What is a red invoice? How to print and MUST KNOW NOTES when ordering

Red invoices printed must have the approval of the tax authority before being officially issued. At the same time, businesses need to pay special attention to the notes listed below by fdiinvietnam.com to avoid being fined when printing red invoices for their company.

In the digital age, businesses are gradually switching to using electronic red invoices instead of paper red invoices (or printed invoices) because of its convenience and high security, as well as its ease of storage. If your business intends to “digitalize” its operations, please refer to more information on how to issue and use electronic red invoices. In this article, fdiinvietnam.com only informs businesses about paper red invoices.

What is a red invoice? What is a printed invoice?

The name red invoice is a common name, first of all because they are… red. However, the definition of red invoice is not only about the color difference. Red invoice is a document proving the transaction of goods between two parties to determine the amount of tax payable to the budget.

“A red invoice is a type of document that shows the value of goods sold or services provided by the seller to the buyer. The content on the red invoice must include information about the seller, the buyer (business name, tax code, address) and the value of goods sold and services including deductible value added tax.”

When talking about red invoices, people will implicitly understand that it is a value added tax invoice (VAT invoice) with 2 copies given to customers to confirm the purchase. However, red invoices are not necessarily VAT invoices, in some cases they are direct sales invoices.

To have red invoices for legal use, businesses must go through the printing procedure. After approval, they can be printed and issued.

Regarding printed invoices, according to Article 4, Decree 51/2010/ND-CP: “Printed invoices are invoices printed by business organizations and individuals according to a template for use in business activities of goods and services, or printed by tax authorities according to a template for issuance and sale to organizations and individuals”. Printed invoices are a form of creating and issuing invoices. In addition to printed invoices, there are also self-printed invoices and electronic invoices.

In this article, fdiinvietnam.com only talks about red invoices in printed form.

Reference:  Electronic invoice and printed invoice, which is better?

Subjects ordered to print paper invoices

There are two subjects allowed to print paper invoices for use:

• Newly established business organizations are eligible to print their own paper invoices, but may not use invoices purchased according to available templates from the tax authority. In that case, you can order paper invoices printed according to your own template to use for selling goods and providing services;
• Business organizations and enterprises are not eligible to purchase invoices from tax authorities.

Specifically about the subjects, you can refer to Clause 2, Article 5, Article 6, Article 7, Article 8 of Circular 39/2014/TT-BTC. This Circular has listed the subjects for each case and has specific examples.

Procedures for ordering paper invoices

To order paper invoices, you need to follow these steps:

Step 1: Submit application.

Enterprises must submit a request to use printed invoices (according to Form No. 3.14, Appendix 3 of Circular 39/2014/TT-BTC) to the direct tax authority.

>> FREE DOWNLOAD:  Sample form for requesting printed invoices.

Step 2: Process printing order.

After receiving the documents, the tax management officer will come to inspect the company’s headquarters. The enterprise must prepare all documents and procedures such as:

• Hang the company sign at the head office address.
• Have documents proving the legal right to use the head office address (land use right certificate with the name of the company director, house lease contract, etc.);
• Business registration certificate, seal. Depending on the tax authority, it may also require a certificate of registration of the company’s seal sample on the national information portal;
• Equipment, tables, chairs and related books and papers to prove the company is operating.

If the business meets the conditions, the tax department will issue a record of the inspection of the headquarters, allowing the business to order the printing of invoices.

Step 3: Notification of invoice printing request results.

Within 2 working days from receiving the request of the organization or enterprise, the directly managing tax authority must issue a notice on the use of printed invoices.

In case after 2 working days the direct tax authority does not have any written opinion, the enterprise is still allowed to use the printed invoices. The head of the tax authority shall be responsible for not having any written opinion in response to the enterprise.

Step 4: Print invoices according to the company’s template.

Then, the business can contact the printer to design the company’s invoice template and print the invoice.

Note : Businesses only print invoices with printing companies that have a license to print invoices.

Step 5: Invoice issuance notification.

This is a very important procedure for businesses to be able to use valid invoices. Businesses must complete the invoice issuance notification procedure before they are allowed to use them.

Enterprises prepare invoice issuance notices according to the form of the General Department of Taxation and prepare accompanying documents including:

– 3 invoice issuance notices (signed and sealed),

– 3 sample invoices (3 copies each),

– 1 notarized copy of business registration

– Printing contract, contract liquidation minutes…

The invoice issuance notice must be sent to all tax departments nationwide within 10 working days from the date of issuance notice and before issuance and sale. The invoice issuance notice is posted at tax department-affiliated establishments throughout the period of validity of the notice. This notice must be posted in a visible location when entering the tax office.

In case the content of the invoice issuance notice has been posted on the General Department of Taxation’s website, it is not necessary to send this notice to another tax department.

After completing the invoice issuance notification procedure, the General Department of Taxation will reply with the date the enterprise can issue a valid invoice.

Note: According to Circular 68/2019/TT-BTC, from November 1, 2020, all businesses must register to apply electronic invoices. Thus, the term of using paper invoices is until November 1, 2020, after which 100% must be converted to using electronic invoices.

Printing and issuing red invoices for businesses is a very important task. You may find it complicated, but don’t ignore it. To make things easier, you can use the initial tax declaration service of fdiinvietnam.com to simplify the printing and issuance of these invoices for a fee of only 500,000 VND. Call fdiinvietnam.com 0978 578 866 (North) , 033 9962 333 (Central) or 033 9962 333 (South) if you have any questions for support.