According to Ms. Nguyen Anh Thu's reference, in Article 4, Clause 7 of Decree No. 123/2020/ND-CP dated October 19, 2020, it is stated:

"The sellers of goods and providers of services, who are enterprises, economic organizations, or other organizations, have the right to entrust a third party to issue electronic invoices for their sales of goods and provision of services. The invoice entrusted to the third party must still reflect the name of the selling entity as the entrusting party. The entrustment must be documented between the entrusting party and the recipient of the entrustment, fully expressing the information about the entrusted invoice (purpose of the entrustment, duration of the entrustment, payment method for the entrusted invoice), and must be notified to the tax authority when registering for the use of electronic invoices. In case the entrusted invoice is an electronic invoice without the tax authority's code, the entrusting party must transfer the electronic invoice data to the tax authority through a service provider. The Ministry of Finance will provide specific guidance on this content."

Furthermore, at Point a, Clause 1, Article 3 of Circular No. 78/2021/TT-BTC dated September 17, 2021, it is stipulated:

"a) Merchants and service providers who are enterprises, economic organizations, or other entities have the right to entrust a third party that has a connected relationship with the seller. The third party must be eligible to use electronic invoices and must not be in a situation where electronic invoice usage has been suspended according to the provisions in Article 16 of Decree No. 123/2020/ND-CP, in order to issue electronic invoices for the sale of goods and provision of services. The connected relationship is determined in accordance with the tax management laws."

Ms. Thu asked whether a third party that does not have a connected relationship with the seller is allowed to receive authorization to issue electronic invoices on behalf of the seller.

A third party that meets the eligibility requirements for using electronic invoices and is not in a situation where electronic invoice usage has been suspended is still permitted to receive authorization to issue electronic invoices on behalf of the seller, even if they do not have a connected relationship?

The Ministry of Finance responded to this issue as follows:

Based on Decree No. 123/2020/ND-CP dated October 19, 2020, issued by the Government regarding invoices and documents.

- Article 4 specifies the principles of invoice issuance:

"Article 4. Principles of invoice issuance, management, and use

1. When selling goods or providing services, the seller must issue an invoice to deliver to the buyer (including cases where goods or services are used for promotion, advertising, samples; goods or services are used for donation, gifts, exchanges, or compensation for labor and internal consumption (excluding goods in internal circulation for continuing the production process); or when delivering goods under forms of lending, borrowing, or returning goods), and must include complete information as prescribed in Article 10 of this Decree. In case of using electronic invoices, it must comply with the standard data format specified by the tax authority as stipulated in Article 12 of this Decree."

.. 7. Sellers of goods and service providers who are enterprises, economic organizations, or other entities are allowed to entrust a third party to issue electronic invoices for the sale of goods and provision of services. The invoice entrusted to the third party must still reflect the name of the selling entity as the entrusting party. The entrustment must be determined in writing between the entrusting party and the recipient of the entrustment, fully expressing all information regarding the entrusted invoice (purpose of the entrustment, duration of the entrustment, payment method for the entrusted invoice), and must be notified to the tax authority when registering for the use of electronic invoices. In the case where the entrusted invoice is an electronic invoice without the tax authority's code, the entrusting party must transfer the electronic invoice data to the tax authority through a service provider. The Ministry of Finance provides specific guidance on this content...

Based on Circular No. 78/2021/TT-BTC dated September 17, 2021, issued by the Ministry of Finance, which provides guidance on the implementation of certain provisions of the Law on Tax Administration dated June 13, 2019, and Decree No. 123/2020/ND-CP dated October 19, 2020, issued by the Government, regarding invoices and documents.

- Article 3 on the delegation of electronic invoice issuance:

"Article 3. Delegation of electronic invoice issuance

1. Principles of delegation of invoice issuance

a) The seller of goods or provider of services, who is a business entity, economic organization, or other organization, has the right to delegate to a third party who is in a related relationship with the seller, is eligible to use electronic invoices, and is not subject to the suspension of electronic invoice usage according to Article 16 of Decree No. 123/2020/ND-CP, to issue electronic invoices for the sale of goods or provision of services. The related relationship shall be determined according to the provisions of tax administration laws.

b) The delegation must be made in writing (contract or agreement) between the delegating party and the receiving party.

c) The delegation must be notified to the tax authority when registering for the use of electronic invoices."

Based on the Tax Administration Law No. 38/2019/QH14 dated June 13, 2019, by the National Assembly.

- In Article 3, the explanation of the terms is as follows:

"Article 3. Explanation of terms

... 21. Related parties are parties directly or indirectly involved in the operation, control, and capital contribution to the enterprise; parties subject to direct or indirect operation and control by an organization or individual; parties with a common organization or individual participating in capital contribution; enterprises operated and controlled by individuals with close relationships within the same family."

Based on Decree No. 132/2020/ND-CP dated November 5, 2020, which regulates tax administration for related-party transactions.

In Article 5, the regulation regarding related parties is as follows:

"Article 5. Related parties

1. Related parties (hereinafter referred to as "related party/ies") are parties that have a relationship in one of the following cases:

a) One party directly or indirectly participates in the operation, control, capital contribution, or investment in the other party;

b) Parties directly or indirectly share the operation, control, capital contribution, or investment of another party..."

Based on the provisions above, the seller of goods or provider of services, who is a business entity, economic organization, or other organization, has the right to delegate to a third party who is a related party to the seller, is eligible to use electronic invoices, and is not subject to the suspension of electronic invoice usage according to Article 16 of Decree No. 123/2020/ND-CP, to issue electronic invoices for the sale of goods or provision of services, as guided in Article 3 of Circular No. 78/2021/TT-BTC dated September 17, 2021, by the Ministry of Finance.

The related party relationship is determined according to the provisions of Article 3 of the Tax Administration Law No. 38/2019/QH14 dated June 13, 2019, by the National Assembly, and Article 5 of Decree No. 132/2020/ND-CP dated November 5, 2020, which regulates tax administration for related-party transactions.

It is recommended that your company comply with the legal provisions and compare them with the actual situation for implementation.

If there are any difficulties during the implementation, please provide relevant documentation regarding the difficulties and contact the tax authority directly for specific guidance.