HCMC taxman looks to prop up e-invoice use
HCMC taxman looks to prop up e-invoice use
Business households in HCMC might be forced to categorize taxable and nontaxable items sold in their stores to facilitate the use of e-invoices, according to a planned proposal from the municipal taxman.
Last year, the Government issued Decree 119/2018 on the use of electronic invoices for sale of goods and services, which took effect on November 2018. The decree aims to make e-invoices compulsory for all enterprises from November 2020.
Business households involved in the agriculture, forestry, fishery, industry and construction sectors employing more than 10 laborers and earning annual revenue of over VND3 billion in the preceding year must use e-invoices with verification codes.
In the trade and services sectors, if business households have annual revenue of over VND10 billion, they also need to use e-invoices.
Tran Ngoc Tam, head of the HCMC Tax Department, told Thanh Nien newspaper that the self-calculation of taxes on business households, or even securities, land and housing traders was not being done properly, resulting in incorrect or insufficient payments of taxes. It also discourages sellers from issuing invoices to buyers.
In principle, consumers must pay value-added taxes. When sellers avoid issuing invoices, they potentially fail to fulfill their tax obligations and might create unequal competition in terms of product prices, such as offering 10% discounts on invoices compared with their rivals, and evade value-added and income taxes, according to Tam.
He said that the local taxman is now encouraging business households to use electronic contracts as well.
The application of e-invoices is regarded as a workable measure to manage sales revenues of taxpayers. Another measure is noncash payments through banks.
He pointed out that the city has some 250,000 business households, mainly in districts 1, 5 and 6. The conversion of these households into companies has remained slow despite the Government’s supporting policy.
