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Organizations and individuals engaged in business must notify the tax authorities directly if they discover lost invoices. According to Article 24 of Circular 39/2014/TT-BTC dated March 31, 2014, issued by the Ministry of Finance, specific guidelines for handling lost, damaged, or destroyed input and output VAT invoices are outlined as follows:
Is there a penalty for losing input and output invoices?
1. Handling Lost Output VAT Invoices
When businesses detect lost, damaged, or destroyed output invoices, whether the invoice templates have been filled out or not, they must be handled as follows:
+ Submit a report to the tax authority managing directly within 5 days from the discovery date. The report template for lost, damaged, or destroyed invoices follows form BC21/AC.
+ The penalty according to regulations ranges from 10 to 20 million VND (effective from July 30, 2016). However, under the new decree, the penalty for losing output invoices ranges from 4 to 8 million VND, depending on specific cases:
What happens if the invoice is lost, damaged, or destroyed after issuance but not yet filled out or if the invoice is issued but the customer has not received it within the storage period, or if the invoice is issued based on retail sales invoices? In cases of force majeure, there will be no fines.
In cases where the lost, damaged, or destroyed invoices are exchanged between sellers and buyers, both parties must create a record to acknowledge the incident. The seller will proceed with tax declaration to demonstrate the sale of goods, and if there are mitigating circumstances, the penalty will be at the lowest minimum level.
If the lost, damaged, or destroyed invoices, except those exchanged between sellers and buyers, such as the first and third copies, are still within the storage period, penalties will be imposed according to accounting laws. If the seller finds the lost invoice and returns it within the deadline before the tax authority issues a penalty decision, no penalty will be imposed.
If the seller loses, damages, or destroys incorrectly issued or erased invoice copies, the seller will be fined according to tax laws.
+ The seller photocopies copy 1 of the invoice: Proceed to sign the confirmation by the legal representative and stamp it on the photocopy of the invoice to deliver to the buyer. The buyer will use the copy of the invoice with the confirmed signature, stamped if any, accompanied by a report on the loss or damage of copy 2 of the invoice for accounting documentation and tax declaration.
3. Cases of lost or damaged copy 2 invoices already used related to a third party
For example, if a third party transports goods or if the invoice is transferred, it must be based on whether the third party is hired by whom to determine responsibility and penalties. Or if the seller hires a third party to transport goods with an invoice, but the third party loses it, then the seller must bear full responsibility.
4. Penalties for losing value-added tax invoices
According to the legal regulations, effective from August 1, 2016, as stipulated in Article 3 of Decree 49/2016/ND-CP amending the latest penalties for invoices, the provisions are as follows:
+ If the seller loses it: Copy 2 with a penalty ranging from 4 to 8 million VND
+ If the buyer loses it: Copy 2 with a penalty ranging from 4 to 8 million VND
In addition, when determining the penalties for accounting invoices, attention should also be paid to the following issues: In cases of loss, damage due to natural disasters, fires, there will be no penalty. However, in cases of loss, damage due to fire or natural disaster except for copies given to customers during storage, penalties under accounting law range from 500,000 to 1,000,000 VND. If the seller loses or damages the invoice that has been eliminated, a warning will be issued.
Here are the procedures for handling lost input and output invoices according to legal regulations. Depending on each case, there will be different solutions and different levels of penalties.
The form for withdrawing incorrectly issued VAT invoices aims to retrieve incorrectly issued VAT invoices. Each withdrawal form only applies to one incorrectly issued invoice.
Currently, there are various templates of sales invoices available. Depending on your business operations, the type of sales invoices you use may vary.
