Tightening taxes in e-commerce: Need for synchronous solutions and increased coordination

Chính phủ đã ban hành Nghị định 91/2022/NĐ-CP yêu cầu các sàn TMĐT định kỳ cung cấp thông tin người bán cho cơ quan thuế.

The Government has issued Decree 91/2022/ND-CP requiring e-commerce platforms to periodically provide seller information to tax authorities.

Increase control from exchange to bank account

According to a report by the Ministry of Industry and Trade , revenue from retail e-commerce in Vietnam in 2024 is estimated to reach more than 20 billion USD, an increase of about 25% compared to the previous year. The country currently has over 100,000 active e-commerce websites and applications, with millions of individuals doing business through Facebook, TikTok, Shopee, Lazada, Tiki...

Siết thuế trong thương mại điện tử: Cần đồng bộ về giải pháp và tăng cường phối hợp

There are still tens of thousands of cases that are "forgetting" or have not fulfilled their tax obligations according to regulations.

To overcome this situation, since 2022, the Government has issued Decree 91/2022/ND-CP requiring e-commerce platforms to periodically provide seller information to tax authorities. This is considered a turning point in tax management for online businesses.

Mr. Nguyen Van Phung, former Director of the Department of Large Enterprise Tax Management (General Department of Taxation, now the Department of Taxation) commented that without the cooperation of e-commerce platforms, monitoring and verifying transactions of millions of sellers is almost impossible. However, for data to be valuable, it is necessary to standardize formats, security and enhance system connectivity.

In addition, the tax sector also needs to gradually link data with the banking system to compare cash flows from personal accounts, especially those with high frequency online sales transactions. This helps detect signs of risk, while creating a basis for determining actual revenue to calculate taxes more accurately.

One of the important directions today is to apply big data technology and artificial intelligence (AI) to analyze transaction behavior, identify unusual signs such as splitting revenue, creating virtual accounts, or circulating money through multiple channels.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Lan Huong, Digital Finance Policy Consultant ( World Bank in Vietnam) shared that Vietnam has the potential to apply AI to analyze data from e-commerce platforms, banks, taxes, etc. to automatically detect tax fraud cases. However, it is necessary to invest in technical infrastructure and specialized human resources to implement effectively.

From the business side, many large e-commerce platforms in Vietnam said they are ready to cooperate with tax authorities, but also raised recommendations for clarity on processes, responsibilities and data security.

A representative of Shopee Vietnam said, “We understand that tax management is necessary to ensure fairness among sellers. However, the provision of information must comply with the law on personal data protection and must have a clear roadmap to avoid causing confusion for small businesses. Some sellers are also concerned about complicated tax declarations or being subject to inappropriate tax rates.”

Một số người bán hàng cũng lo ngại việc kê khai thuế phức tạp hoặc bị áp mức thuế chưa phù hợp

Some sellers are still worried about complicated tax declarations or being charged inappropriate tax rates.

Mr. Tran Huu Hoa, owner of an online fashion store in Hanoi, said, “I am willing to pay taxes if there are specific and fair instructions. But at present, I do not know how to calculate taxes and do not know how much revenue I have to declare taxes.”

Need to improve policies and strengthen propaganda

According to experts, in addition to technological solutions, it is important to perfect tax policies that are suitable for e-commerce practices. Currently, the revenue threshold for sellers to pay taxes is not consistent among documents, causing difficulties in implementation.

Dr. Tran Thi Luyen, Lecturer of the Faculty of Public Finance - Academy of Finance, said that we need to clearly classify between individuals doing regular business, traditional business households and small retailers. For sellers with revenue under 100 million VND/year, tax exemption can be applied to encourage startups. But from this threshold and above, it is necessary to clearly declare.

Along with that, tax authorities need to promote propaganda in easily accessible forms: instructional videos, consulting chatbots, integrating direct tax declaration on e-commerce platforms... This not only helps sellers understand and comply with their obligations, but also creates a healthy and fair business environment between online and offline.

Tax management in e-commerce is an inevitable trend to ensure fairness and revenue for the state budget. However, this is a new, complex field and involves many parties.