E-commerce platforms in Việt Nam will be required to collect and pay value added tax (VAT) and personal income tax (PIT) on behalf of individual and household sellers, according to a new Government decree.
In the first five months of 2025, tax authorities collected VNĐ74.4 trillion (US$2.9 billion) from organisations and individuals engaged in e-commerce and other digital economy activities, up 55 per cent year-on-year.
The country’s e-commerce market surpassed US$25 billion last year, growing by 22 per cent year-on-year, and now accounts for approximately nine per cent of total retail sales in goods and consumer services.
According to a survey conducted by Lazada and Kantar, Việt Nam and Indonesia are leading Southeast Asia in AI adoption in e-commerce, followed by Singapore and Thailand.
The lack of regulations and businesses’ reluctance to engage in environmental protection efforts have made it difficult for Việt Nam’s e-commerce sector to transition to a greener model.
The Central Coordination Office for New-style Rural Development reports that 48 of 79 five-star OCOP products (60.7 per cent) have entered high-standard markets like the US, Europe, and Japan.
E-commerce is not only an opportunity for enterprises to boost revenue, but also a platform for Vietnamese firms to penetrate deeply into the global supply chains.
Many businesses have achieved remarkable growth by leveraging e-commerce platforms, while cross-border retail sales have surged with increasing participation from small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
Non-compliance may lead to coordinated technical measures, such as app blocking and domain name restrictions, in collaboration with relevant authorities
As many as 412 e-commerce platforms have registered their tax information with Việt Nam’s tax authorities, according to information on a portal under the General Department of Taxation (GDT).
The Ministry of Industry and Trade’s recent document about strengthening management on e-commerce says consumers should not have transactions with platforms which have not been verified by the Ministry of Industry and Trade.
The Việt Nam e-Commerce Association (VECOM) has said that a proposal that e-commerce platforms declare and pay taxes on behalf of sellers is unreasonable and should be removed from the draft amended Law on Tax Management.