Reference: Whether Or Not: Declaring Vat Deduction For Invoices From Foreign Suppliers Who Self-declare And Pay Tax In Vietnam

A company can handle the declaration of input VAT deduction from foreign suppliers (e-commerce) in 2 ways:

1. Foreign suppliers self-declare/pay taxes (VAT, CIT) in Vietnam: In this case, Vietnamese companies are not allowed to declare and deduct input VAT.
2. Vietnamese companies declare/pay Foreign Contractor Tax (FCT) on behalf of foreign suppliers (including VAT and CIT): In this scenario, Vietnamese companies can declare and deduct input VAT.

An Official document for reference:

MINISTRY OF FINANCE GENERAL DEPARTMENT OF TAXATION —	SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM Independence – Freedom – Happiness —————
No.: 296/TCT-CS Regarding tax policy	Hanoi,   January  24 ,  2024

 

To:  Wesmartcorp Trading and Service Company Limited
(Address: 87 Nguyen Huu Tien, Tay Thanh Ward, Tan Phu District, Ho Chi Minh City)

The General Department of Taxation received official dispatch No. 03/2023/WES from Wesmartcorp Trading and Service Company Limited (Company) on declaring tax invoices for advertising activities on Google. Regarding this issue, the General Department of Taxation has the following opinion:

Pursuant to Article 77 of Circular No. 80/2021/TT-BTC dated September 29, 2021 of the Ministry of Finance guiding tax declaration and direct tax calculation of overseas suppliers.

Pursuant to Point a, Clause 2, Article 9 of Decree No. 209/2013/ND-CP dated December 18, 2013 of the Government detailing and guiding the implementation of a number of articles of the Law on Value Added Tax stipulates:

“Article 9. Deduction of input value-added tax

…

2. Conditions for input value added tax deduction:
3. a) Have a value-added invoice of purchased goods or services or a document of payment of value-added tax on goods at the import stage, a document of payment of value-added tax in case of purchase of specified services in Clause 2, Article 2 of this Decree.

…”

Pursuant to Article 15 of Circular No. 219/2013/TT-BTC dated December 31, 2013 of the Ministry of Finance (amended and supplemented by Circular No. 26/2015/TT-BTC) on conditions for VAT deduction input.

Pursuant to Article 2 and Article 8 of Decree No. 123/2020/ND-CP dated October 19, 2020 of the Government stipulating applicable subjects and types of invoices.

Pursuant to Article 4 of Circular No. 96/2015/TT-BTC dated June 22, 2015 of the Ministry of Finance stipulates:

“Article 4. Amendments and supplements to Article 6 of Circular No. 78/2014/TT-BTC (amended and supplemented in Clause 2, Article 6 of Circular No. 119/2014/TT-BTC and Article 1 of Circular No. 151/2014/TT-BTC) as follows:

“Article 6. Deductible and non-deductible expenses when determining taxable income

1. Except from non-deductible expenses mentioned in Clause 2 of this Article, enterprises can deduct all expenses if they fully meet the following conditions:
2. a) Actual expenses incurred related to production and business activities of the enterprise.
3. b) Expenses have enough legal invoices and documents according to the provisions of law.
4. c) Expenditures if there are invoices for each purchase of goods and services with a value of 20 million VND or more (price includes VAT) must have non-cash payment documents when paying.

Non-cash payment documents comply with the provisions of legal documents on value added tax.

…

2. Expenses that are not deductible when determining taxable income include:

…

2.37. Input value added tax has been deducted or refunded; Input value-added tax on fixed assets that are cars with 9 seats or less exceeds the deductible limit according to the provisions of legal documents on value-added tax; corporate income tax, except in cases where the enterprise pays corporate income tax on behalf of a foreign contractor that, according to the agreement in the foreign contractor or subcontractor contract, receives revenue from the foreign contractor or subcontractor. Does not include corporate income tax; personal income tax, except in cases where the enterprise signs a labor contract that stipulates that salaries and wages paid to employees do not include personal income tax.”

Pursuant to the above regulations:

– Regarding declaring and deducting value-added tax (VAT): One of the conditions to deduct input VAT is to have a VAT invoice for the purchased service or a VAT payment document at the import stage. or VAT payment documents on behalf of the foreign party. According to the invoice attached to the Company’s dispatch, this is a prepaid invoice issued by Google Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd (Google) issued to the Company, is not a VAT invoice for an organization declaring VAT using the deduction method, so it does not meet the conditions for input VAT deduction as prescribed.

– Regarding the inclusion of deductible expenses when determining income subject to corporate income tax (CIT): Regarding this issue, the General Department of Taxation issued Official Dispatch No. 3149/TCT-CS dated August 15, 2018 responding to the Department. Hanoi city tax .

– Regarding declaring, withholding and paying taxes on behalf of foreign suppliers: Ho Chi Minh City Tax Department has issued official dispatch No. 12943/CTTPHCM-TTHT dated October 27, 2023 specifically responding to the Company.

– Regarding how to identify foreign suppliers with e-commerce activities and businesses on digital platforms that have registered for tax in Vietnam: The General Department of Taxation has publicly posted a list of foreign suppliers that have implemented tax registration. Currently registering for tax on the Electronic Information Portal for foreign suppliers (etaxvn.gdt.gov.vn). The company can access the Electronic Information Portal to look up the tax registration status of the foreign supplier Google Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd.

It is recommended that the Company, based on the provisions of the above legal documents, review actual conditions and contact the directly managing Tax agency for guidance on implementation according to regulations./.

 

Destination as above; – Deputy General Director Dang Ngoc Minh (to report); – Ho Chi Minh City Tax Department; – Department of KK, PC-TCT; – DNL Tax Department; – TCT website; – Save VT, CS (3b).

TL. DIRECTOR GENERAL DIRECTOR OF POLICY DEPARTMENT   Liu Duc Huy