How will sellers on e-commerce platforms have to pay taxes in the future?

(Dan Tri) - Tax is calculated on the total revenue, excluding fees and discounts. Sellers must comply with regulations on electronic invoices and can apply for a tax refund if revenue does not exceed the tax threshold.

According to Decree 117/2025 of the Government , e-commerce floors and digital platforms must deduct and pay tax on behalf of value added tax and personal income tax for sellers (business households and individual businesses) on the floor.

The above taxes will be deducted as soon as the order is “finalized” and the buyer accepts payment.

As a rule, the tax amount is determined as a percentage of the turnover of each completed transaction.

*Tax amount prescribed for domestic individuals

Product group	Value Added Tax	Personal income tax
Goods	1%	0.5%
Service	5%	2%
Transport, services associated with goods	3%	1.5%

Individuals living abroad are subject to personal income tax when selling goods online at 1%, services at 5%, transportation at 2% and services associated with goods at 2%.

In case the online platform management unit cannot determine whether the transaction is a product or a service, the deducted tax will be at the highest rate. This tax declaration is done monthly. For canceled or returned transactions, the platforms will have to offset the deducted tax with the seller and pay it on their behalf.

Taxes when doing business on e-commerce platforms are calculated on total revenue, excluding fees and discounts (Photo: Tien Tuan).

According to Circular 40/2021, value added tax and personal income tax for business households and individuals are calculated as a percentage of the total revenue generated during the period.

Taxable revenue includes all proceeds from the sale of goods, provision of services and other revenues. Expenses such as transaction fees, transportation, discounts, subsidies, etc. are not excluded when determining taxable revenue, but are considered business expenses of the seller.

For example, Mr. Nguyen Van A does business on an e-commerce platform. At the end of the month, the platform records his sales revenue as 300 million VND. After deducting expenses such as shipping, transaction, and subsidy fees, the actual amount he receives is 250 million VND.

According to regulations, tax will be calculated on the entire revenue of 300 million VND, with a total tax rate of 1.5% (including 1% value added tax and 0.5% personal income tax), not on the actual receipt of 250 million VND.

In case the seller has had the floor deduct and pay tax on their behalf but their annual revenue is 100 million VND or less, they will carry out tax refund procedures for the overpaid amount. From January 1, 2026, the taxable revenue threshold is 200 million VND.

Decree 117 also stipulates that households and individuals residing and doing business on e-commerce platforms are responsible for declaring and paying special consumption tax, environmental protection tax, resource tax and other revenues payable to the State budget managed by tax authorities according to the provisions of the law on tax, the law on tax management and other relevant laws.

According to data from the Tax Department ( Ministry of Finance ), organizations and individuals with e-commerce business activities have paid a total of 75,000 billion VND in taxes after 5 months.

This figure increased by 55% over the same period in 2024. Of which, through registration, tax declaration and tax payment on the E-commerce Portal for foreign suppliers, there were 183 cases registered, declared and paid taxes with the cumulative payment amount in the first 5 months of the year estimated at VND 5,674 billion, an increase of 41% over the same period.

Through tax registration, declaration and payment on the Business Household E-commerce Portal, 110,000 business households and individuals have registered, declared and paid taxes with the payment amount of nearly 1,300 billion VND, an increase of 44% compared to the end of last month.

Through reviewing the tax declaration database, there were nearly 93,000 organizations with domestic e-commerce business activities with tax paid of 67,600 billion VND.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/kinh-doanh/nguoi-ban-hang-tren-san-thuong-mai-dien-tu-sap-toi-phai-dong-thue-ra-sao-20250623181750201.htm