Enterprises in Hanoi are expected to use e-invoices for tax declaration purposes in late 2021, a move that would help them save costs and accelerate the digital transformation process.

The Hanoi Department of Taxation. Photo: Thanh Hai

The Ministry of Finance (MoF) revealed the information while announcing the capital city and other five provinces/cities (along with Ho Chi Minh City, Quang Ninh, Haiphong, Phu tho and Binh Dinh) would be included in the pilot launch of the General Department of Taxation (GDT)’s e-invoice system, developed on the 4.0 Industry platform and capable of processing a mass number of transactions.

According to the MoF, enterprises using e-invoices would enjoy significant benefits in terms of saving time and operational expenses, while preventing possible billing frauds with the use of digital signatures.

“Data from e-invoices are registered by tax authority’s software to determine value-added tax (VAT) amount, so enterprises are not required to declare the VAT,” stated the ministry.

Another key aspect from e-invoice pointed out by the MoF is that such a move would speed up the digital transformation and automation in every step.

“Enterprises’ operation from production, advertisement, distribution, payment to invoice issuance would be automated, in turn helping them optimize their corporate governance model and improve productivity,” the MoF continued.

A report from the GDT noted currently 255 enterprises in Vietnam are using e-invoices with verification codes from tax agencies, while e-invoices of over 550,000 are without such code.

It is estimated that local enterprises use nearly 1.3 billion e-invoices in a year, while around 800 enterprises are providing e-invoice software for customers.

In 2020, the number of e-invoices put into use stood at 2.3 billion, around 50% of total used invoices in the year.