E-commerce platforms to pay taxes on behalf of sellers 

THE HANOI TIMES — Starting July 1, e-commerce platforms and digital marketplaces in Vietnam will be required to file tax returns and pay value-added tax (VAT), personal income tax, and other applicable taxes on behalf of the sellers operating on their platforms.

This mandate was issued under Decree No. 117/2025/ND-CP on June 11. The enforcement date was originally set for April 1 but was postponed to July 1 to allow more time for preparation.

The VAT will be 1% for goods, 5% for services, and 3% for transportation and bundled goods and services.

Personal income tax for domestic residents is set at 0.5% for goods, 2% for services, and 1.5% for transportation and bundled categories. Non-resident individuals will face higher rates of 1%, 5%, and 2%, respectively.

If the category of a transaction cannot be defined as either goods or services, platforms must apply the highest deduction rate. Tax returns must be filed monthly. For canceled or refunded orders, platforms are responsible for offsetting the amount deducted to pay the seller's tax.

The decree also requires household and individual businesses to declare and pay additional taxes, such as special consumption tax, environmental protection tax, and resource tax. Sellers must also provide their tax codes or identification numbers (including passports for foreigners) to the platforms.

According to the Hanoi Department of Taxation, e-commerce sellers contributed VND74.4 trillion (US$2.9 billion) in taxes during the first five months of 2025, marking a 55% year-on-year increase.

Tax authorities audited nearly 164,700 taxpayers, collecting an additional VND747 billion ($29.4 million), of which VND416 billion ($16.4 million) came from businesses and VND331 billion ($13 million) from over 25,000 individual and household businesses.