HANOI: According to Manh Thi Tuyet Mai from the General Department of Taxation (GDT), the business code system does not include regulations for e-commerce, so it is difficult for taxation agencies to identify the tax obligations of individuals and enterprises doing business online.
Meanwhile, paper invoices still prevail in Vietnam. Very few enterprises register to use e-invoices, while the e-invoicing systems of enterprises do not connect with taxation agencies. It is difficult to get exact information about the income of online business activities.Vietnam’s taxation agency faces problems in collecting foreign contractor tax (FCT). Many foreign institutions are not physically present in Vietnam, but have earnings in the country.
Meanwhile, individuals and institutions selling goods via social networks such as Facebook and Zalo do not issue invoices. They ask delivery personnel to collect cash from buyers via COD (cash on delivery), or ask customers to make payments via specific channels.
Nguyen Thanh Hung, chair of the Vietnam E-commerce Association (Vecom), noted that cryptocurrency and blockchain have become more common and will affect online business activities. However, no legal framework mentioning these issues has been created.
Therefore, GDT has to ‘encourage’ enterprises and individuals doing business online to declare their revenue and pay tax.
In 2017, the HCMC Taxation Agency sent letters to 14,500 individuals and institutions doing business online and asked them to declare tax. Of these, the agency identified the exact revenue of 4,000.
