OFFICIAL DISPATCH NO.2054/TCHQ-GSQL DATED JUNE 3, 2022 GENERAL DEPARTMENT OF CUSTOMS GUIDING ON THE TIME OF ISSUING ELECTRONIC INVOICES FOR EXPORT GOODS AS FOLLOWS: 

According to the provisions of Point b and Point c, Clause 3, Article 13 of Decree 123/2020/ND-CP dated October 19, 2020 of the Government, the basis for issuing VAT invoices for exported goods is after the goods have actually been exported and have been certified by the customs authority in cases of export entrustment and after completing the procedures for exported goods in cases of the customs declarant declares, paid value added tax according to the deduction method for exported goods and services. 

According to the above regulations, the time to issue VAT invoices for exported goods is after the customs declarant completes export customs procedures. Therefore, at the time of customs clearance for exported goods, the customs declarant cannot issue a VAT invoice to submit in the customs dossier. 

Thus, making electronic invoices is carried out according to Vietnamese law, while invoices in international trade are carried out according to international practices: commercial invoices are issued before customs clearance, while electronic invoices are issued later. Therefore, the General Department of Customs cannot instruct customs declarants to submit electronic VAT invoices in the export customs dossier to complete customs procedures.