HCM CITY — Businesses should immediately begin preparations to print their own invoices so that they can begin to use them in 2011, a tax official said.
Decree No 51, which takes effect next year, allows most businesses to print their own invoices instead of having to obtain them from tax agencies.
The HCM City Taxation Department said it would call a halt to the sales of the "red invoice" issued by the Ministry of Finance starting from January next year.
It also asked companies using them to report the number of invoices they are likely to use until year-end to avoid waste.
They would be allowed to use their invoice until the end of the first quarter next year but should make preparations to print on their own, it said.
Tax agencies will continue to sell the invoices until the end of next year to non-commercial organisations and businesses in poor areas that cannot afford to print them.
Those eligible must ensure the software used for the printing must be secure, among other things, said Tran Thi Le Nga, head of the department's Publicity and Tax payers Support Office.
Businesses were required to inform tax agencies about plans to begin using their own invoices and send samples of the invoices at least five days before they begin, she said.
Failure to do so would mean the invoices would be treated as illegal, she warned.
Printing firms were allowed to take orders to print invoices if they had certain equipment like automatic numbering equipment, but many do not, the department said.
HCM City has more than 1,000 printing presses but only a few of them met the requirements, it added.
The General Taxation Office and the city Taxation Department would publicise the list of presses eligible to print invoices soon so that businesses could sign contracts with them. Starting on October 14, tax agencies in the city would organise training courses for workers involved in printing invoices, Nga said. — VNS
