HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam should relax electronic invoicing requirements for household businesses and individual merchants selling through e-commerce platforms, tax experts told a policy seminar on Wednesday, arguing the current rules increase compliance costs while offering limited additional benefits for tax administration.

Hà Khắc Minh, editor-in-chief of Tài chính Doanh nghiệp (Corporate Finance) magazine, told the seminar that Việt Nam has steadily strengthened its legal framework for taxing digital commerce through the 2025 Law on Tax Administration and related implementing regulations.

The reforms aim to establish a modern tax administration system based on digital data, risk management and greater transparency in tax compliance, he said.

July 31 marked the first deadline for taxpayers to file second-quarter 2026 tax declarations under the new rules, requiring businesses, household enterprises and individual traders to reconcile revenue data across different systems and standardize tax records to ensure compliance.

However, Minh said the rapid expansion of the digital economy has exposed implementation challenges, with many online sellers still struggling to determine taxable revenue, file tax returns and adopt technology solutions needed for compliance.

Nguyễn Tiến Minh, deputy head of the Hà Nội Tax Department, said tax authorities have identified five common risks associated with digital platform businesses.

The first relates to policy compliance, as many household businesses and individuals have not kept pace with newly introduced tax regulations.

A second risk concerns cash flows, particularly where sellers fail to separate personal and business bank accounts or mix transactions between companies and household businesses, making it more difficult to determine taxable revenue and tax liabilities.

Other risks include errors or omissions in issuing invoices, inadequate documentation proving the origin of goods, poor record retention and inaccurate tax declarations arising from those shortcomings, he said.

Stronger taxpayer outreach and more direct dialogue were needed to help businesses better understand tax obligations and resolve compliance issues, according to Tiến Minh.

He advised digital businesses to stay updated on tax policies, maintain accurate accounting records, use free tax administration tools provided by authorities, comply with invoicing requirements, file tax returns on time, and calculate taxable revenue based on total sales across all sales channels while clearly separating business entities, accounts and assets.

Nguyễn Thị Cúc, chairwoman of the Việt Nam Tax Consultants' Association (VTCA), said the rapid growth of e-commerce requires tax policies that both prevent revenue losses and reduce the compliance burden on taxpayers.

She said current e-invoicing regulations for household businesses and individual sellers remain problematic.

Although many e-commerce platforms already withhold, declare and pay taxes on behalf of sellers, most have not been authorised to issue electronic invoices on their behalf. 

As a result, sellers are still required to generate an electronic invoice for every order, even though most transactions are retail sales where buyers do not request invoices and tax obligations have already been fulfilled through the platforms.

The requirement forces sellers to pay for additional electronic invoices, spend more time processing transactions and incur higher compliance costs without delivering significant benefits for tax administration, Cúc said.

She proposed amending the rules so that electronic invoices would only be required when buyers need them for accounting purposes, to prove the origin of goods or for products subject to ownership registration. Sellers would not need to issue separate invoices for transactions where buyers do not request one.

Such a change would significantly reduce compliance costs and administrative burdens while allowing tax authorities to maintain effective oversight through transaction data and tax withholding, declaration and payment mechanisms already operated by e-commerce platforms, she said.

Đặng Văn Thành, deputy head of the E-commerce Tax Department under the General Department of Taxation, said authorities will continue expanding oversight of the digital economy while increasing the use of artificial intelligence and big data to analyse cash flows, identify risks and combat tax fraud.

Authorities will also strengthen data-sharing and integration with intermediary platforms and study ways to expand mechanisms allowing platforms to declare and pay taxes on behalf of sellers, reducing compliance costs for businesses and individuals, he said.

Thành said tax authorities would continue supporting taxpayers by encouraging household businesses and individual sellers to update tax registration information, fully declare revenue, regularly monitor their electronic tax accounts and contact tax offices promptly when issues arise.

The overarching goal is to build a fair, transparent and modern digital business environment that supports the sustainable development of e-commerce while improving the effectiveness of tax administration, he said. VNS