How livestream sellers can pay the 7% tax.

Accordingly, brands must declare value-added tax (VAT) and corporate income tax (CIT) based on actual sales revenue from completed orders;

As for livestreamers, there are two ways to pay taxes: Firstly, if an individual registers to pay taxes as a sole proprietorship, they pay 7% tax on the commission received from brands (5% VAT, 2% personal income tax);

Secondly, if the individual does not register a business and is considered an employee of the brand, they will pay personal income tax according to the progressive tax rate schedule from 5% to 35%; the brand will temporarily deduct 10% tax on the commission before paying the individual, remitting it to the State budget, and the individual is responsible for self-filing the annual tax return with the tax authorities.

According to Ms. Cúc, e-commerce platforms that receive commissions from brands (whether or not they have a permanent establishment in Vietnam) are required to pay tax on the commissions earned.

"For transportation services, delivering goods to consumers is also subject to VAT, corporate income tax, and personal income tax, regardless of whether the business has a permanent establishment or not; and whether the individual is a resident or non-resident in Vietnam."

"As for brands owned by individuals that have not yet paid or deducted taxes, the e-commerce platform must declare and pay them on their behalf," Ms. Cúc said.

Further explaining, Ms. Cúc stated that e-commerce platforms must provide tax authorities with the required data for organizations and individuals doing business on their platforms, as stipulated in Decree 91/2022/ND-CP dated October 30, 2022.

"Individuals need to have a firm grasp of the tax policies applicable to their business activities."

If you have been conducting e-commerce business for some time but have not paid taxes, and the tax authorities have not yet detected the issue or demanded payment, you should voluntarily contact the tax office in your place of residence (temporary or permanent) to pay the taxes and calculate the late payment penalty of 0.03% based on the amount of tax due and the number of days of delay.

If the tax authorities discover that taxes have not been declared and the amount of tax is significant, in addition to handling the violation, collecting back taxes, and imposing penalties, serious violations may result in criminal prosecution under the law.

If you are currently doing business or selling online but haven't paid taxes yet, you can choose to register your business to pay taxes at a rate of 7% on the commission earned (from livestreaming) instead of paying personal income tax at the higher rate.

"For individuals buying and selling directly, they must register to pay a tax of 1.5% (1% VAT - 0.5% personal income tax). In addition, individuals need to be responsible for the quality of goods and their origin... Ensuring consumer rights," Ms. Cúc listed.

Sharing more about how content creators can pay 7% tax instead of 35% personal income tax, Mr. Nguyen Lam Thanh - Representative of TikTok Vietnam said: To be eligible for the 2% VAT and 5% personal income tax rates, content creators need to register with the tax authorities to become individual business owners with specific business activities.

"Then, before receiving income from the seller, the Creator needs to contact the tax authorities, pay 7% tax, purchase invoices, and issue them to the corresponding seller," Mr. Thanh said.