CIRCULAR NO. 37/2017/TT-BTC AMENDING AND COMPLEMENTING CIRCULAR NO. 39/2014/TT-BTC DATED MARCH 31, 2014 OF THE MINISTRY OF FINANCE AND CIRCULAR NO. 26/2015/TT-BTC DATED FEBRUARY 27, 2015 OF THE MINISTRY OF FINANCE

CIRCULAR

Amending and supplementing Circular No. 39/2014/TT-BTC dated March 31, 2014 of the Ministry of Finance, and Circular No. 26/2015/TT-BTC dated February 27, 2015 of the Ministry of Finance.

_____________

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 the Accounting Law No. 88/2015/QH11 dated November 20, 2015;

Pursuant to the Law on Value Added Tax No. 13/2008/QH12 dated June 3, 2008, and the Law Amending and Supplementing Certain Provisions of the Law on Value Added Tax No. 31/2013/QH13 dated June 19, 2013;

||| Pursuant to Decree No. 63/2018/NĐ-CP dated May 4, 2018 of the Government on public-private partnership investment;

Pursuant to Decree No. 51/2010/NĐ-CP dated May 14, 2010 of the Government stipulating invoices for goods sales and service provision, and Decree No. 04/2014/NĐ-CP dated January 17, 2014 amending and supplementing certain provisions of Decree No. 51/2010/NĐ-CP dated May 14, 2010 of the Government;

Pursuant to Decree No. 215/2013/NĐ-CP dated December 23, 2013, promulgated by the Government stipulating the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Finance;

Pursuant to Resolution No. 19-2017/NQ-CP dated February 6, 2011 of the Government on continuing to implement major tasks and solutions to improve the business environment and enhance national competitiveness in 2017 with a view to 2020.

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

The Minister of Finance hereby promulgates this Circular amending and supplementing certain provisions of Circulars guiding invoices for goods sales and service provision as follows:

Article 1. Amending and supplementing certain provisions of Circular No. 39/2014/TT-BTC (which has been amended and supplemented by Circular No. 119/2014/TT-BTC dated August 25, 2014, and Circular No. 26/2015/TT-BTC dated February 27, 2015 of the Ministry of Finance) as follows:

1. Amending and supplementing the last bullet point of Point b Clause 1 Article 6 as follows:

"There shall be a written request to use self-printed invoices (Model No. 3.14 Appendix 3 issued together with this Circular) and such request must be confirmed by the direct tax administration agency as meeting the conditions. Within two working days from receiving the enterprise's written request, the direct tax administration agency must provide comments on the conditions for using self-printed invoices (Model No. 3.15 Appendix 3 issued together with this Circular).

In case the direct tax administration agency does not issue a written comment within two working days, the enterprise may use self-printed invoices. The head of the tax authority shall be responsible for the failure to issue a written response."

2. Amending and supplementing the last paragraph of Point b Clause 1 Article 8 as follows:

"Within two working days from receiving the request from organizations or enterprises, the direct tax administration agency must issue a Notice regarding the use of printed invoices (Model No. 3.15 Appendix 3 issued together with this Circular).

In case the direct tax administration agency does not issue a written comment within two working days, the enterprise may use printed invoices. The head of the tax authority shall be responsible for the failure to issue a written response."

3. Amend and supplement Clause 4 of Article 9 as follows:

"4. The Notice of invoice issuance and sample invoices must be sent to the direct tax administration agency at least two (02) days before the business organization starts using the invoices. The Notice of invoice issuance including sample invoices must be prominently posted at all places where invoices are used to sell goods and services throughout the period of use. The tax administration agency is responsible for guiding business organizations to terminate printing contracts when issuing the Notice of invoice issuance for contracts to print invoices without a specified termination date (for printed invoices) and without being subject to penalties.

In case a business organization sends a Notice of issuance from the second time onwards, if there is no change in the content and form of the issued invoices, it is not necessary to send sample invoices.

In case a business organization has affiliated units or branches that share the same invoice model but file value-added tax separately, each affiliated unit or branch must send the Notice of issuance to the direct tax administration agency. In case a business organization has affiliated units or branches that share the same invoice model but the organization files value-added tax for the affiliated units or branches, the affiliated units or branches do not need to send the Notice of issuance.

The General Department of Taxation is responsible for establishing a database of invoice information based on the invoice issuance notices of organizations on the General Department of Taxation’s website so that individuals and organizations can access necessary information about the invoices issued by the organization.

In case the tax authority receives an issuance notice from an organization and finds that the notice does not meet the required content according to regulations, the tax authority must notify the organization in writing within two (02) working days from the receipt of the notice. The organization is responsible for adjusting the issuance notice."

4. Amending and supplementing Point b Clause 2 Article 12 as follows:

"b) Responsibilities of the tax authority

The tax authority sells invoices to organizations, households, and individual businesses monthly.

The initial quantity of invoices sold to organizations, households, and individual businesses shall not exceed one book of fifty (50) numbers for each type of invoice. If the invoices purchased initially are exhausted before the end of the month, the tax authority will decide the quantity of invoices to be sold next time based on the usage period and quantity of invoices already used.

For subsequent purchases, based on the request for purchasing invoices in the application for purchasing invoices, the tax authority will sell invoices to organizations, households, and individual businesses on the same day, with the quantity of invoices sold not exceeding the quantity of invoices used in the previous month.

In case households or individual businesses do not have a need to use book invoices but require single invoices, the tax authority will sell single invoices (one number) to households or individual businesses according to each occurrence and without charging fees.

Organizations and enterprises that fall under the category of purchasing invoices issued by the tax authority and switch to creating printed invoices, self-printed invoices, or electronic invoices for use must stop using invoices purchased from the tax authority from the day they start using self-created invoices according to the guidance provided in Article 21 of this Circular."

Article 2. Effective Date

1. This Circular takes effect from June 12, 2017.

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