How does Hai Duong implement electronic invoices in gasoline retail?

The facility still "complains of difficulty"

On the morning of January 1, we went to a gas station in An Tan village, Gia Tan commune (Gia Loc) to buy gas. When I asked, the staff said they would issue invoices to customers, but it was New Year's Day and the accountant was off, so they told me to leave my information, tax code, email or Zalo so that "the accountant could send you the invoice tonight". The representative of this store said that they had received information that it was mandatory to issue electronic invoices to customers, but it was a holiday and the gas station had not yet installed an invoice machine. When there was a machine, any customer could issue an invoice, including ordinary people, without a tax code.

Quan Ngai Gas Station in Quang Nghiep Commune (Tu Ky) also does not issue invoices on the spot to customers. Customers who want to get an invoice must leave information for the accountant to send later.

To issue electronic invoices for each sale and connect with tax authorities, each gas station must invest hundreds of millions of dong to buy software, replace pumps and metering hardware at each gas pump.

In addition to designing, constructing and having equipment in accordance with national technical standards, according to the requirements of the Ministry of Finance, petrol stations must have one of the following types of equipment, means and devices to record and print petrol measurement results, ensuring that the results are connected and transferred to the electronic invoice system.

Mr. Nguyen Dinh Pha’s petrol retail store (Kinh Mon) has been operating for more than 20 years, so all the pumps must be upgraded to be able to apply this technology. Until now, Mr. Pha still does not know how much money is needed to upgrade and install software, connections, etc.

Mr. Trinh Thai Anh, Director of Thai Son Construction-Trade and Service Company Limited (Chi Linh) shared that in 2020, his private gas station invested 107 million VND to upgrade and connect all 6 gas pumps to ensure requirements. Now, issuing invoices for each sale will cost up to 188 million VND, while the discount of key enterprises and retail distributors is "floating" according to the market and is only about 400-600 VND/liter on average.

Some other opinions are worried about situations of losing internet connection; lack of synchronization in software and equipment between solution providers; how to handle when customers do not get invoices...

PVOil Hai Duong branch mainly retails all kinds of gasoline and oil with 16 stores in 9/12 localities (except for 2 districts of Binh Giang, Thanh Ha and Hai Duong city). According to Mr. Hoang Manh Hong, in charge of this branch, to issue electronic invoices for each sale, the branch has difficulties because most of the gas stations are bought or rented from businesses and individuals, so they are not synchronized. Many gas pumps must be upgraded to ensure software installation and connection with tax authorities.

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The above concerns are being addressed by relevant levels, sectors and units with appropriate support plans. Right at the conference organized by the Provincial People's Committee on December 22, 2023, network operators VNPT, Viettel and MISA Joint Stock Company suggested solutions for each type of gas pump; types of software connecting gas pumps with tax authorities, combining solutions to strengthen business administration, enterprise operation management, etc.

Mr. Nguyen Tuan Anh, Director of Hai Duong Petroleum Materials Joint Stock Company, suggested a plan to support retail franchisees to reduce invoice costs for each sale. Accordingly, if using a large retail invoice package, stores can reduce invoice costs by 50-75%.

According to the Provincial Tax Department, from July 1, 2022, Decree No. 123/2020/ND-CP dated October 19, 2020 of the Government regulating invoices and documents will take effect. The Provincial Tax Department has coordinated to successfully implement the registration and use of electronic invoices, including businesses trading and retailing gasoline in Hai Duong.

Hai Duong Petroleum One Member Co., Ltd. has implemented electronic invoices for each sale from June 15, 2023 at 36 affiliated stores in Hai Duong. Invoices issued to customers include full information of customer name, unit, tax code... and from September 1, 2023, the license plate number of the vehicle purchasing gasoline will be added.

Petrolimex 14 gas station in Long Xuyen ward (Kinh Mon) sells about 7,000 liters of gasoline every day. According to Ms. Truong Thi Quyen, Store Manager, this store has been issuing electronic invoices after each sale since September 2023. Ms. Quyen said that issuing electronic invoices after each sale has been implemented smoothly. Some customers who need to get invoices are mainly businesses, people who need to calculate travel expenses to pay agencies and businesses.

In reality, the normal invoice issuance process at gas stations is almost unpopular due to its complexity, manuality and time-consuming nature for both sellers and buyers. Therefore, there has been a situation where those who need an invoice write it, those who don’t need one don’t. This is a loophole for fraud in the legalization of invoices in the gas sector. Many gas stations can collect the amount of gas sold to buyers who don’t need an invoice to resell to those who need an invoice even though they don’t have a purchase transaction.

The use of electronic invoices is not only a solution to increase transparency and prevent tax losses in the petroleum business, but also limits the purchase and sale of smuggled, fake, and poor-quality petroleum and effectively prevents the use of illegal invoices; reduces invoice printing costs, ensures information storage security, etc.

At the end of 2023, the Prime Minister issued two consecutive telegrams on strengthening the management and use of electronic invoices for petroleum business and retail activities. Accordingly, the Prime Minister requested that petroleum retail enterprises must issue electronic invoices for each sale and connect data with tax authorities in December. In case the enterprise fails to comply or intentionally fails to comply, it will be inspected and handled.