Vietnam Prepares to Roll out e-Invoicing for All

Vietnam delays the mandatory use of electronic invoices until July 2022 under Decree 123/2020/NĐ-CP. The new law modifies the previous decree (119/2018/ND-CP) which mandated compliance by November 2020.

Vietnam began its e-Invoicing project in 2018 with the approval of decree 119. According to the new decree the compliance deadline for companies has been extended to two years.

The decree represents a decisive step for Vietnam which will serve to advance digitalization and make e-invoicing common practice in the public and private sector (B2B2G). The aim of the decree is to increase business competitiveness  and to combat tax fraud.

What is going to change on 1st July 2022?

Decree 123/2020/NĐ-CP establishes and regulates a two-year e-invoicing roll out period ending on 31st October.

As of that date, organizations, companies and individuals that provide goods or services will be required to issue e-invoices. Invoices printed by the taxpayers, pre-printed invoices and invoices purchased from the tax authority will no longer be valid

In order to issue e-invoices, taxpayers must first register on the website of the General Department of Taxation (GDT) and receive approval.

The regulations establish two types of invoices: invoices with a GDT identification code and invoices without a GDT identification code.

The identification code is issued by the tax authority using information provided by taxpayers in the e-invoice. This code must be added to the e-invoice before it is sent to the purchaser.

EDICOM’s clients, will not need to generate identification codes for their invoices since EDICOM is certified by the Vietnamese tax authorities, which simplifies and streamlines the process of generating and integrating e-invoices.

Characteristics of e-Invoicing in Vietnam

In terms of technical requirements, the Ministry of Finance’s Circular N° 68/2019 / TT-BTC elaborates the implementation of e-invocing in Decree 119.

It should be noted that e-invoices in Vietnam must be in XML format, have a digital signature and be archived securely for a period of 10 years.

Taxpayers must transmit data in e-invoices to tax authorities either directly or through an authorized service provider.

The 31st October deadline offers an important window of opportunity to transition to e-invoicing smoothly and securely in accordance with the provisions of Decree 119.

What are the requirements for e-Invoicing providers in Vietnam?

Your e-invoicing service provider must comply with all financial, legal and technical requirements stipulated by the tax authority.

Technical requirements for an e-invoicing service provider include guaranteeing the following:

• Secure connectivity. Ensuring connectivity with the GDT 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
• Multi-device access. Supporting a range of different types of devices, such as users’ computers, tablets and smart phones.
• Secure connections. Maintaining the confidentiality and integrity of data exchanged between participants.
• Having a data recovery system.
• Invoice preservation. Offering electronic invoice storage and preservation services that guarantees the security and integrity of your documents. Data stored must also be available for online consultation.
• Your provider must comply with all requirements on data connection standards issued by the Ministry of Finance.

EDICOM is a leading e-Invoicing partner for doing business in Vietnam

EDICOM is an EDI (electronic data interchange) and e-Invoicing provider serving businesses and public entities in more than 60 countries. EDICOM’s global e-Invoicing platform adapts to the wide-ranging technical and legislative particularities of each country to ensure compliance with e-invoicing requirements.

For companies and organizations operating in Vietnam, EDICOM offers an IT solution adapted to the country’s regulatory requirements.

Via EDICOM’s global e-invoice platform, the system generates e-invoices, sends them to the GDT hub, receives data from the GDT and sends invoices to buyers.

EDICOM develops its solutions as an ASP (application service provider) and guarantees 99.9% system availability and access to the service from anywhere in the world thanks to its robust infrastructure.

The platform integrates with your company's management system or ERP and transforms information provided by users to client standards. This is done with mapping systems that adapt ERP data to specific formats, and includes electronic signature and registration of codes for fiscal monitoring, and document authenticity and integrity.

EDICOM also offers a storage service for original invoices sent and received. The service allows all stored e-invoices to be viewed, managed and retrieved quickly and easily.

What are the advantages of e-Invoicing?

Implementation e-Invoicing offers many advantages to businesses that add up to reduced costs.

• These include direct savings by eliminating paper, printing, sending invoices by mail, storing them, etc.
• Automating the process also means increased productivity in administrative departments and frees up more time for other tasks.
• Automation and integration of invoice reception processes. E-documents can be automatically integrated with in-house systems and accounting. Invoices are prepared for payment with almost no human involvement.
• Increased efficiency and elimination of human error as a result of automation and fully integrated processing.
• Shorter delivery and payment times. Issuing and receiving processes are more efficient and immediate. Eliminates errors in generating invoices and entering them into accounting. Reduces payment times.
• Greater security. Invoices are sent on private networks or using specific protocols like AS2, FTPS, Web Services, VAN (Value Added Network), etc. Digital signatures also ensure the integrity, origin and authenticity of invoices.
• Flexible and secure storage in accordance with legal provisions. Original and signed documents are stored at least for the time stipulated by current applicable legislation. This reduces storage costs and makes consulting old invoices easier.
• Eliminates risk losing physical documents by means of secure storage and viewing invoices electronically.