VCCI: Businesses suffer losses due to numerous invoice and document regulations.

13/11/2023

Businesses at a disadvantage due to numerous invoice and document regulations, according to VCCI.

Providing feedback on the Ministry of Finance's draft decree regarding invoice and document regulations, the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) has identified several points that are disadvantageous for businesses.

According to the draft, retail businesses and food service establishments in chains are not allowed to issue invoices at the end of the day but must issue them for each purchase from a cash register connected to the tax authorities' data system. Feedback from businesses indicates that this regulation increases costs significantly in terms of initial investments and system maintenance. The VCCI emphasizes that this requirement places significant pressure on certain industry sectors.

The regulation on submitting taxi invoice data to tax authorities after each trip also poses challenges in practice. The costs of software upgrades for taxi companies increase, and drivers may forget or face difficulties in handling data, leading to traffic congestion. Businesses may also face penalties for submitting data at the wrong time.

Therefore, the VCCI suggests that the Ministry of Finance reconsider and evaluate the cost-benefit impact of these regulations, with possible amendments to facilitate business operations.

Regarding commercial discount invoices, the draft stipulates that an adjusting invoice should be issued after the end of a discount program. However, businesses argue that this creates a significant workload as each adjusting invoice only applies to one invoice, while businesses may have multiple products and various promotional programs (each program applying to different products).
This significantly increases the volume of invoices, resulting in costs and resource allocation for businesses. If allowing multiple invoices to be adjusted by one adjusting invoice, listing the details on the discount invoice also burdens businesses, depending on whether the system can handle it.

In many cases, businesses can only identify customers who meet the conditions at the end of the program, while invoices can occur in multiple declaration periods, requiring constant adjustment of VAT declarations. This creates discrepancies between accounting records and tax declarations, causing difficulties in control, especially for businesses subject to financial reporting disclosure.
Therefore, the VCCI suggests that the Ministry of Finance consider adding a principle that allows businesses to issue a discount invoice (not an adjusting invoice) along with an accompanying statement.

Furthermore, the VCCI also recommends that the drafting agency remove the requirement for domestic invoices for temporary import, re-export, consignment, and returnable goods, as well as goods provided under loan, borrowing, and return arrangements. This aims to reduce administrative procedures and costs for businesses.