Circular guiding the implementation of e-invoice will remove obstacles for businesses

	E-invoice: Synchronize data between businesses and tax authorities
	E-invoices: Some cases do not need to have digital signature
	Develop a Circular on guiding the implementation of electronic invoices

The promulgation of Decree 119 aims to improve the quality of administrative reforms and tax administration procedures. Photo: Thuy Linh.

Obstacles from enterprises

According to Mr. Nguyen Huu Tan, Deputy Director of the Policy Department, under the General Department of Taxation, on the basis of international practices, the Ministry of Finance has submitted to the Government for promulgating Decree 119/2018/ND-CP regulating e-invoice when selling goods and providing services to improve the quality of administrative reforms and tax administration procedures, and to provide better services, especially procedures for management and use of invoice towards the unified management of invoices. The Ministry has created a legal framework to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of managing invoices to prevent the use of illegal invoices for trade fraud and tax evasion.

However, since Decree 119 was issued (September 2018), there are still certain problems during implementation. For example, in the Vietnam Logistics Business Association, there are 400 of 4,000 logistics service businesses in Vietnam. According to Mr. Nguyen Tuong, Deputy General Secretary of the Vietnam Association of Logistics Services Enterprises, 67% of 400 businesses are small and medium enterprises that face difficulties in capital resources, management and application of science and technology, so it will be difficult to deploy e-invoices.

According to Ms. Nguyen Hoai Huong, Defense Economic Technical Industry Corporation (GAET), the application of e-invoices in the Corporation is a solution to remove obstacles, but in itsimplementation, each business has faced difficulties. For the Cooperation, besides specialized fields, there are services and branches throughout the country. Therefore, its customers are also spread across many localities. Therefore, the biggest obstacle forthe Corporation is whetherthe date of a digital signature on e-invoices is required or not. For this problem, the GAET has asked the General Department of Taxation, but so far there is no guiding document. Meanwhile, local tax branches are required to show the date of signing and issuing digital signatures.

According to feedback from enterprises, the biggest difficulties when implementing Decree 119 is that although there is a time limit for transferring from paper invoices to e-invoices, currently the Ministry of Finance has not yet issued the circular instructing the implementation. Thus, enterprises must comply with Circular 32/2011/TT-BTC and Decree 119 at the same time, thereby causing overlaps and difficulties.

Issue guiding Circular soon

Currently, the Ministry of Finance and the General Department of Taxation are urgently completing the draft circular guiding the implementation of Decree 119. According to the Policy Department, the General Department of Taxation stated that the contents of paper invoices and e-invoicesare basically the same as the guidelines in Circular No. 39/2014/TT-BTC of the Ministry of Finance, but the code of the tax authority for e-invoice will be supplemented.

Regarding digital signatures, the draft circular stipulates that the signature of the buyer is not required on e-invoices, except for agreements between the seller and the buyer. The time for setting up an e-invoice is the time of the seller putting adigital signature on the e-invoice and in line with the time of setting up of the e-invoice.

In addition, businesses, organizations, households and business individuals can create information about logos to represent the brand or trademark of the seller. For value-added invoices and tax refund declarations, the guidance of the Ministry of Finance shall apply.

In addition, the draft circular specifiesnine cases of high tax risks that must use e-invoices with the code of the tax authority for 12 consecutive months of operation (these cases are similar to the case of high tax risk and subject to purchase of invoices of tax authorities stipulated in Circular No. 39/2014 / TT-BTC).

In the draft regulation, the Tax agency directly managing is responsible for publicizing businesses and economic organizations of high risk types on the website of the Tax Department and the General Department of Taxation. At the same time, notifying businesses and economic organizations to register the use of e-invoices with the code of the tax authority, no later than five days before the use of e-invoice.

After 12 months, if businesses and economic organizations subject to risk cases are determined to be out of risk and meet conditions for using e-invoices without the code and with application for using e-invoices, they will be allowed to use e-invoices without the code of tax authorities.