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 shall be 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 VND to 45 million VND.
The remedy is to force the cancellation of invoices and force the return of illegally obtained profits.
Second, the act of using illegal invoices or illegally using invoices will be punished according to Article 4 and Article 28 of Decree No. 125/2020/ND-CP dated October 19, 2020 with a fine of VND 20 million to VND 50 million (except for the case of using illegal invoices or illegally using invoices that increases the amount of tax payable or increases the amount of tax exempted, reduced or refunded, which will be subject to tax penalties according to the provisions of Article 16 and Article 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, it is discovered that 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 input value-added tax deductible for the next period (if any).
Fourthly, for the act of using illegal invoices; illegally using invoices to declare taxes to reduce the amount of tax payable or increase the amount of tax refunded, the amount of tax exempted or reduced is determined to be an act of tax evasion but not to the extent of being prosecuted for criminal liability under Article 200 of the Penal Code, it will be punished according to Article 17 of Decree No. 125/2020/ND-CP dated October 19, 2020 with a fine of 1 to 3 times the amount of tax evaded, depending on the nature and severity of the violation (the fine increases gradually according to the aggravating circumstances of the violation).
The remedial measure is to force the full payment of the evaded tax amount to the State Budget; force the adjustment of the deductible input value-added tax 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 input materials in activities that generate tax obligations, reducing the amount of tax payable or increasing the amount of exempted tax, reduced tax or increasing the amount of deductible tax, or refunded tax to the extent of being prosecuted for criminal liability will be prosecuted for 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.
For the act of using illegal invoices constituting 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 an individual is tried, there are three main penalty frames 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 assets 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 with two main penalty frames, there is a fine from 50 million VND to 500 million VND or a non-custodial reform sentence of up to 3 years or a prison sentence 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 tried with two main penalties: Fine 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.
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