– Pursuant to the Law on Electronic Transactions No. 51/2005/QH11 dated November 29, 2005 of the National Assembly:
+ Article 4 provides for interpretation of terms:
“…6. An e-transaction means a transaction implemented by electronic means.“
+ Article 15 provides for storage of data messages:
“1. In cases where the law requires records, files or information to be stored, such records, files or information can be stored in the form of data messages when the following conditions are satisfied:
a) The information in the data message is accessible and usable for reference when necessary;
b) The contents of such data message are stored in the very format in which it was originated, sent or received, or in a format which can be demonstrated to represent accurately its contents;
c) Such data message is stored in a manner to enable the identification of its origin, destination, and the date and time when it was sent or received.
Contents and time limit for storage of data message shall comply with the provisions of law on storage.”
+ Article 33 provides for e-contracts:
“E-contracts mean contracts established in the form of data messages provided for in this Law. “
+ Article 34 provides for the recognition of legal validity of e-contracts:
“The legal validity of e-contracts cannot be denied simply because the contract is expressed in the form of data messages.”
+ Article 35 provides for the principles of entry into and execution of e-contracts:
“1. Participating parties shall have the right to reach agreement on the use of electronic means in the entry into and execution of contracts.
2. The entry into and execution of an e-contract shall comply with the provisions of this Law and law on contracts.
3. When entering into and executing e-contracts, the parties shall have the right to reach agreement on technical requirements, certification, conditions to ensure integrity and confidentiality related to such e-contracts.”
– Pursuant to Decree No. 165/2018/ND-CP dated December 26, 2018 of the Government on e-transactions in financial operations:
+ Article 3 provides for interpretation of terms:
“…3. “Electronic documents in financial operations” (or “electronic documents”) means information, which is generated, sent , received and stored by electronic means upon carrying out electronic transactions in financial operations, including documents, reports, contracts, agreements, transaction information, information serving administrative procedures and other types of information and data as prescribed by specialized laws…”
+ Article 5 provides for the legal validity of electronic documents:
“Article 5. Legal validity of electronic documents
1. E-documents must fully meet the requirements of state management and in accordance with the provisions of specialized laws. The form, the creation, sending and receiving of e-documents and the legal validity of e-documents shall comply with the Law on E-Transactions.
2. E-documents are valid as originals when being implemented by one of the following measures:
a) E-documents are digitally signed by agencies, organizations or individuals that create e-documents and relevant agencies, organizations or individuals in accordance with specialized law provisions.
b) The information system has measures to ensure the security of e-documents in the process of transmission, receipt and storage on the system; saves information about agencies, organizations or individuals creating e-documents, and relevant agencies, organizations or individuals participating in processing e-documents. One of measures to identify the organizations or individuals creating e-documents and the organizations or individuals processing e-documents, is verification by digital certificates, biometric method, verification from two or more elements including elements of one-time authentication code or random authentication code.
c) Other measures selected by the parties involved in the transaction must ensure the security of the data, the authenticity, the non-repudiation and the consistency with the provisions of the Law on E-Transactions.”
+ Article 9 provides for storage of electronic documents:
“ 1. E-documents shall be stored in accordance with specialized laws, in accordance with the environment, electronic storage conditions and relevant provisions of the law on storage.
2. Agencies and units that store e-documents must satisfy the conditions specified in Clause 1, Article 15 of the Law on E-Transactions.”
– Pursuant to Decree No. 130/2018/ND-CP dated September 27, 2018 of the Government detailing the implementation of the Law on E-Transactions on digital signatures and digital signature authentication services:
+ Article 8 provides for the legal validity of digital signatures:
“1. Where the law defines that a document required to be signed, the requirement for a data message is considered as met if the data message is signed with digital signature and such digital signature is adequately secured as prescribed in Article 9 of this Decree.
2. Where the law defines that a document required to be stamped by the agency, organization, such requirement for a data message is considered as met if the data message is signed by digital signature of the agency or organization and such digital signature is adequately secured as prescribed in Article 9 of this Decree.
3. Foreign digital signatures and digital certificates licensed in Vietnam as prescribed in Chapter V of this Decree are legally valid and effective as digital signatures and digital certificates granted by public certification authorities of Vietnam.”
+ Article 43 provides for conditions for using foreign digital certificates:
“1. The digital certificate is still valid.
2. It is licensed by the Ministry of Information and Communications for use in Vietnam and accepted in international transactions. If a foreign digital certificate is used for servers and software, no license is required.”
+ Article 44 provides for the users of foreign digital certificates:
“1. Foreign entities in Vietnam.
2. Vietnamese entities who need to make electronic transactions with partners in a foreign country but digital certificates of local certification authorities have not been recognized in such country.”
+ Article 45 provides for operating scope and validity period of license to use foreign digital certificates in Vietnam:
“1. Operating scope refers to electronic transactions of users of foreign digital certificates prescribed in Article 44 of this Decree.
2. Validity period of license to use foreign digital certificate in Vietnam is 5 years but not exceeding validity period of the digital certificate.”
+ Article 50 provides for the obligations of users of foreign digital certificates permitted in Vietnam:
“1. Using digital certificates in accordance with scope stated in license to use foreign digital certificates in Vietnam.
2. Report upon occurrence of incidents or at requests about use of foreign digital certificates be in Vietnam with the Ministry of Information and Communications.”
– Pursuant to Article 4 of Circular No. 96/2015/TT-BTC dated June 22, 2015 of the Ministry of Finance guiding the amendments and supplements to Article 6 of Circular No. 78/2014/TT-BTC (amended and supplemented in Clause 2, Article 6 of Circular No. 119/2014/TT-BTC and Article 1 of Circular No. 151/2014/TT-BTC) stipulating deductible and non-deductible expenses when determining taxable income:
“1. Except for the non-deductible expenses prescribed in Clause 2 of this Article, every expense is deductible if all of these following conditions are satisfied:
a) The actual expense incurred is related to the enterprise’s business operation.
b) There are sufficient and valid invoices and proof for the expense under the regulations of the law.
c) There is proof of non-cash payment for each invoice for purchase of goods/ services of VND 20 million or over (including VAT).
The proof of non-cash payment must comply with regulations of law on VAT.
…”
Based on the above provisions, the reference principles apply as follows: in case the Company agrees with customers, foreign suppliers to use e-documents (e-contracts, e-documents, etc.) in transactions, if the conditions specified in the Law on E-Transactions No. 51/2005/QH11, Decree No. 165/2018/ND-CP, Decree No. 130/2018/ND-CP and other guiding documents are satisfied, in accordance with the guidance in Article 4 of Circular No. 96/2015/TT-BTC mentioned above, they shall be accounted into deductible expenses when determining taxable income.