Circular No. 10/2014/TT-BTC guiding administrative penalties for violations related to invoices

CIRCULAR

Guidelines for Administrative Sanctions on Invoices

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Pursuant to the Law on Handling Administrative Violations No. 15/2012/QH13 dated June 20, 2012;

Pursuant to the Law on Tax Administration No. 78/2006/QH11 dated November 29, 2006 and the Law Amending and Supplementing Certain Provisions of the Law on Tax Administration No. 21/2012/QH13 dated November 20, 2012;

Pursuant to Decree No. 81/2013/NĐ-CP dated July 19, 2013 of the Government detailing certain provisions and measures to implement the Law on Handling Administrative Violations;

Based on Decree No. 51/2010/NĐ-CP dated May 14, 2010 of the Government regarding invoices for goods sales and service provision;

Pursuant to Decree No. 109/2013/NĐ-CP dated September 24, 2013 of the Government on administrative sanctions for violations in the field of price, fees, charges, and invoices;

Pursuant to Decree No. 118/2008/NĐ-CP dated November 27, 2008, of the Government stipulating the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Finance;

At the proposal of the Director General of the State Revenue Administration,

The Minister of Finance guides the implementation of administrative sanctions on invoices as follows:

PART I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope of Regulation

These guidelines provide detailed instructions on administrative violations concerning invoices, forms of punishment, fines, and measures to rectify consequences for each administrative violation concerning invoices as stipulated in Decree No. 109/2013/NĐ-CP dated September 24, 2013 of the Government regarding administrative sanctions for violations in price, fee, tax rate management, and invoice control.

Article 2. Applicability

This Circular applies to the following entities:

1. Organizations and individuals committing administrative violations in the field of invoices.

2. Organizations and individuals with authority to impose administrative sanctions on invoice violations according to the law.

MECHANISMS AND POLICIES REGARDING THE PRICE OF AUCTION SERVICES FOR ASSETS THAT MUST BE SOLD THROUGH AUCTIONS AS PRESCRIBED BY LAW

Article 3. Principles of Application and Forms of Administrative Sanctions on Invoices

1. All administrative violations concerning invoices that are discovered and promptly prevented must be strictly dealt with. All consequences caused by administrative violations concerning invoices must be remedied in accordance with the provisions of the law.

2. Administrative sanctions on invoices shall be carried out swiftly, timely, openly, transparently, objectively, within the scope of authority, ensuring fairness, and in compliance with the law.

3. Administrative sanctions on invoices must be based on the nature, degree, consequences, violators, mitigating circumstances, and aggravating circumstances of the violation.

4. An organization or individual may only be subject to administrative sanctions on invoices if they commit an administrative violation concerning invoices as prescribed by law.

5. A single administrative violation concerning invoices shall only be punished once.

6. When multiple people jointly commit a single administrative violation concerning invoices, each violator shall be punished for that act.

7. If a person commits multiple administrative violations concerning invoices or repeatedly commits such violations, they shall be punished for each separate violation.

8. The authority responsible for imposing administrative sanctions on invoices has the duty to prove the administrative violation concerning invoices committed by organizations and individuals. Organizations and individuals subject to sanctions have the right to prove their innocence themselves or through a duly authorized representative.

9. For the same administrative violation concerning invoices, the fine for organizations is twice the fine for individuals.

The fines for violations specified in this Circular apply to organizations. The fine for individuals is half the fine for organizations. For taxpayers who are households, the fine applicable to individuals shall be applied.

10. Forms of administrative sanctions on invoices include:

a) Warning, applicable to invoice violations without serious consequences and with mitigating circumstances.

b) Fine, the maximum fine for organizations committing invoice violations is VND 50 million.

In addition to the aforementioned forms of punishment, certain invoice violations stipulated in Articles 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11 of this Circular also apply supplementary sanctions and measures to rectify consequences.

When imposing fines for violations concerning invoices, the specific fine for a single act without aggravating or mitigating circumstances is the midpoint of the fine range prescribed for that act. The midpoint of the fine range is determined by dividing the sum of the minimum and maximum amounts by two.

If there is one aggravating or mitigating circumstance, the increased or reduced midpoint is applied. The increased midpoint is determined by dividing the sum of the maximum amount and the midpoint by two. The reduced midpoint is determined by dividing the sum of the minimum amount and the midpoint by two.

If there are two or more aggravating circumstances, the maximum fine range is applied. If there are two or more mitigating circumstances, the minimum fine range is applied.

If both aggravating and mitigating circumstances exist, they offset each other on a one-to-one basis.

11. If invoice violations lead to incorrect declarations resulting in underpayment of taxes due or overpayment of tax deductions or refunds, or result in tax evasion or fraud, administrative sanctions on invoices shall be imposed according to these guidelines, and administrative sanctions on taxes shall be imposed according to relevant regulations.

Article 4. Mitigating Circumstances and Aggravating Circumstances

Mitigating and aggravating circumstances are implemented in accordance with Article 9 and Article 10 of the Law on Handling Administrative Violations.

Article 5. Statute of Limitations for Administrative Sanctions

1. The statute of limitations for administrative violations related to invoices is one year.

For administrative violations concerning invoices that lead to tax evasion, fraudulent tax reporting, delayed tax payments, or underreporting of tax obligations, the statute of limitations for administrative sanctions shall be five years as prescribed by tax laws.

2. The time point for calculating the statute of limitations for administrative sanctions regarding invoices as stipulated in Clause 1 of this Article shall be calculated as follows:

For completed administrative violations concerning invoices, the statute of limitations shall be counted from the date the violation ends;

For ongoing administrative violations concerning invoices, the statute of limitations shall be counted from the date the violation is discovered.

3. In cases where administrative sanctions for invoice violations are referred to by investigative agencies, the statute of limitations shall be applied according to Clause 1 and Clause 2 of this Article. The time taken by the investigative agency to process and review the case shall be included within the statute of limitations for administrative sanctions.

4. Within the period specified in Clause 1 and Clause 2 of this Article, if organizations or individuals intentionally evade or obstruct administrative sanctions for invoice violations, the statute of limitations for administrative sanctions regarding invoices shall be recalculated from the date such evasive or obstructive actions end.

5. Periods considered as not having been subject to administrative sanctions for invoice violations

Organizations or individuals who have been subject to administrative sanctions for invoice violations will be considered as not having been subject to such sanctions if they do not reoffend within six months from the date of completing the execution of a warning decision or one year from the date of completing the execution of a decision on administrative sanctions for invoice violations involving fines (the date when all obligations and requirements stated in the sanction decision are fulfilled or from the date the sanction decision is enforced compulsorily) or from the date the statute of limitations for executing the administrative sanction decision expires.

Chapter II

VIOLATIONS, FORMS OF SANCTIONS,

 MEASURES TO REMEDY CONSEQUENCES RELATED TO INVOICES

Article 6. Violations of regulations on self-printing invoices and creating electronic invoices

1. Sanction for the act of self-printing invoices or creating electronic invoices without the required contents.

a) The mandatory contents that must be correct on self-printed invoices and electronic invoices include the invoice code, model code, and invoice number.

A fine of between two million and four million dong shall be imposed for the act of self-printing invoices or creating electronic invoices without one of the above mandatory contents.

b) In cases where self-printed invoices or created electronic invoices comply with the mandatory contents but lack or contain errors in other contents (excluding situations where invoices do not necessarily need to have all contents as guided by the Ministry of Finance):

b.1) A warning shall be issued if the missing or erroneous contents on the invoice have been corrected and still adequately reflect the economic transactions, without affecting the amount of tax payable.

b.2) A minimum fine of two million dong shall be imposed if the missing or erroneous contents on the invoice have not been corrected but still adequately reflect the economic transactions.

b.3) A fine of between two million and four million dong shall be imposed if the missing or erroneous contents on the invoice affect the amount of tax payable.

2. A fine of between four million and eight million dong shall be imposed for any of the following acts:

a) Self-printing invoices or creating electronic invoices without meeting the required conditions.

The conditions for self-printing invoices and creating electronic invoices shall be implemented in accordance with the Circulars of the Ministry of Finance on invoices for goods sales and service provision and the Circulars of the Ministry of Finance on creating electronic invoices for goods sales and service provision.

b) Providing software for self-printing invoices that does not ensure the prescribed principles or invoices printed out do not meet the required contents.

The principles for ensuring self-printed invoices shall be implemented in accordance with the Circulars of the Ministry of Finance on invoices for goods sales and service provision.

3. A fine of between twenty million and fifty million dong shall be imposed for the act of self-printing fake invoices (except in cases due to objective faults of the self-printing software) and for the act of creating fake electronic invoices.

Fake invoices are those printed or created based on invoices already issued by other organizations or individuals or those printed or created with duplicate numbers of the same invoice code.

Objective faults of the self-printing software are determined to be inherent faults of the self-printing software (such as due to viruses...), without human intervention. If it is determined that self-printed invoices are fake due to objective faults of the self-printing software, the software provider shall be warned. Both parties (software provider and user) must stop creating invoices and promptly adjust and repair the self-printing software.

4. Additional penalty: Organizations or individuals violating Clause 3 of this Article shall be suspended from the right to self-print invoices and create electronic invoices for one to three months from the effective date of the penalty decision.

5. Measures to remedy consequences: Organizations or individuals violating Clause 1, Point a Clause 2 and Clause 3 of this Article shall be compelled to destroy invoices printed or created in violation of regulations.

Article 7. Acts violating regulations on printing invoices

1. The act of printing invoices without signing a written printing contract.

a) A fine of VND 2,000,000 to VND 4,000,000 shall be imposed on both the party placing the print order and the party receiving the invoice for printing invoices without a written printing contract or for organizations receiving invoice prints self-printing invoices for use but without a decision to print invoices from the head of the unit as prescribed.

The invoice printing contract must be in writing in accordance with the provisions of the Civil Code, and the decision of the organization receiving the invoice to self-print the invoice must be in writing and contain all necessary contents as guided by the Circular of the Ministry of Finance on invoices for goods sales and service provision.

b) In cases where a printing invoice contract has been signed in writing but the printing contract does not contain all necessary contents, or the organization receiving the invoice self-prints the invoice after signing a decision to self-print the invoice but the decision to self-print the invoice does not contain all necessary contents as guided by the Circular of the Ministry of Finance on invoices for goods sales and service provision, then:

b.1) A warning penalty shall be imposed if the party placing the print order and the party receiving the print order have signed an additional contract appendix to supplement the missing contents, and the organization receiving the invoice self-prints the invoice and signs a supplementary decision to fill in the missing contents before the tax authority announces the inspection decision.

b.2) A fine at the minimum level of the fine range of VND 2,000,000 shall be imposed if the party placing the print order and the party receiving the print order do not sign an additional contract appendix to supplement the missing contents, and the organization receiving the invoice does not sign a supplementary decision to fill in the missing contents. At the same time, the party placing the print order and the party receiving the print order must supplement the missing contents of the contract.

2. A fine of between four million and eight million dong shall be imposed for any of the following acts:

a) The printing contract shall not be terminated if it exceeds the termination period specified in the invoice printing order contract or the end date of the contract when the Invoice Issuance Notice has been established for cases where the invoice printing order contract does not specify a termination period.

b) Unissued printed invoices that are no longer in use shall not be canceled according to the regulations.

3. For acts of failing to report correctly the loss of invoices before issuing the notice of issuance.

a) No penalty shall be imposed if the loss, burning, or damage of invoices before issuing the notice of issuance is reported to the tax authority within five days from the date of occurrence of the loss, burning, or damage of the invoices.

b) A warning penalty shall be imposed if the loss, burning, or damage of invoices before issuing the notice of issuance is reported to the tax authority from the sixth day to the tenth day from the date of occurrence of the loss, burning, or damage of the invoices and there are mitigating circumstances; If there are no mitigating circumstances, the penalty shall be imposed at the minimum level of the penalty range.

c) A fine of VND 6,000,000 to VND 18,000,000 shall be imposed if the loss, burning, or damage of invoices before issuing the notice of issuance is reported to the tax authority after the tenth day from the date of occurrence of the loss, burning, or damage of the invoices.

4. A fine of VND 15,000,000 to VND 45,000,000 shall be imposed for the act of giving or selling unissued printed invoices to other organizations or individuals for use.

5. A fine of VND 20,000,000 to VND 50,000,000 shall be imposed for the act of printing counterfeit invoices.

6. Measures to remedy consequences: Organizations and individuals violating the provisions of Clauses 4 and Clause 5 of this Article must cancel the improperly printed invoices.

Article 8. Acts violating regulations on printing invoices

1. For acts violating the reporting system regarding receipt of invoice printing as prescribed by the Ministry of Finance.

Reporting on receipt of invoice printing shall be carried out in accordance with the Government Decree and Circular of the Ministry of Finance on invoices for goods sales and service provision.

a) A warning penalty shall be imposed for the act of late reporting on receipt of invoice printing more than five days from the deadline for reporting.

b) A warning penalty shall be imposed for the act of late reporting on receipt of invoice printing from the sixth day to the tenth day from the deadline for reporting and there are mitigating circumstances; In cases without mitigating circumstances, the minimum fine within the penalty range shall be VND 2,000,000.

c) A fine of VND 2,000,000 to VND 4,000,000 shall be imposed for the act of late reporting on receipt of invoice printing more than ten days from the deadline for reporting.

2. A fine of between four million and eight million dong shall be imposed for any of the following acts:

a) The printing contract shall not be terminated if it exceeds the termination period stipulated in the invoice printing contract or the end date of the contract when the printer has completed the issuance notification procedure in cases where the invoice printing contract does not specify a termination period.

b) Defective or excess printed products shall not be destroyed during the contract termination process.

3. A fine of VND 6,000,000 to VND 18,000,000 shall be imposed for any of the following acts:

a) Accepting invoice printing orders without meeting the required conditions.

Conditions for organizations receiving invoice printing shall be implemented in accordance with the Government Decree and Circular of the Ministry of Finance on invoices for goods sales and service provision.

b) Not declaring the loss of invoices during printing before delivering them to customers.

4. A fine of VND 10,000,000 to VND 20,000,000 shall be imposed for the act of transferring the entire contract or any part of the invoice printing contract to another printing facility.

If the organization receiving invoice printing transfers the film printing (engraving) stage to another printing facility, the minimum fine within the penalty range shall be imposed.

5. A fine of VND 15,000,000 to VND 45,000,000 shall be imposed for the act of providing or selling customer invoices to other customers.

6. A fine of VND 20,000,000 to VND 50,000,000 shall be imposed for the act of printing fake invoices.

7. Additional penalties: Organizations and individuals violating Clause 6 of this Article shall also be suspended from printing invoices for one to three months from the effective date of the penalty decision.

8. Measures to remedy consequences: Organizations and individuals violating Clauses 5 and 6 of this Article must destroy provided, sold, or fake invoices.

Article 9. Acts violating regulations on purchasing invoices

1. A fine of VND 2,000,000 to VND 4,000,000 shall be imposed for the act of not destroying purchased invoices that have expired.

2. For the act of not declaring the loss of purchased invoices that have not been issued.

The deadline for declaring the loss, fire damage, or destruction of invoices shall be carried out in accordance with the guidance in the Government Decree and Circular of the Ministry of Finance on invoices for goods sales and service provision.

a) No penalty shall be imposed if the loss, fire damage, or destruction of purchased but unissued invoices is reported to the tax authority within five days from the occurrence of the loss, fire damage, or destruction of invoices.

b) A warning penalty shall be imposed if the loss, fire damage, or destruction of purchased but unissued invoices is reported to the tax authority from the sixth day to the tenth day from the occurrence of the loss, fire damage, or destruction of invoices and there are mitigating circumstances;

In cases without mitigating circumstances, the minimum fine within the penalty range shall be VND 6,000,000.

c) A fine of VND 6,000,000 to VND 8,000,000 shall be imposed if the loss, fire damage, or destruction of purchased but unissued invoices is reported to the tax authority more than ten days from the occurrence of the loss, fire damage, or destruction of invoices.

3. A fine of VND 20,000,000 to VND 50,000,000 shall be imposed for the act of providing or selling purchased but unissued invoices.

4. Measures to remedy consequences: Organizations and individuals violating Clauses 1 and 3 of this Article must destroy purchased invoices that have expired; purchased but unissued invoices.

Article 10. Acts violating regulations on issuing invoices

1. A fine from 2,000,000 VND to 4,000,000 VND for one of the following acts:

a) Issuing an incomplete Notice of Invoice Issuance according to the provisions that have been discovered by the tax authority and notified in writing to the organization or individual for correction but the organization or individual has not made corrections and issued invoices to customers before making such corrections.

If there are mitigating circumstances, the fine will be at the minimum level of the fine range, which is 2,000,000 VND.

b) Not posting the invoice issuance announcement as required.

The posting of the Notice of Invoice Issuance shall be carried out in accordance with the guidance provided in the Circular of the Ministry of Finance on invoices for goods sales and service provision.

In cases where there are mitigating circumstances, the fine shall be at the minimum level of the fine range, which is 2,000,000 VND.

2. For acts of failing to issue a Notice of Invoice Issuance before the invoice is put into use:

a) If the organization or individual can prove that they had sent the Notice of Invoice Issuance to the tax authority before the invoice was put into use, but the tax authority did not receive it due to loss, then the organization or individual will not be subject to punishment.

b) A fine of 6,000,000 VND shall be imposed for failing to issue a Notice of Invoice Issuance before the invoice is put into use if these invoices are related to economic transactions that have been declared and taxed as required.

c) A fine from 6,000,000 VND to 18,000,000 VND shall be imposed for failing to issue a Notice of Invoice Issuance before the invoice is put into use if these invoices are related to economic transactions that have not yet reached the tax declaration period. The seller must commit to declaring and paying taxes for the invoices issued in this case.

In cases where the seller violates the provisions of points a, b, and c of this Clause and has complied with the Decision on Administrative Sanction, the buyer may use the invoices for declaration, deduction, and inclusion in expenses as prescribed.

d) If the organization or individual fails to issue a Notice of Invoice Issuance before the invoice is put into use, and these invoices are not related to economic transactions or have not been declared and paid taxes, they shall be punished in accordance with the guidance provided in Clause 5, Article 11 of this Circular.

3. Measures to remedy consequences: Organizations and individuals who violate the provisions of this Article must also carry out the procedures for issuing invoices as prescribed.

Article 11. Acts violating regulations on using invoices when selling goods and services

1. For acts of failing to complete all mandatory contents on the invoice as prescribed, except for cases where invoices do not necessarily need to include all mandatory contents as guided by the Ministry of Finance:

a) A warning shall be given for failing to complete all mandatory contents as prescribed, except for cases where invoices do not necessarily need to include all mandatory contents as guided by the Ministry of Finance, if these contents do not affect the determination of tax obligations and there are mitigating circumstances.

If the organization or individual has issued an invoice and failed to complete all mandatory contents as prescribed but discovers the omission themselves and issues a new invoice to correct and supplement the mandatory contents as prescribed, they will not be subject to punishment.

b) A fine from 200,000 VND to 1,000,000 VND shall be imposed for failing to complete all mandatory contents as prescribed, except for cases where invoices do not necessarily need to include all mandatory contents as guided by the Ministry of Finance.

2. A fine from 2,000,000 VND to 4,000,000 VND shall be imposed for failing to cancel or cancel improperly issued invoices that are no longer valid according to the prescribed regulations.

The cancellation of invoices by organizations and individuals shall be carried out in accordance with the guidance provided in the Circular of the Ministry of Finance on invoices for goods sales and service provision.

3. A fine from 4,000,000 VND to 8,000,000 VND shall be imposed for one of the following acts:

a) Issuing invoices at incorrect times.

The time of issuing invoices shall be carried out in accordance with the guidance provided in the Circular of the Ministry of Finance on invoices for goods sales and service provision.

a.1) A warning shall be given if issuing invoices at incorrect times does not lead to delayed tax obligations and there are mitigating circumstances. If there are no mitigating circumstances, the fine shall be at the minimum level of the penalty range.

Example: Company C delivered goods to customers on March 1, 2014 (based on the warehouse dispatch note of Company C), but did not issue invoices until March 3, 2014 to deliver to customers. Issuing invoices as described above is incorrect timing, but Company C declared and paid taxes in the March 2014 tax period, so Company C is fined 4,000,000 VND (as there are no mitigating circumstances).

a.2) A fine from 4,000,000 VND to 8,000,000 VND shall be imposed for other acts of issuing invoices at incorrect times as prescribed.

b) Issuing invoices not in sequential order from low to high numbers as prescribed.

Invoices shall be issued continuously from low to high numbers in accordance with the guidance provided in the Circular of the Ministry of Finance on invoices for goods sales and service provision.

b.1) A warning shall be given if invoices are issued continuously from low to high numbers but from different books (books with higher serial numbers were used first), and the organization or individual cancels (does not use) the book with lower serial numbers after discovering the error.

Example: Company X has multiple retail outlets. Company X distributes invoice books to each outlet. Outlet Y received two invoice books (book 1 from number 501 to 550 and book 2 from number 551 to 600). Sales staff at Outlet Y used book 2 first (invoices were issued continuously from low to high numbers). After using some invoices, Outlet Y continued to use book 2 until it was exhausted and canceled (did not use) book 1.

b.2) A fine from 4,000,000 VND to 8,000,000 VND shall be imposed for other acts of issuing invoices not in sequential order from low to high numbers as prescribed.

c) The date recorded on the issued invoice occurs before the date of purchasing the invoice from the tax agency;

c.1) A warning shall be given if the date recorded on the issued invoice occurred before the date the invoice was purchased from the tax authority, but the organization or individual declared and paid taxes in the correct tax period corresponding to the date recorded on the invoice.

Example: Contractor A purchased invoices printed by Tax Bureau B on April 1, 2014, but when issuing invoices to customers, Contractor A recorded the date as March 28, 2014. If Contractor A declared and paid taxes for the issued invoices in the March 2014 tax period, Contractor A will be warned.

c.2) A fine from 4,000,000 VND to 8,000,000 VND shall be imposed for other acts of recording dates on issued invoices before the date the invoices were purchased from the tax authority.

d) Issuing an invoice but not delivering it to the buyer, except if the invoice clearly states that the buyer did not take the invoice or the invoice was issued based on a sales list;

đ) Not issuing a sales list or a summary invoice as prescribed by the law on invoices for goods and services;

e) Issuing the wrong type of invoice as prescribed by the law on invoices for goods and services and delivering it to the buyer or declaring taxes;

e.1) A warning shall be imposed if the incorrect type of invoice is established as prescribed and has been handed over to the buyer or declared for tax purposes, and both the seller and buyer discover the incorrect establishment of the invoice type and re-establish the correct type of invoice in accordance with the regulations before the tax authority issues a decision on inspection or examination, and such action does not affect the determination of tax obligations.

e.2) A fine of from VND 4,000,000 to VND 8,000,000 shall be imposed for other acts of incorrectly establishing the type of invoice as prescribed.

4. A fine of from VND 10,000,000 to VND 20,000,000 shall be imposed for any of the following acts:

a) Losing, burning, or damaging issued invoices that have not yet been established or established invoices (the copy given to the customer) but the customer has not received them when the invoices have not reached their retention period, except in cases where the loss, burning, or damage of invoices is due to natural disasters or fire. In cases of losing, burning, or damaging invoices, except for the copy given to the customer, during the retention period, penalties shall be imposed according to accounting laws.

If the seller finds the lost invoice (the copy given to the customer) before the tax authority issues a penalty decision, the seller shall not be fined.

If the seller loses, burns, or damages all copies of incorrectly established invoices and has deleted them (the seller has established another invoice to replace the incorrectly established and deleted invoices), the seller shall be warned.

If at the same time, organizations or individuals report the loss of multiple invoices to the tax authority, but the tax authority has sufficient grounds to determine that the organization or individual combines multiple losses of invoices to report to the tax authority, penalties shall be imposed for each reported loss of invoices.

If the established invoice (the copy given to the customer) is related to a third party hired by the seller, the seller shall be penalized according to this provision.

b) Not issuing an invoice when selling goods or services with a payment value of VND 200,000 or more to the buyer as prescribed. Along with the penalty, the organization or individual conducting business must issue an invoice to give to the buyer.

5. A fine of from VND 20,000,000 to VND 50,000,000 shall be imposed for using illegal invoices (except for violations stipulated in Clause 2, Article 10 of this Circular) or for illegally using invoices (except for violations stipulated in Clause 1 of this Article).

The use of illegal invoices, the illegal use of invoices, and specific cases determined to be the illegal use of invoices shall be carried out in accordance with the Government Decree and the Circular of the Ministry of Finance on invoices for selling goods and providing services.

6. Measures to remedy consequences: Organizations or individuals violating the provisions of Clause 2 of this Article must also cancel issued invoices that have not yet been established and are no longer valid for use.

Article 12. Violations of regulations on the use of invoices by buyers

1. A fine of from VND 2,000,000 to VND 4,000,000 shall be imposed for losing, burning, or damaging established invoices (the copy given to the buyer) for accounting records, tax declarations, and budget payments, except in cases where the loss, burning, or damage of invoices is due to natural disasters or fire.

If the buyer finds the lost invoice and reports it back to the tax authority before the tax authority issues a penalty decision, the buyer shall not be fined.

If at the same time, organizations or individuals report the loss of multiple invoices to the tax authority, but the tax authority has sufficient grounds to determine that the organization or individual combines multiple losses of invoices to report to the tax authority, penalties shall be imposed for each reported loss of invoices.

If the established invoice (the copy given to the customer) is related to a third party hired by the buyer, the buyer shall be penalized according to this clause.

If the established invoice (the copy given to the buyer) is lost, burned, or damaged during the retention period, penalties shall be imposed according to accounting laws.

2. A fine of from VND 20,000,000 to VND 50,000,000 shall be imposed for using illegal invoices (except for violations stipulated in Clause 2, Article 10 of this Circular) or for illegally using invoices (except for violations stipulated in Clause 1, Article 11 of this Circular).

The use of illegal invoices, the illegal use of invoices, and specific cases determined to be the illegal use of invoices shall be carried out in accordance with the Circular of the Ministry of Finance on invoices for selling goods and providing services.

Article 13. Acts concerning the establishment, submission of notifications and reports (excluding invoice issuance notifications) to tax authorities

1. A fine of from VND 200,000 to VND 1,000,000 shall be imposed on acts of incorrectly or incompletely establishing the content of notifications and reports submitted to tax authorities, except for invoice issuance notifications, as prescribed.

In addition to the fine, organizations and individuals must re-establish and resubmit to the tax authority the notifications and reports in accordance with regulations. If organizations and individuals discover errors and re-establish replacement notifications and reports in compliance with regulations and submit them to the tax authority within the prescribed notification and report submission period, they will not be subject to punishment.

2. For violations related to the submission of notifications or reports to the tax authority, except for the notification of invoice issuance:

a) A warning shall be imposed on acts of submitting notifications and reports to tax authorities, except for invoice issuance notifications, from the first day to the fifth day following the end of the prescribed deadline.

b) In cases where notifications and reports are submitted to tax authorities, except for invoice issuance notifications, from the sixth day to the tenth day following the end of the prescribed deadline and there are mitigating circumstances, a warning shall be imposed.

c) A fine of from VND 2,000,000 to VND 4,000,000 shall be imposed, except for invoice issuance notifications, if the submission is delayed more than ten days after the end of the prescribed deadline.

3. A fine of from VND 4,000,000 to VND 8,000,000 shall be imposed on acts of failing to submit notifications and reports to tax authorities. The act of failing to submit notifications and reports to tax authorities, except for invoice issuance notifications, shall be considered after twenty days from the end of the prescribed deadline.

Chapter III

IMPLEMENTING PROVISIONS

Article 14. Effective Date

1. This Circular takes effect from March 2, 2014.

2. Other provisions regarding administrative penalties for invoices not specified in this Circular shall be implemented in accordance with the Law on Handling Administrative Violations and related detailed regulations.

3. For violations concerning invoices that occurred before the Government's Decree No. 109/2013/NĐ-CP dated September 24, 2013, and this Circular took effect, the provisions of Decree No. 109/2013/NĐ-CP dated September 24, 2013, and this Circular shall not apply. Instead, the relevant decrees governing the handling of invoice violations in effect at the time the violation occurred shall be applied.

In cases where the penalty level for the same act prescribed in Decree No. 109/2013/NĐ-CP and this Circular is lighter than the penalty level prescribed in previous decrees before the effective date of Decree No. 109/2013/NĐ-CP, the penalty level prescribed in Decree No. 109/2013/NĐ-CP and this Circular shall be applied, including cases where the violation occurred before the effective date of Decree No. 109/2013/NĐ-CP, was recorded in a report, but the competent authority has yet to issue a decision on handling or has issued a decision but it is still within the appeal resolution period, such cases shall be reconsidered and decided upon according to the penalty level prescribed in Decree No. 109/2013/NĐ-CP and this Circular.

Article 15. Responsibility for Implementation

1. Tax authorities at all levels shall be responsible for disseminating and guiding organizations, individuals engaged in business and non-business activities, and purchasers of goods and services to comply with the guidance provided in this Circular, inspecting and handling violations of organizations and individuals using invoices in a consistent manner throughout the sector, in accordance with the law.

2. Organizations and individuals involved in the printing, issuance, and use of invoices shall fully implement the contents of the guidance provided in this Circular.

3. Attached to this Circular are model inspection records and decision forms, which may be supplemented with additional lines to ensure that the content of the violation is adequately reflected during the preparation of the record and the issuance of the penalty decision, depending on specific circumstances.

During the implementation process, if there are difficulties, organizations and individuals are requested to promptly reflect to the Ministry of Finance for research and resolution./.