Vietnamese Legal Update in July of 2022

Transition from Paper Invoices to E-invoices

Vietnam has mandated businesses to implement e-invoices from July 2022. According to the Ministry of Finance’s Circular 78/2021/TT-BTC guiding the implementation of e-invoices, from July 1, 2022, businesses, households, and business individuals will not be able to use paper invoices anymore but must switch to using electronic invoices. 

Exceptions to this implementation include small and medium enterprises, cooperatives, households, and individuals doing business in areas with difficult socio-economic conditions, especially those areas where it is especially difficult to conduct transactions with tax authorities by electronic media, no accounting software system, etc.

Amendments to regulations on issuance of invoices after change of VAT

On June 20, 2022, the Government of Vietnam promulgated Decree No. 41/2022/ND-CP on Amendments to Decree No. 123/2020/ND-CP on invoices and records and Decree No. 15/2022/ND-CP on the policy on VAT reduction from 10% to 8%.

According to Decree No. 41/2022/ND-CP , the amendments to regulations on issuance of invoices when reducing VAT to 8% are as follows:

• In the event that business establishments that pay VAT using the credit-invoice method apply different tax rates when selling goods or providing services, their VAT invoices must state the tax rates of each commodity and service.
• In the event that business establishments pay VAT using the direct method (as a percentage of revenue), their sales invoices must state the reduced amount when selling goods and providing services.

Additionally, from February 1, 2022 to June 20, 2022, business establishments that have followed the mentioned regulations are still eligible for VAT reduction and exemption from invoice adjustment and are not subject to administrative violations of tax and invoices.

Salary for trained workers to be unchanged following regional minimum wage increase

According to Official Letter 2086/BLDTBXH-TLDLDVN dated June 17, 2022, the Ministry of Labor - War Invalids and Social Affairs and the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor request employers and employees in provinces and cities to implement Decree No. 38/2022/ND-CP on minimum wages in a law-compliant manner. 

As such, the employer is responsible for reviewing the agreements in the labor contract, the collective labor agreement, and the employer's regulations to adjust and supplement accordingly. The salary regimes when employees work overtime, work at night, compensation in kind, and other regimes according to regulations must not be eliminated or reduced. Except as otherwise agreed by the parties, the provisions of the labor contract, labor agreement, or other legal agreements that are more favorable to the employee than those of Decree No. 38/2022/ND-CP (with the salary level paid to trained workers being at least 7% higher than the minimum wage) will remain in effect.

Ministry of Industry and Trade reports a number of items in National Power Development Plan VIII

The Ministry of Industry and Trade has just issued Document No. 3787, reporting to the Prime Minister on the review of a number of items in the National Power Development Plan VIII that the Prime Minister requested in Letter No. 182, including contents related to solar and gas electricity.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade has made specific recommendations, hoping to be considered and approved by the Prime Minister.

One of the recommendations is to continue to allow, in the period up to 2030, the deployment of projects, or parts of projects that have been constructed with a total capacity of about 452.62 MW and projects that have been specified in the planning and received approval of investors with a total capacity of about 1,975.8 MW but have not yet been put into operation.

The ministry also proposed to extend the schedule of projects that have been specified in the planning and received approval of investors  with a total capacity of 4,136.25 MW to the period after 2030.

Regarding the imported LNG gas plan, the Ministry of Industry and Trade affirmed that it is necessary for LNG projects to be developed as part of the National Power Development Plan VIII until 2030 with a total capacity of 23,900 MW (accounting for 16.4%).

Deputy Prime Minister issues Decision No. 876/QD-TTg on green energy transition program

On July 22, 2022, Deputy Prime Minister Le Van Thanh issued Decision 876/QD-TTg on approving the action program for transition to green energy and mitigation of carbon dioxide and methane emissions from transportation.

The overall objective of the strategy is to develop a green transport system towards the goal of zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

The strategy sets a target that, starting in 2025, buses will be replaced to pave the way for the investment of new electric vehicles and green energy. From 2030, at least 50% of vehicles will be powered by electricity and renewable energy; current taxis will be replaced; and new investments powered by electricity and renewable energy will be put into place. By 2050, 100% of buses and taxis will use electricity and green energy

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