Online Platforms Contribute $166 Million in Tax Payments in Vietnam

In the first half of this year, Vietnam collected VND3.94 trillion ($166.5 million) in taxes from 57 foreign online platforms, including Google, Apple, Facebook, Netflix, and TikTok. Out of this amount, VND3.4 trillion was paid directly through the portal of the General Department of Taxation (GDT), which was established last March to facilitate tax payments for cross-border giants operating in Vietnam. The remaining sum was paid by the representatives of these platforms within Vietnam.

The GDT also reported that tax revenue from e-commerce platforms in the first five months of this year reached VND246 billion, accounting for 34% of the total revenue generated in 2022. In 2022, the tax revenue collected from e-commerce providers amounted to VND716 billion, while in 2021, it was VND261 billion. The GDT has already recorded data from over 330 e-commerce platforms through the e-commerce portal, which has been operational since the end of last year.

During the first quarter of this year, approximately 64,300 individuals and 22,840 organizations engaged in trading on these platforms, with a total of 9 billion transactions valued at VND11.5 trillion. The GDT is currently working on establishing rules for utilizing information from databases received from e-commerce platforms to enhance tax management effectiveness. The agency is conducting checks and comparisons of information from various taxpayers, including e-commerce platform owners, payment intermediaries, partners of foreign companies in Vietnam, and foreign suppliers without a fixed business establishment in Vietnam. So far, the GDT has inspected 15 enterprises and has taken measures such as fines and tax collection, resulting in a reduction of tax losses by VND986 billion and a decrease in VAT deductions by VND114 billion.