invoices without codes or have registered the use of e-invoices bearing tax offices’ codes or have purchased invoices issued by tax offices before the date of promulgation of this Circular may continue to use such invoices from the date of promulgation of this Circular through June 30, 2022, and shall carry out the invoice-related procedures specified in the Government’s Decree No. 51/2010/ND-CP of May 14, 2010, and Decree No. 04/2014/ND-CP of January 17, 2014, on goods sale and service provision invoices.

During the period from the date of promulgation of this Circular through June 30, 2022, for areas meeting conditions on infrastructure for application of e-invoices under the Ministry of Finance’s Decision at the proposal of the General Department of Taxation, business establishments in such areas shall shift to using e-invoices specified in this Circular according to the roadmap announced by tax offices. In case business establishments fail to meet the conditions on information technology infrastructure and continue to use the aforesaid invoices, they shall send their invoice data to tax offices, using Form No. 03/DL-HDDT provided in Appendix IA to Decree No. 123/2020/ND-CP, simultaneously with submitting their value-added tax declarations. Tax offices shall receive invoice data of such business establishments for inclusion in the invoice database and post them on the Portal of the General Department of Taxation to serve the searching of invoice data.

2. For business establishments established during the period from the date of promulgation of this Circular through June 30, 2022, if tax offices require them to use e-invoices in accordance with Decree No. 123/2020/ND-CP, Decree 119/2018/ND-CP of September 12, 2018, Circular No. 68/2019/TT-BTC, and this Circular, such business establishments shall follow tax offices’ instructions. In case business establishments fail to meet the conditions on information technology infrastructure and continue to use invoices under the Government’s Decree No. 51/2010/ND-CP of May 14, 2010, and Decree No. 04/2014/ND-CP of January 17, 2014, on goods sale and service provision invoices, they shall follow what the business establishments specified in Clause 1 of this Article do.

3. For invoices printed under orders of tax offices in accordance with the Government’s Decree No. 51/2010/ND-CP of May 14, 2010, and Decree No. 04/2014/ND-CP of January 17, 2014, on goods sale and service provision invoices, with their serial numbers and forms similar to those guided in this Circular and their contents compliant with Decree No. 123/2020/ND-CP, tax offices may sell such invoices to eligible subjects from July 1, 2022, under Article 23 of Decree No. 123/2020/ND-CP.

4. Charge and fee receipts made according to the forms specified in the Ministry of Finance’s Circular No. 303/2016/TT-BTC of November 15, 2016, guiding the printing, issuance, management and use of documents for the collection of charges and fees belonging to the state budget and tax receipts printed in accordance with the Ministry of Finance’s Decision No. 30/2001/QD-BTC of April 13, 2001, promulgating the Regime of printing, issuance, management and use of tax prints, may continue to be used. In case tax receipts and charge and fee receipts made according to the forms specified in the above documents have been used up, the forms provided in the Government’s Decree No. 11/2020/ND-CP of January 20, 2020, prescribing administrative procedures in the field of state treasury, may be used. In case tax offices notify the shift to using e-receipts according to their format, such shift shall be carried out and the registration for use, notification of issuance and reporting on use of e-receipts must comply with Articles 34, 36 and 38 of Decree No. 123/2020/ND-CP.

5. The use of personal income tax withholding documents must continue to comply with the Ministry of Finance’s Circular No. 37/2010/TT-BTC of March 18, 2010, guiding the issuance, use and management of personal income tax withholding documents printed out from computers (and amending and supplementing documents), and the Minister of Finance’s Decision No. 102/2008/QD-BTC of November 12, 2008, promulgating forms of personal income tax collection documents, through June 30, 2022. In case organizations withholding personal income tax meet the conditions on information technology infrastructure, they may use e-documents of personal income tax withholding in accordance with Decree No. 123/2020/ND-CP before July 1, 2022, and shall follow the procedures specified in the Ministry of Finance’s Circular No. 37/2010/TT-BTC of March 18, 2010.

6. From the time enterprises, organizations, business households and business individuals use e-invoices under Decree No. 123/2020/ND-CP and this Circular, if detecting errors in invoices that have been issued under the Government’s Decree No. 51/2010/ND-CP of May 14, 2010, and Decree No. 04/2014/ND-CP of January 17, 2014, and the Ministry of Finance’s guiding documents, the sellers and buyers shall make a written agreement indicating the errors, the sellers shall send a notice thereof to tax offices, made according to Form No. 04/SS-HDDT promulgated together with Decree No. 123/2020/ND-CP, and issue new e-invoices (e-invoices bearing tax offices’ codes or e-invoices without codes) to replace the error-containing invoices. An e-invoice replacing an error-containing invoice must have the phrase “In replacement of invoice Form No. ... serial number ... dated ...”. The seller shall insert a digital signature on the replacing e-invoice (issued according to the Government’s Decree No. 51/2010/ND-CP of May 14, 2010, Decree No. 04/2014/ND-CP of January 17, 2014, and the Ministry of Finance’s guiding documents and send it to the buyer (for case of using e-invoices without codes) or to the tax office for grant of a code for the replacing e-invoice (for case of using e-invoices bearing tax offices’ codes).

7. Any problems arising in the course of implementation of this Circular should be promptly reported to the Ministry of Finance for study and settlement.-

For the Minister of Finance
Deputy Minister
TRAN XUAN HA

* The appendices to this Circular are not translated.