Under the tax regulations of Vietnam, foreign suppliers engaging in e-commerce business without a permanent establishment in Vietnam shall register for electronic tax transactions along with initial tax registration via the Electronic Tax Portal of the General Department of Taxation (“GDT”) to declare and pay taxes directly. Alternatively, foreign suppliers can authorize an organization, or tax agent in Vietnam to register and declare tax on their behalf. If the foreign suppliers do not register and declare tax with the GDT, the organizations (enterprises) in Vietnam that purchase goods or services from the foreign suppliers are responsible for declaring, withholding and paying tax on behalf of the foreign suppliers in line with Circular 103/2014/TT-BTC dated 06 August 2014 of the Ministry of Finance.

Based on the above regulations, according to Official Letter No. 14113/CTHN-TTHT dated 22 March 2024 of the Hanoi Tax Department, in the case of foreign suppliers that have directly performed tax registration, tax declarations, and tax payment in Vietnam, the organization in Vietnam does not have to declare, withhold, and pay taxes on behalf of foreign suppliers.

However, Vietnamese organizations (enterprises) should request tax registration and tax declarations from foreign suppliers to avoid tax arrears and tax penalties for not fulfilling their tax withholding obligations.

Disclaimer: This publication is for general update. This should not constitute our professional advice for a particular case, entity, or any person. Should you need further information on the matter or our professional assistance for your specific cases, please contact us.

Dentons LuatViet acknowledges and thanks trainees Tra Nguyen, and Phuoc Nguyen for their contribution to the article.