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Nguyễn Văn Thủy, Deputy Directorate of Big Company Tax Division under the General Department of Taxation, spoke to Vietnam News Agency about a scheme to introduce electronic invoicing.

How is the e-invoicing scheme introduced by the General Department of Taxation being implemented nationwide?

Under the Government’s Resolution 36a issued on October 14, 2015 on the application of an e-invoicing scheme, about 200 enterprises from Hà Nội and Hồ Chí Minh City have been selected to implement the scheme on a trial basis from now until December.

We understand that the use of e-invoicing will help to reduce the printing cost and the use of paper bills while promoting the use of electronic commerce. We at the General Department of Taxation consider this an important task for the time being and also for the long run.

One point I would like to emphasise here is that online bill payments must have an official certification from authorised taxation offices.

What has the General Department of Taxation done to ensure the scheme will meet the Government’s requirements?

The taxation office has done its best to develop necessary legal requirements for a large scale implementation of e-invoicing nationwide. We’ll then submit them to the Ministry of Finance and the Government for approval.

The Government will then issue a decree detailing the implementation of the e-invoicing scheme.

Of course, when the decree comes into effect, quite a few laws will be affected, including the Law on Value Added Tax, the Law on Special Consumption Tax and the Law on Tax Management.

In the long run, we have set out a plan to introduce e-invoicing to all taxpayers, including family and collective business.

During the preparation period, we at the taxation office have tried to share experiences from other countries and apply them to Việt Nam. At present, the Taxation Office from South Korea has worked closely with us and shared their experiences in using the e-invoicing scheme in their country.

Could you please explain the use of information technology infrastructure in e-invoicing?

The General Department of Taxation has worked closely with concerned research agencies to develop a master plan on the application of information technology in online billing with certification from the taxation office. The ultimate objective of the plan is to ensure safe and sound operations of the whole system.

Last but not least, during the implementation of Government Resolution 36a, we have enjoyed active support from the T-VAN group which supplies e-tax services, which specialises in online taxation services with certification from a taxation office.

How do you respond to enterprises’ concerns about confidentiality regarding T-VAN group’s involvement in online tax payments?

Safety has been the first priority when we contract an outside agency to be part of the online tax service. Of course, in the contract there is always a provision on information confidentiality.

We have been developing information data. So if any enterprise has any questions about their tax payments in a certain period of time, we’re willing to help them retrieve the information they want in accordance with the principles of confidentiality.­ - VNS