Tax authorities clarifiy tax, e-invoice rules for online sellers

Tax authorities clarifiy tax, e-invoice rules for online sellers

Tax officials said sellers must determine their tax obligations based on actual revenue, regardless of whether they sell through an e-commerce platform, social network or other channels.

Officials at a workshop on tax and electronic invoices for e-commerce and multichannel retailing on Monday. — VNA/VNS Photo Tiến Long

Tax authorities have clarified tax and e-invoicing obligations for online sellers, including how to calculate turnover, issue invoices, handle returned goods and avoid double counting revenue when e-commerce platforms withhold and pay tax on sellers' behalf.

At a workshop on tax and electronic invoices for e-commerce and multichannel retailing on Monday, tax officials said sellers must determine their tax obligations based on actual revenue, regardless of whether they sell through an e-commerce platform, social network or other channels.

Nguyễn Thị Lan Anh, head of the Legal Department at the Department of Taxation, said online sellers — including key opinion leaders and consumers, affiliates, freelancers and digital content creators — must distinguish between income from business activities and income from salaries or wages based on the nature of their work, contracts and how the activities are organised for tax calculations.

Vietnamese residents conducting business activities that generate income in Việt Nam must also account for turnover arising in the country even when they operate through foreign platforms, she said.

The issuing of electronic invoices was among the main concerns of online sellers.

Deputy head of the E-commerce Tax Division Đặng Văn Thành said business households with annual turnover exceeding VNĐ1 billion ($38,000) are required to issue electronic invoices or invoices generated from cash registers connected to tax authorities.

Sellers on e-commerce platforms have two options.

They can issue invoices themselves, in which case they may ask the e-commerce platform to provide seller and transaction information, as well as the time a transaction was completed, to ensure invoices are issued correctly.

Otherwise they can allow the e-commerce platform to issue invoices on their behalf. If the platform has already issued the invoice, the seller does not need to issue another invoice for the same transaction, he said.

As for returned or exchanged goods, president of the Vietnam Tax Consultants Association Nguyễn Thị Cúc said sellers only need to issue an adjustment invoice when customers return part or all of an order.

If the buyer and seller agree that the buyer will issue an invoice for returned goods, the two parties can adjust their tax declarations based on that invoice, she said.

Mai Sơn, deputy director of the Department of Taxation, said sellers do not need to issue invoices for orders that have not been completed, such as cancelled or returned orders. The obligation arises only after a transaction has been confirmed as completed.

He also said transaction and cash-flow data held by e-commerce platforms have a different legal status from electronic invoices.

Platform data is mainly used to manage transactions and payments, while electronic invoices serve as legal documents for tax and accounting purposes, protect buyers' rights and demonstrate the origin of goods. Platform data therefore cannot replace electronic invoices, Sơn said.

The tax authority is working towards automating the process from determining turnover and expenses to calculating tax liabilities, supporting tax declarations and issuing invoices, Sơn said.

He added that authorities are also working with technology providers to integrate sales management, electronic invoicing, digital signatures and tax declaration and payment into a single system.

At the workshop, the Department of Taxation also launched an electronic information package on tax and electronic invoices for e-commerce and multichannel sales to help businesses, households and individuals understand and comply with the new rules.

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