Illegal trading of invoices may result in criminal prosecution.

Photo is for illustration purposes only (Photo: MP)

According to current law, acts of illegally buying, selling invoices, using illegal invoices, or illegally using invoices, depending on the nature and severity of the violation, may be subject to administrative penalties or criminal prosecution.

On administrative sanctions

Administrative sanctions for violations related to invoices are implemented in accordance with relevant provisions in Decree No. 125/2020/ND-CP dated October 19, 2020 of the Government regulating administrative sanctions for violations related to taxes and invoices (amended and supplemented in Decree No. 102/2021/ND-CP dated November 16, 2021), specifically:

Firstly, the act of giving or selling invoices will be punished according to Article 22 of Decree No. 125/2020/ND-CP dated October 19, 2020 with a fine of 15 million to 45 million VND.

The remedy is to force the cancellation of invoices and force the return of illegally obtained profits.

Secondly, regarding the use of illegal invoices, the illegal use of invoices will be penalized according to Article 4 and Article 28 of Decree No. 125/2020/ND-CP dated October 19, 2020, with a fine ranging from VND 20 million to VND 50 million (except in cases where the illegal use of invoices increases the amount of tax payable, or increases the amount of tax exempted, reduced, or refunded, and is subject to tax penalties as stipulated in Articles 16 and 17 of this Decree).

The remedy is to force the cancellation of used invoices.

Third, for the act of using illegal invoices to account for the value of purchased goods and services, reducing the amount of tax payable or increasing the amount of tax refunded, the amount of tax exempted or reduced, but when the tax authority inspects and checks and detects, the buyer proves that the violation belongs to the seller and the buyer has fully accounted for the accounting according to regulations, he/she will be punished according to Article 16 of Decree No. 125/2020/ND-CP with a fine of 20% of the under-declared tax amount or the refunded tax amount higher than the regulations.

Remedial measures include forcing the full payment of tax arrears, tax refunds higher than prescribed, and late tax payments to the State Budget; forcing the adjustment of the deductible input VAT amount transferred to the next period (if any).

Fourth, regarding the use of illegal invoices; the illegal use of invoices to declare taxes in order to reduce the amount of tax payable or increase the amount of tax refunded, exempted, or reduced, which is determined to be tax evasion but not to the extent of criminal prosecution under Article 200 of the Penal Code, will be punished according to Article 17 of Decree No. 125/2020/ND-CP dated October 19, 2020, with a fine ranging from 1 to 3 times the amount of tax evaded, depending on the nature and severity of the violation (the fine increases progressively with aggravating circumstances of the violation).

The remedial measure is to force the full payment of the evaded tax amount to the State Budget; and force the adjustment of the deductible input VAT amount on the tax records (if any).

On criminal proceedings

According to the 2015 Penal Code (amended in 2017), the act of using illegal invoices to account for goods and raw materials in activities that generate tax obligations, thereby reducing the amount of tax payable or increasing the amount of tax exempted, reduced, deductible, or refunded to the extent that it warrants criminal prosecution, will be prosecuted under the crime of tax evasion (Article 200).

And the act of illegally buying and selling invoices to the extent of being prosecuted for criminal liability will be handled as the Crime of illegally printing, issuing, buying and selling invoices and documents for payment to the State Budget (Article 203).

Based on the above provisions, basically, administrative and criminal sanctions for acts of illegal purchase and sale of invoices, use of illegal invoices, and illegal use of invoices have been specifically and fully regulated in the legal system for handling administrative violations and criminal law according to the nature, level, and scale of the violation.

The act of using illegal invoices constitutes the crime of tax evasion.

Will be prosecuted and tried for the crime of tax evasion according to the provisions of Article 200 of the Penal Code 2015 (amended and supplemented in 2017):

If the individual is tried, there are three main penalty brackets with fines ranging from 100 million VND to 4.5 billion VND or imprisonment for a term of 3 months to 7 years.

Offenders may also be fined from 20 million to 100 million VND, banned from holding positions, practicing a profession or doing certain jobs from 1 to 5 years, or have part or all of their property confiscated.

If it is a commercial legal entity, it will be tried with 4 main penalty frames: Fine from 300 million VND to 10 billion VND; or suspension of operations for a period of 6 months to 3 years or permanent suspension of operations.

Commercial legal entities may also be fined from VND50 million to VND200 million, banned from doing business, banned from operating in certain fields, or banned from raising capital from 1 to 3 years.

The act of illegally buying and selling invoices constitutes the crime of illegally buying and selling invoices.

Will be prosecuted and tried for the crime of illegally printing, issuing, and trading invoices and documents for payment to the State budget according to the provisions of Article 203 of the 2015 Penal Code (amended and supplemented in 2017).

If an individual is tried, there are two main penalties: a fine from 50 million VND to 500 million VND or non-custodial reform for up to 3 years or imprisonment from 6 months to 5 years.

Offenders may also be fined from 10 million to 50 million VND, banned from holding positions, practicing a profession or doing certain jobs from 1 to 5 years.

If it is a commercial legal entity, it will be subject to two main penalties: a fine ranging from 100 million VND to 1 billion VND; or permanent suspension of operations.

Commercial legal entities may also be fined from VND50 million to VND200 million, banned from doing business, banned from operating in certain fields from 1 to 3 years, or banned from raising capital from 1 to 3 years.

According to the Communist Party of Vietnam Electronic Newspaper

Source: https://baolaocai.vn/mua-ban-trai-phep-hoa-don-co-the-se-bi-truy-cuu-trach-nhiem-hinh-su-post385302.html