“I do business on Shopee and TikTok with a revenue of over VND3 billion (US$114,200)/year. Currently, the platforms have already deducted and paid 1.5 percent on my behalf, including 1 percent VAT and 0.5 percent Personal Income Tax (PIT). So, at the end of the year, do I have to settle taxes based on Group 3 revenue?” asked Nguyen Thi Viet Anh from Hong Son Commune of Hanoi to the Ministry of Finance.
This is a common concern among many households and individuals doing business on e-commerce platforms recently, given the tax authority’s review of information and demands for supplementary payments for underpaid taxes in previous years.
The tax authority stated that according to the newly passed Law on Personal Income Tax, Viet Anh’s revenue level will be determined by taxable income (revenue from goods and services sold minus related expenses) multiplied by a tax rate of 17 percent. Tax settlement will await the decree on tax policy and tax management for business households and individuals, which is being drafted by the Ministry of Finance.
Meanwhile, B.X. – an individual business owner in HCMC – wondered about selling on an e-commerce platform that has a tax-paying function on behalf of sellers. If revenue is VND3 billion or more, does he have to issue electronic invoices through third-party software? He also opined that if taxes must be calculated based on profit (revenue minus expenses), it is very difficult for individual businesses to prove reasonable expenses for deduction.
The tax authority affirmed that if individuals or business households authorize the platform, the platform is responsible for issuing invoices on their behalf.
Tran Thi Xuyen from Hai Phong City was concerned: “Since the e-commerce platform has already paid tax on my behalf, do I need to declare it myself? In case the total revenue in the year does not exceed the taxable threshold, will the deducted tax be refunded, and what is the procedure?”
The tax authority informed that business households and individuals on e-commerce platforms who have had taxes deducted, declared, and paid by the platform do not have to self-declare VAT and PIT. If the annual revenue falls under the non-taxable category but tax has already been deducted/paid, a tax refund is allowed according to regulations.
Director of the General Department of Taxation Mai Xuan Thanh said that in 2025, his agency connected, exchanged, and shared data with the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Ministry of Public Security, commercial banks, and the Ministry of Science and Technology to serve e-commerce tax management.
At the same time, it advised the Ministry of Finance to submit to the Government for promulgation and perfection of the legal framework on tax management for e-commerce and digital platforms.
In 2025, tax revenue collected from organizations and individuals with e-commerce business activities amounted to VND208.8 trillion ($7.9 billion), an increase of 66.5 percent compared to 2024. Nearly VND1.2 trillion ($45.7 million) was from tax arrears collection and penalties. Over the past year, the tax sector reviewed 20 million lines of data provided by 5 major e-commerce platforms, identifying 2.7 million stalls with a revenue of VND654 trillion ($24.9 billion).
According to the E-commerce Tax Department (General Department of Taxation, Ministry of Finance), the e-commerce market in Vietnam has continued to grow rapidly, with revenue reaching $16.4 billion and $25 billion in 2022 and 2024 respectively. It touched the $32-billion mark in 2025.
Currently, the number of online consumers in Vietnam is estimated at 65 million people; the quantity of taxpayers with e-commerce business activities registered to declare and pay tax in Vietnam is 95,000 organizations, nearly 1.3 million households and individuals, together with 202 foreign suppliers.
One of the current difficulties, according to the HCMC Tax Department, is that many livestream sales sessions on Facebook, TikTok, etc., occur spontaneously and end quickly. Once finished, the streamer deletes the link, which makes it extremely difficult for management agencies to determine the information of the livestream unit and the value of goods transacted through the session.
Meanwhile, the E-commerce Tax Department said that although the policy framework exists, sanctions are still lacking and not deterrent enough, especially for acts of providing incorrect information.
Many solutions will be deployed by the tax sector in the coming time, such as developing data scanning applications and enhancing data collection from ministries, platforms, shipping units, banks, and payment intermediaries.
The HCMC Tax Department also said it would proactively coordinate with banks to verify account information of businesses on digital platforms. At the same time, it will conduct unexpected inspections of platforms that have not provided information according to regulations.
