Sending notifications and documents of tax authorities

1. Types of notifications and documents of tax authorities:

a) Notifications of the web portal of General Department of Taxation include all feedbacks sent by the website to taxpayer, confirmations of receipt of electronic tax documents from taxpayers.

b) Notifications of tax authorities include all notifications to taxpayers of the progress and result of processing tax documents of taxpayers, instructions, requests for explanation and additional information/documents sent to taxpayers according to regulations of law on tax administration.

c) Notices of fines for late submission or failure to submit tax declaration, taxpayer registration documents made and sent by tax authorities to taxpayers.

d) Tax authorities’ notifications of tax policies, regulations, and other tax notifications.

2. Rules for making, sending notifications and documents of tax authorities via the web portal of General Department of Taxation

a) The web portal of General Department of Taxation shall automatically create and send confirmations of receipt of electronic tax documents from taxpayers using the forms enclosed with this Circular.

b) Notifications automatically created by the tax administration system shall be sent to taxpayers via the web portal of General Department of Taxation. Such notifications shall be created in accordance with regulations on tax administration on the tax administration system.

c) Paper notifications and documents shall be converted into electronic documents and sent to taxpayers via the web portal of General Department of Taxation. The creation and issuance of such notifications shall comply with regulations of law on tax administration.

d) All notifications and documents shall be sent to the email addresses registered by taxpayers and shall be accessed, printed from the web portal of General Department of Taxation according to Article 29 of this Circular.

3. Taxpayers have the responsibility to receive and comply with notifications and documents of tax authorities by the imposed deadlines; regularly check their email and log in their electronic tax transaction accounts on the web portal of General Department of Taxation to read, print notifications and documents sent to them by tax authorities. Tax authorities are not responsible if taxpayers do not carefully check, read notifications and documents of tax authorities, even if they cannot enter the web portal of General Department of Taxation because of technical errors of the taxpayers’ system or because the emails registered with tax authorities are not accurate.

Chapter III

VALUE-ADDED ELECTRONIC TAX TRANSACTION SERVICES (T-VAN)

Section 1. SELECTION OF PROVIDERS OF T-VAN SERVICES

Article 31. Selection of IT organizations to sign T-VAN service contracts

1. Criteria for selection of IT organizations to sign T-VAN service contracts

a) The IT organization must

– Be an enterprise operating in Vietnam, has Certificate of Enterprise registration or certificate of investment or license for investment in IT in Vietnam.

– Has experience of IT solutions and electronic data exchange solutions between organizations, to be specific:

+ have at least 03 years’ experience of the IT field.

+ Have established IT systems and applications for at least 10 other organizations.

+ Have established electronic data exchange systems between branches of enterprises or organizations.

+ Have an effective digital certificate issued by a CA.

b) The IT organization must:

– Have sufficient financial capacity to establish a system of equipment, organize and maintain its operation which matches the scale of service provision.

– Have paid a deposit at a bank in Vietnam or obtain a guarantee of not lower than VND 5 billion by a bank in Vietnam, or have bought insurance against risks and possible compensations during provision of services and payment of cost of database maintenance during the provision of T-VAN services.

– Have business premises and locations for equipment placement which ensure safety.

c) Personnel

– There are at least 05 employees who have bachelor’s degrees in IT, practical experience of networking, security of electronic data exchange system, database management, and good knowledge about tax.

– There are technicians who work in turn 24 hours a day to maintain the electronic data exchange system and support users of T-VAN services.

d) Technology

– The system of technological equipment must satisfy the following requirements:

+ Services are provided for taxpayers and connection to the web portal of General Department of Taxation are available 24 hours a day and 7 days a week, including weekends and public holidays. The suspension period for maintenance does not exceed 2% of functional hours.

+ The system is able to detect, warn, and block illegal access, new methods of network attack in order to ensure the security and integrity of data exchanged between participants; measures are taken to control transactions between taxpayers and tax authorities.

+ There are procedures for data backup and restoration; Data backup is made within 08 hours from the occurrence of breakdown.

– There are solutions to store result of transmissions between participants and electronic documents before transactions are successful; original electronic data must be stored on the system and can be accessed online.

– The log of every electronic transaction on the system is retained for at least 10 years from the time of transaction is successful. Such information can be accessed online during the retention period.

– There are plans and backup systems to maintain the safe and continuous operation, respond to unexpected situations, and overcome breakdowns.

– Data connection standards established by General Department of Taxation are complied with.

2. General Department of Taxation shall consider signing agreements, carry out inspections of fulfillment of the conditions mentioned in Clause 1 of this Article, and sign T-VAN service agreements under the procedures in Clause 3 of this Article.

3. Procedures for signing T-VAN service agreement:

a) The IT organization which satisfies all criteria mentioned in Clause 1 of this Article shall send a proposal for T-VAN service contract an, supporting documents, and the T-VAN service provision plan to General Department of Taxation.

b) Within 20 days from the receipt of the proposal, General Department of Taxation shall notify the IT organization of the result (provide explanation if the proposal rejected)

c) The IT organization shall connect to the web portal of General Department of Taxation from the day on which the General Department of Taxation agrees to sign the T-VAN service contract. The General Department of Taxation shall carry out an inspection and sign the agreement if the inspection result is satisfactory. If the inspection result is not satisfactory, General Department of Taxation shall issue a rejection and provide explanation.

d) Within 10 days after signing the contract, General Department of Taxation shall post the list of organizations that have signed T-VAN service agreements (hereinafter referred to as service provider) on www.gdt.gov.vn and the web portal of General Department of Taxation.

e) If the service provider changes or add information related to the agreement after it is signed, the service provider must discuss and reach a consensus with General Department of Taxation within 10 working days from the occurrence of such changes.

f) In case the service provider wishes to stop providing services, the service provider must discuss and reach a consensus with General Department of Taxation 30 days before the intended termination date in order for the General Department of Taxation to make a notification on www.gdt.gov.vn and the web portal of General Department of Taxation.

4. General Department of Taxation is entitled to terminate the agreement with a service provider in the following cases:

– The service provider violates the criteria mentioned in Clause 1 of this Article, terms and conditions of the agreement, or regulations of law on electronic transactions.

– The service provider is dissolved or has its Certificate of Enterprise registration or operating license or another license related to its operation revoked; the service provider is declared bankrupt.

The General Department of Taxation shall send a notification to the service provider, cut the connection with the service provider, make an announcement of the termination on www.gdt.gov.vn and the web portal of General Department of Taxation.

Taxpayers making e-transactions in taxation via such service provider may switch over to making transactions via the web portal of General Department of Taxation or be assisted by General Department of Taxation in registering with another service provider.

5. Organizations that have been providing T-VAN services before the effective date of this Circular may keep providing T-VAN services in accordance with regulations of this Circular.