On 30 September 2019, the Ministry of Finance issued Circular No. 68/2019/TT-BTC guiding the implementation of the Decree No. 119/2018/ND-CP dated 12 September 2018 on electronic invoices (e-invoices) when selling goods and providing services.
Notable points of this Circular are as below:
1. Timing of application of e-invoices:
From 1 November 2020, enterprises, economic organizations, households and personal businesses must apply e-invoices in accordance with this circular (clause 3 and 4 of Article 26);
2. Contents of e-invoices:
+ Circular 68 has changes on serial number, form of e-invoices (clause 1 of Article 3);
+ Guidance regarding the timing for issuance of e-invoices is clearer than Decree 119 (item 3 clause 1 of Article 3);
+ This is now clarified that the buyer’s signature is not compulsory with respect to certain specific cases (clause 3 of Article 3);
3. Format of e-invoices:
Format of e-invoices consists of two components: data for the e-invoice and data for the digital signature. For e-invoices with verification codes, data for the verification codes must be included in the format as well (Article 5).
4. Qualified e-invoice service providers:
This circular sets out some technical, human resource, financial and operational criteria which an e-invoice service provider needs to satisfy (Article 23).
5. Transition period
From 1/11/2018 to 31/10/2020, the current invoicing regulations still apply and enterprises can continue invoicing thereunder until receipt of a notification from the tax authorities requesting them to follow Decree 119 and this Circular (clause 2 Article 27).
When applying e-invoices, in case the issued invoices under Decree 51/2010 contain errors, the seller and the buyer shall prepare a minute specifying the errors, the seller shall send a notice to the tax authority under Form 04 in the Appendix of Decree 119 and shall issue new e-invoices in replacement of the incorrect invoices (clause 3 Article 27).
