Circular No. 17/1999/TT-BTC guides the amendment and supplementation of certain points regarding the invoice and record system for goods circulating in the market.

CIRCULAR

Guidelines for amending and supplementing certain provisions on invoice and supporting documents for goods circulating in the market.

 Regarding goods circulating in the market.

Based on the Value Added Tax Law and the Enterprise Income Tax Law;

Based on the Notification No. 110/TB-VPCP dated June 2, 1998 of the Government Office regarding the Prime Minister's conclusions at the mid-term review meeting on anti-smuggling work along the northern border and the northeastern sea area;

According to feedback from localities and enterprises on some difficulties encountered during implementation, the Ministry of Finance supplements and amends certain provisions in Circular No. 73/TC-TCT dated October 20, 1997 and Circular No. 92/1997/TT-BTC dated December 25, 1997 concerning the invoice and supporting documents for goods circulating in the market as follows:

1. Supplementing additional invoices and supporting documents for goods circulating in the market:

a) Supplementing point 3 Section ICircular No. 73/TC-TCT dated October 20, 1997 with types of invoices and supporting documents for goods circulating in the market:

Value added tax invoice.

Value added tax receipt, enterprise income tax receipt at the distribution stage.

b) Supplementing point 1 Section ICircular No. 73/TC-TCT dated October 20, 1997:

In case of purchasing assets for liquidation from administrative and public service agencies, there must be a decision to sell assets issued by the administrative or public service agency.

In case of purchasing goods or assets confiscated, there must be a decision to sell state-owned assets.

2. Supplementing additional provisions in point 1 Section A Part II of Circular No. 73/TC-TCT dated October 20, 1997: invoice and supporting document regulations for the following cases:

a) For goods exhibited at trade fairs: There must be an internal dispatch order and an internal transport and delivery note. In case of sales at the trade fair, the entity must issue a value added tax invoice or a sales invoice to customers. The invoice used for sales at the trade fair is the invoice purchased directly from the tax authority managing the entity. Sales revenue at the trade fair is declared and taxed to the tax authority directly managing the entity.

b) For goods given as gifts or donations, a value added tax invoice or a sales invoice must be issued.

c) For consigned goods sold, a value added tax invoice or a sales invoice must be issued to the consignee entity.

d) For goods entrusted for export, a value added tax invoice or a sales invoice must be issued by the entity entrusted with the export.

e) For goods entrusted for import, the business entity receiving them must have a value added tax invoice issued by the entity entrusted with the import.

g) When a business entity purchases a large quantity of goods that need to be transported in multiple shipments, each shipment must require the seller to issue a value added tax invoice or a sales invoice.

3. Replacing point 4 Section A Part II Circular No. 73/TC-TCT with a new point 4 as follows:

Goods transferred internally between warehouses (including warehouses outside provinces under central administration) must have an internal transfer order and an internal transport and delivery note.

Goods transferred internally from production and business entities to branches and affiliated stores within the same province (under central administration) for sale must have an internal transfer order and an internal transport and delivery note. If transferred to branches and stores in other provinces (under central administration) for sale, a value added tax invoice or a sales invoice must be issued.

4. Supplementing point 7 Section B Part II Circular No. 73/TC-TCT as follows:

Specifically, for imported goods purchased by organizations and individuals from border markets and transported into domestic circulation, in addition to the sales invoice provided by the seller, a copy of the import declaration form according to Decision No. 172/1998/QD-TCHQ dated June 20, 1998 of the General Customs Department Head on the issuance of copies of import declarations must also be attached.

5. Regarding economic contracts.

Abolishing the provisions in Circular No. 73/TC-TCT dated October 20, 1997 and Circular No. 92/1997/TT-BTC dated December 25, 1997 requiring businesses to have economic contracts when transporting goods. However, when exporting raw materials for processing, an outsourcing contract must still be attached (original or photocopied with confirmation of authenticity by the business).

6. Handling violations:

a) Abolishing the phrases: "Turnover tax, profit tax at the distribution stage" stipulated in Section A, Section BPart III of Circular No. 73/TC-TCT and replacing them with the phrase: "Value added tax, enterprise income tax at the distribution stage".

b) Replacing point 3 Section APart III of Circular No. 73/TC-TCT with the new provision as follows: Goods and materials purchased, received, remaining in stock, or already put into production and consumption without valid invoices and supporting documents shall be considered as tax evasion, subject to administrative penalties in the field of taxation and back payment of value added tax and enterprise income tax at the distribution stage calculated based on the market price at the time of inspection (if the goods are in transit) or based on the value of goods reflected in the accounting books.

c) Replacing point 3 Section BPart III of Circular No. 73/TC-TCT with the new provision as follows: Purchasing imported goods for business without valid invoices and supporting documents shall be considered as smuggling, subject to administrative penalties in the field of taxation and confiscation of goods.

For imported consignments purchased from organizations and individuals operating in border provinces with valid invoices and supporting documents but found through inspection and control to have suspicious legal origins, the right to trace back to the organization or individual issuing the invoices and supporting documents related to the consignment exists. If the organization or individual selling the consignment cannot present invoices and supporting documents proving the legal origin of the sold goods, they will be subject to administrative penalties in the field of taxation and confiscation of an amount equivalent to the value of the goods sold at the time of violation.

d) Organizations and individuals purchasing goods from border markets without sufficient invoices and supporting documents as stipulated in point 4 of this Circular shall be considered as smuggled goods, subject to administrative penalties in the field of taxation and confiscation of goods.

e) Organizations and individuals purchasing liquidated assets from administrative and public service agencies, seized goods and assets without valid supporting documents as stipulated in point 1b of this Circular shall be handled as follows:

If domestic goods are subject to value-added tax and corporate income tax at the distribution stage.

If imported goods are subject to administrative penalties for tax violations and confiscation of the goods.

g) Abolish the provisions on handling organizations and individuals engaged in transportation of goods without accompanying economic contracts. However, transportation of raw materials for processing without accompanying processing contracts shall be subject to value-added tax and corporate income tax at the distribution stage.

This Circular takes effect from February 20, 1999. Provisions in Circular No. 73/TC-TCT dated October 20, 1997 of the Ministry of Finance that contradict the amended and supplemented provisions in this Circular are abolished.

During implementation, any difficulties should be promptly reported to the Ministry of Finance for study and resolution./.