Electronic documents

1. Electronic documents include:

a) Electronic tax documents include: taxpayer registration documents, tax declaration documents, tax refund documents, other electronic tax documents and tax reports prescribed by the Law on Tax administration and its instructional documents.

b) Electronic tax invoices: electronic receipts or invoices for payment to state budget prescribed by state budget, unless tax is paid electronically through banks.

c) Other electronic documents and notifications of tax authorities and taxpayers.

Electronic documents mentioned in this Clause must bear the digital signature as prescribed in Article 6 of this Circular.

2. Papers documents enclosed with electronic tax documents must be converted into electronic documents as prescribed by the Law on Electronic transaction and sent to the web portal of General Department of Taxation.

3. Electronic documents mentioned in this Circular have the same value of paper documents. Where necessary, electronic documents shall be converted into paper documents in accordance with the Law on Electronic transaction via the web portal of General Department of Taxation, except for the case in which tax is paid electronically under regulations on state budget revenues and expenditures.

4. Every organization that has connected with tax authorities must use electronic documents when making transactions with tax authorities, use electronic documents provided by tax authorities to complete administrative procedures for taxpayers, and must not request taxpayers to submit paper documents.

Article 8. Time for submitting electronic documents and paying tax electronically

1. Taxpayers may make e-transactions in taxation 24 hours a day and 7 days a week, including weekends and public holidays.

2. Time of submission of electronic tax documents is the time written on confirmation note of the tax authority (form 01/TB-TDT enclosed herewith) or the form of a T-VAN service provider (in case T-VAN services are used). The confirmation note is the basis for the tax authority to determine submission time according to the Law on Tax administration and take actions against late submission or failure to submit tax documents.

The tax authority or provider of T-VAN services must send the confirmation note or the reasons for rejecting electronic tax documents to the taxpayer via the web portal of General Department of Taxation within 15 minutes after receiving the electronic tax documents.

3. Tax payment date is the day the taxpayer or his/her representative pays tax from the taxpayer’s account at a bank and the tax payment is confirmed by the bank which serves the taxpayer or his/her representative.

The tax authority or provider of T-VAN services must send the confirmation note (form 05/TB-TDT enclosed herewith) to the taxpayer within 15 minutes from the receipt of the confirmation of successful tax payment from the bank or inform the taxpayer of the reasons for failure of the electronic tax payment, unless tax is paid electronically via the bank’s electronic payment system.

4. Depending on the time of submission of electronic tax documents on the notification sent via the web portal of General Department of Taxation or the provider of T-VAN services, the tax authority shall impose a fine for late submission of tax documents and send a fine notice to the taxpayer via the web portal of General Department of Taxation. If the taxpayer does not respond within 03 working days, the tax authority shall issue a decision on penalties for administrative violations.

If the taxpayer does not submit tax declaration documents, the tax authority shall check the tax notices sent to the taxpayer via the web portal of General Department of Taxation and send a fine notice to the taxpayer via the web portal of General Department of Taxation. The fine notice shall also be sent by post.

5. Depending on the confirmed time of electronic tax payment on the notification sent via the web portal of General Department of Taxation or confirmation of tax payment issued by the bank on the electronic tax invoice, the tax authority shall calculate late payment interest.

Article 9. Dealing with errors during e-transactions in taxation

1. If the error is caused by the taxpayer’s system, the taxpayer must deal with it or contact the supervisory tax authority for instructions and support.

If the taxpayer has not resolved the error by the deadline for submitting tax documents or deadline for paying tax, the taxpayer shall submit paper documents to the tax authority whether directly or by post and pay tax at a bank. The taxpayer’s supervisory tax authority has the responsibility to support and instruct the taxpayer to make electronic transactions in the next periods.

2. If the error is caused by the system of provider of T-VAN services or the bank serving the taxpayer, the provider of T-VAN services or the bank must notify the taxpayer and cooperate with General Department of Taxation for support. The provider of T-VAN services or bank is responsible for late submission of tax documents (in case the taxpayer submits them punctually) and quickly takes measures to assist the taxpayer to send tax documents to the tax authority as soon as possible.

3. If the error is caused by the web portal of General Department of Taxation on the deadline for submitting tax documents or for paying tax, General Department of Taxation shall post a notification (form 02/TB-TDT enclosed herewith) on www.gdt.gov.vn and the web portal of General Department of Taxation which specifies the errors and time of resumption.

If the taxpayer submits electronic tax documents on the next day when the website of the General Department of Taxation if functional again, the taxpayer will not incur administrative penalties for late submission of electronic tax documents and is exempt from pay late payment interest for the period during which the system is suspended according to the notification of General Department of Taxation. Exemption of late payment interest shall be managed by the system of General Department of Taxation.