VAT and invoicing in Vietnam (2026): rates, e-invoices, rules

VAT (thuế giá trị gia tăng, thuế GTGT) is charged on most goods and services used for production, trading and consumption in Vietnam. It is administered by the Tax Department (Cục Thuế) of the Ministry of Finance (Bộ Tài chính), formerly the General Department of Taxation. Vietnam rewrote its VAT and invoicing rules in 2025 and 2026, so this guide sets out what applies now: rates, who pays, returns, what an e-invoice must contain and how corrections work. Figures are as of October 2026.

VAT in Vietnam at a glance

The current law is VAT Law No. 48/2024/QH15, in force since 1 July 2025, with Decree No. 181/2025/ND-CP and Circular No. 69/2025/TT-BTC. Further amendments adopted in December 2025 and April 2026 apply from 1 January 2026.

Before you apply the 8% rate, check that your goods or services are not on the list of exclusions. For exported services, the tax authority looks closely at the contract and evidence that the service is consumed outside Vietnam before accepting 0%.

Foreign digital suppliers: since 1 July 2025, services that foreign suppliers without a permanent establishment provide through e-commerce and digital platforms carry 10% VAT (previously 5%). They either register and pay directly or the platform or Vietnamese customer withholds the tax.

Who pays VAT

• Companies and other organisations doing business in Vietnam pay VAT whatever their size, and most use the deduction (credit) method: output VAT minus input VAT. They register for tax when they are set up and receive a tax code.
• Business households and individuals with annual revenue below VND 1 billion are exempt from VAT from 1 January 2026, a higher threshold than before.
• Input VAT is only deductible with a valid invoice, and purchases above a set amount must be paid through a bank or other non-cash method. Rules on VAT refunds were tightened under the new law.

VAT returns and payment

The tax is paid by the same deadline as the return. Filing and payment are governed by the Law on Tax Administration No. 108/2025/QH15, detailed since 1 July 2026 by Decree No. 252/2026/ND-CP and Circular No. 89/2026/TT-BTC, which replaced Circular 80/2021. Under Circular 89, a newly established enterprise may choose quarterly VAT filing from the start, but if its revenue in the first calendar year exceeds VND 50 billion, it must switch to monthly filing from the next year. Moving from monthly to quarterly takes effect only once the tax authority acknowledges the request.

Mistakes are corrected with a supplementary declaration for the period concerned. Tax paid late attracts late payment interest, and penalties apply on top for late or incorrect returns.

E-invoices: what Vietnamese law requires

Since 1 July 2022, businesses, organisations, business households and individuals paying tax by declaration must use e-invoices, with limited exceptions. The rules are in Decree No. 123/2020/ND-CP, amended by Decree No. 70/2025/ND-CP (issued 20 March 2025, in force since 1 June 2025), and Circular No. 32/2025/TT-BTC, which replaced Circular 78/2021 from the same date.

Types: businesses using the deduction method issue VAT invoices; those using the direct method issue sales invoices.

What an e-invoice shows:

1. 1the invoice name, form and invoice symbols, and the invoice number
2. 2the seller’s name, address and tax code
3. 3the buyer’s name, address and tax code or, since Decree 70, personal identification number
4. 4the name of the goods or services, quantity, unit price and amount; for food and drink, the items served; for transport, the vehicle plate number and the route
5. 5the amount before tax, the VAT rate, the VAT amount and the total
6. 6the seller’s digital signature and the date

Timing: the invoice is dated when it is issued. If the digital signature date differs, the signature and the transmission to the tax authority must be no later than the next working day. The seller declares the invoice in the period of its issue date; the buyer declares it when it receives a correct invoice.

Corrections under Decree 70: a wrong e-invoice is fixed with an adjustment invoice or a replacement invoice, not by deleting it. When the buyer is a business, an organisation, a business household or an individual business, seller and buyer first agree in writing on what was wrong; for a consumer, the seller notifies the buyer or posts a notice on its website. One invoice can adjust or replace several wrong invoices issued to the same buyer in the same month. If the tax authority spots an error, it notifies the seller, who must review and correct it.

Record keeping: accounting vouchers used for bookkeeping, accounting books and annual financial statements are kept for at least 10 years; other accounting documents for at least 5 years.

With or without a tax authority code, and cash-register e-invoices

Vietnamese e-invoices come in two kinds:

• With a tax authority code (authenticated): you send each invoice to the tax authority, which assigns a code before the invoice goes to the buyer.
• Without a code (unauthenticated): you issue the invoice yourself and transmit its data to the tax authority.

E-invoices generated from cash registers (POS systems connected to the tax authority) are required, under Decree 70 and Circular 32 from 1 June 2025, for:

• business households and individual businesses with annual revenue of VND 1 billion or more; under Circular 32, those selling directly to consumers use them from the date their e-invoice registration is accepted
• enterprises selling directly to consumers: shopping malls, supermarkets, retailers (except motor vehicles), food and drink outlets, restaurants, hotels, passenger transport, arts, entertainment, cinemas and other personal services

Registering to use e-invoices is now verified against the national population database. Since 1 July 2026, households and individuals that are not required to use e-invoices declare and pay the tax on a transaction before the tax authority issues an authenticated e-invoice for it.

In practice, you issue e-invoices through an e-invoicing solution connected to the tax authority’s system. An ordinary PDF or paper invoice does not replace it.

Calculation example in dong

A small trading company using the deduction method has this month:

Output VAT VND 24,000,000 minus input VAT VND 12,000,000 = VND 12,000,000 payable with the return. To find the VAT inside a price at 10%: VND 11,000,000 × 10 ÷ 110 = VND 1,000,000.

Common mistakes

1. 1Applying 8% to goods or services that are excluded from the temporary reduction.
2. 2Paying suppliers in cash above the limit, which loses the input VAT deduction.
3. 3Leaving out the buyer’s tax code or ID number on the e-invoice.
4. 4Correcting an invoice without the buyer’s written agreement, or deleting it instead of adjusting or replacing it.
5. 5Using an ordinary register in a shop or restaurant that must issue cash-register e-invoices.
6. 6Staying on quarterly filing after first-year revenue passes VND 50 billion.

How Clientlly helps

In Vietnam, the legal invoice is the e-invoice issued through a solution connected to the tax authority. Clientlly is not connected to or certified for Vietnam’s e-invoicing system, so you need an approved e-invoicing solution for that part.

Clientlly can still handle the rest of your books and stock: purchase and sales tax books per rate, receipts scanned with the VAT read automatically, tax reports for you and your accountant with Excel and PDF exports, multiple currencies, low-stock notifications and reorder rules, and a mobile app. You can import your clients, suppliers, products and opening balances from Excel or CSV. See accounting and all features.