Find out the cases where the buyer does not take the VAT invoice. Instructions on writing VAT invoices and declaring VAT invoices when the customer does not take the VAT invoice
I. Legal basis
- Pursuant to Circular No. 39/2014/TT-BTC dated March 31, 2014 of the Ministry of Finance;
- Pursuant to Circular 26/2015/TT-BTC issued on February 27, 2015 amending and supplementing Circular No. 39/2014/TT-BTC;
- Pursuant to Circular 153/2010/TT-BTC issued on September 28, 2010;
- Pursuant to Decree 123/2020/ND-CP dated October 19, 2020 of the Government;
- Pursuant to Circular 78/2021/TT-BTC dated September 17, 2021.
II. Cases where the buyer does not receive a VAT invoice
1. In case the customer does not take the invoice with a value of 200,000 VND or more
Pursuant to Point b Clause 7 Article 3 Circular 26/2015/TT-BTC issued on February 27, 2015 amending and supplementing Point b Clause 2 Article 16 Circular 39/2014/TT-BTC stipulates as follows:
In case each sale of goods or provision of services is from 200,000 VND or more, the enterprise is still required to issue an invoice for each sale to the customer if:
- Buyer does not take invoice;
- No tax identification number;
- No name and address provided.
Thus, when selling goods or providing services with an order value of over 200,000 VND, an invoice must be issued (even if the customer does not take the invoice).
2. In case the buyer does not take the invoice with a value of less than 200,000 VND
Pursuant to Article 16 of Circular 153/2010/TT-BTC, it is stipulated as follows:
- For sales of goods and services with a total payment value of less than VND 200,000 each time, it is not necessary to issue an invoice for each time (except in cases where the buyer requests an invoice);
- At the end of the day, the business establishment creates a value-added invoice stating the total amount of sales along with a list of retail sales of goods and services during the day.
Thus, when selling goods with a value of less than 200,000 VND each time, it is still mandatory to issue an invoice to customers who do not take the invoice.
3. In case the customer has paid for the service but then canceled the service without receiving the invoice
- Pursuant to Clause 2, Article 9 of Decree 123/2020/ND-CP, the time for issuing invoices is stipulated as follows:
- For service provision, the time of invoice issuance is the time of completion of service provision, regardless of whether payment has been collected or not;
- In case the service buyer pays before or during the service provision, the time of invoice issuance is the time of payment collection.
- Pursuant to Point b Clause 1 Article 7 Circular 78/2021/TT-BTC stipulates the case where the seller issues an invoice at the time of collecting money in advance or during the provision of services, then cancels or terminates the service as follows:
- The seller must cancel the invoice;
- Send a notice to the tax authority about the cancellation of the invoice according to form 04/SS-HDDT.
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Thus, when selling goods and providing services, sellers are required to issue VAT invoices to customers (even if the customers do not take VAT invoices), except in some cases where invoices are not required to be issued according to the provisions of law.
See also:
>> Regulations on cases where VAT invoices are required;
>> Cases where invoices must be issued and cases where invoices are not required.
III. How to handle when customers do not take the invoice (retail customers do not take the invoice)
1. How to write a VAT invoice when the customer does not take the invoice
How to write a value added invoice when the customer does not take the invoice as follows:
- On the “Buyer’s name” criterion: Write “Buyer does not take invoice” or “Retail customer does not take invoice”;
- On the “Address” criterion: Leave blank, no need to write.
2. How to declare VAT invoice when customer does not take invoice
Invoice declaration for customers who do not take invoices, accountants perform accounting and declare VAT as other normal invoices.
See also:
>> Instructions for preparing VAT declaration;
>> Subjects not required to declare value added tax (VAT).
IV. Frequently asked questions about cases where individual customers do not receive VAT invoices
1. If a foreigner comes to Vietnam to buy goods and does not take an invoice, how should the invoice information be recorded?
At Point b Clause 5 Article 10 Decree 123/2020/ND-CP stipulates that when selling goods and providing services to foreign customers coming to Vietnam, information about the buyer’s address is replaced by immigration documents or passport number and nationality of the foreign customer.
2. How to issue invoices when selling at supermarkets or shopping malls?
Pursuant to Point c Clause 14 Article 10 Decree 123/2020/ND-CP stipulates that for electronic invoices for sales at supermarkets and shopping malls, if the buyer is an individual who is not doing business, the invoice is not required to include the name, address, and tax code of the buyer.
Thus, for customers who do not take electronic invoices at the supermarket, the invoice only needs to clearly state the buyer’s name as “Retail customer does not take invoice”.
3. If the buyer does not provide invoice information, can the invoice not be issued?
No. If the buyer does not provide information to issue an invoice, the business is still required to issue an invoice and clearly state the name “Buyer does not receive invoice”. If the business does not issue an invoice, it will be fined for revenue evasion.
>> See more: Regulations on administrative sanctions on invoices.