Vietnam collects $231 mln in taxes from online platforms

In a report sent to the National Assembly, the ministry said the tax was paid by cross-border and e-commerce platforms, with Facebook and Google contributing the most, at VND2.099 trillion and VND2.115 trillion, respectively.

They were followed by Microsoft with VND714 billion.

Last year’s collection of VND1.591 trillion was 39% more than in 2020.

From the beginning of 2018 until the end of this August, tax authorities collected VND1.082 trillion in taxes from organizations and individuals earning income from doing business online, including VND261 billion collected last year and almost VND521 billion in the first eight months of this year.

The ministry launched an electronic portal and a mobile application (eTax Mobile) in March for foreign suppliers to declare, register and pay taxes.

So far, there have been nearly 70,000 transactions made through the portal and app, with more than VND308 billion of tax collected.

Of this, $22.2 million was paid by 30 major foreign suppliers including Microsoft, Facebook, Netflix, Samsung, TikTok and eBay.

In order to manage and avoid tax revenue losses in the digital platform business, the finance ministry is working to complete relevant legislation.

At the end of August, the ministry submitted amendments to Decree 126 issued in 2020, stipulating that e-commerce platforms have to provide information, declare and paying taxes on behalf of sellers.

The ministry also proposed amending a number of special regulations to ensure a consistent legal basis for the management of e-commerce platforms.