At the roundtable “Removing Obstacles in E-Invoicing Toward 2 Million Enterprises” held on August 20, lawyer Tran Xoa, Director of Minh Dang Quang Law Firm, raised strong concerns over the difficulties faced by business households in complying with e-invoicing regulations.
According to him, when he recently held a consultation session with business households, more than 900 participants submitted 117 questions and engaged in a marathon discussion from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Many reported that since applying e-invoices, they had been retroactively assessed for taxes from previous years, some being asked to pay over VND1 billion each.
“While tax authorities publicly claimed that there would be no retroactive collection, in practice, businesses are still being taxed. This inconsistency between words and actions leaves business households deeply unsettled,” he said, stressing that policy communication must align with actual enforcement.
Responding to these remarks, Mr. Nguyen Tien Dung, Deputy Head of HCMC Tax Department, clarified that retroactive taxation had only been applied to certain cases where households engaged in additional business activities outside their registered locations and methods, but failed to declare them. He noted that each case must be reviewed carefully, depending on whether the household follows lump-sum taxation or declaration-based taxation, business scale, sector, and business methods. He promised to look into the cases raised by lawyer Tran Xoa for further clarification and direction.
Invited to share her perspective, Nguyen Thai Trang, a vendor at An Dong Market with 32 years of experience, said she had never felt more trapped in business. Although she has fully complied with e-invoicing requirements since June 1, the transition has been far more complex than regulators and consultants suggest.
“It’s not as simple as using a smartphone. We’ve had to purchase laptops, barcode printers, and invoice printers. The 1.5 percent tax rate is manageable, but the new e-invoicing rules under Decree 70 only suit retail businesses selling directly to end-users. For wholesale traders like us, it’s a nightmare. Traditionally, buyers pay later, but now we must pay tax upfront, which strains us badly. Most vendors are older and not tech-savvy, so we end up hiring accountants, which drives up costs,” she explained.
She also pointed out that while e-invoicing covers the output side managed by the tax authority, the input side falls under the market surveillance agency. According to Trang, the two agencies need to sit down together to coordinate. “We worry more about inputs than outputs. We all understand our tax obligations, but we need clarity and support on the input side too,” Trang said.
Another vendor, Tran Thi Thu Thuy, who has traded at An Dong Market for 39 years, complained that sellers had been forced to purchase e-invoicing software costing VND2–3 million, but many dared not use it due to lack of know-how. Thuy herself once had a thriving business, consistently paying VND5.18 million in monthly taxes for over a decade. However, business slumped after the pandemic, and requests for tax reductions were repeatedly denied.
She argued that her annual revenue no longer reaches VND1 billion, meaning she should not be required to comply with Decree 70. Yet, tax officers warned that if she refused to buy the software, she would face a VND20 million fine during inspections.
In response, Deputy Director Nguyen Tien Dung reiterated that tax adjustments are clearly regulated, and he pledged to work with local tax officers responsible for An Dong Market to review the matter.
