HCMC – Tax authorities in Vietnam are considering stringent measures against vendors on e-commerce platforms who have not fulfilled their tax obligations, including the possibility of prohibiting them from leaving the country.
This decision was deliberated at a recent meeting by the General Department of Taxation to address tax evasion in the e-commerce sector.
Under prevailing regulations, vendors earning VND100 million or more annually from e-commerce transactions are required to pay value-added tax and personal income tax.
To bolster tax collection from e-commerce transactions, tax authorities will ramp up monitoring efforts, call out tax debtors, and impose travel bans on those with outstanding tax liabilities.
While these regulations have been applicable to individuals and business representatives with overdue tax payments in previous years, they have not been enforced on vendors operating on e-commerce platforms.
Currently, e-commerce platforms are mandated to furnish vendors’ information to competent authorities for tax collection.
Popular marketplaces like Shopee, Lazada, Tiki and Sendo are obligated to report vendor revenues to authorities.
According to a report by the Ministry of Industry and Trade, Vietnam’s e-commerce retail market reached US$20.5 billion in 2023, up by a significant US$4 billion from the previous year. By December 2023, Vietnam had been among the top 10 countries globally with the most substantial e-commerce growth, as reported by Statista.
