On May 7, 2020, the District 12 Police investigated and discovered dozens of "ghost" businesses in Tan Phu and District 12 (with no registered office or an unidentified office) established to engage in the illegal buying and selling of VAT invoices. On September 25, 2020, the Criminal Investigation Department of the District 12 Police issued a decision to initiate a criminal case for "Illegal buying and selling of invoices for state budget revenue collection."
1. The Ho Chi Minh City Tax Department has requested a review and handling of companies using illegal invoices.
On September 20, 2023, the Investigation Police Department of District 12 sent a letter to the Ho Chi Minh City Tax Department requesting a review and handling of companies using illegal invoices, related to 49 "ghost" companies.
Therefore, Mr. Thai Minh Giao – Deputy Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Tax Department – has requested the relevant units; the city, district, and regional tax offices to review and handle companies that buy and use invoices from the 49 businesses that sell VAT invoices.
The Ho Chi Minh City Tax Department leadership has requested that in cases showing signs of criminal activity, the matter be transferred to the competent police investigation agency for investigation and handling. If there are no signs of criminal activity, administrative violations will be handled, with penalties and tax collection as prescribed by law.
At the same time, the Ho Chi Minh City Tax Department added that the buying and selling of fraudulent VAT invoices by "ghost" companies is quite common in many localities. After these "ghost" companies are established, the perpetrators find customers and offer to sell VAT invoices with falsified content at an agreed price of 1,5 - 2% of the invoice value before tax.
2. List of 49 "phantom" companies selling illegal VAT invoices.
Based on the investigation results, the Criminal Investigation Agency of District 12 Police has identified 49 "ghost" companies established for the purpose of selling VAT invoices, specifically including:
STT | Company Name | MST |
1 | HON DAT RESTAURANT TRADING COMPANY LIMITED | 0315135191 |
2 | DL NHAT LAN RESTAURANT TRADING COMPANY LIMITED | 0315089474 |
3 | GOLDEN GARDEN RESTAURANT CONSTRUCTION AND TOURISM COMPANY LIMITED | 0315133596 |
4 | DONG PHU GARMENT CO., LTD | 0313860998 |
5 | HUYEN MY GARMENT COMPANY LIMITED | 0314658054 |
6 | PHUONG DUC CONSTRUCTION AND TRADING ONE-MEMBER LIMITED COMPANY | 0310468140 |
7 | AC SAIGON ADVERTISING AND MEDIA COMPANY LIMITED | 0313321160 |
8 | MINH SANG BEER AND SOFT DRINK COMPANY LIMITED | 0314750885 |
9 | BAO TAN ELECTRICAL AND REFRIGERATION EQUIPMENT CO., LTD. | 0315063557 |
10 | TO BE TRADING AND SERVICE COMPANY LIMITED | 0314654998 |
11 | Y DAI LOI TRADING AND SERVICE COMPANY LIMITED | 0315230582 |
12 | NAMSACO TRADING AND SERVICES CO., LTD. | 0313845453 |
13 | TEG EXPORT TRADING COMPANY LIMITED | 0315063028 |
14 | MINH ANH AUTOMOTIVE TRANSPORT & MAINTENANCE COMPANY LIMITED | 0314617146 |
15 | GIA KHANH TRANSPORTATION COMPANY LIMITED | 0314737690 |
16 | AN DONG AUTOMOTIVE TRANSPORT AND MAINTENANCE COMPANY LIMITED | 0315094467 |
17 | AN CU CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS CO., LTD. | 0315254174 |
18 | NGOC AN CONSTRUCTION-REAL ESTATE COMPANY LIMITED | 0309430907 |
19 | DANG HUNG CONSTRUCTION COMPANY LIMITED | 0313523960 |
20 | COSTA CONSTRUCTION AND TRADING COMPANY LIMITED | 0313769562 |
21 | HOANG BA RESTAURANT CONSTRUCTION AND TRANSPORTATION COMPANY LIMITED | 0314761887 |
22 | HOANG PHI RESTAURANT CONSTRUCTION AND TRANSPORTATION COMPANY LIMITED | 0314737651 |
23 | LAM KIEU LONG IMPORT EXPORT CO., LTD | 0315029443 |
24 | TT SAIGON IMPORT EXPORT CO., LTD | 0314649331 |
25 | Khai Phong Construction Company Limited | 0312960679 |
26 | HOANG LAM ADVERTISING AND COMMUNICATION COMPANY LIMITED | 0315063099 |
27 | BAO THOI TRADING AND SERVICE COMPANY LIMITED | 0315319720 |
28 | HOANG THIEU TRADING AND SERVICE COMPANY LIMITED | 0314728262 |
29 | BINH DIEN CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS CO., LTD. | 0314744754 |
30 | TINO RESTAURANT AND TOURISM CONSTRUCTION COMPANY LIMITED | 0315312299 |
31 | PHU HOANG ELECTRICAL AND REFRIGERATION EQUIPMENT CO., LTD. | 0315017906 |
32 | CONG THIEN PRINTING AND ADVERTISING COMPANY LIMITED | 0315325749 |
33 | TAIPEI ADVERTISING & MEDIA COMPANY LIMITED | 0315320363 |
34 | CONG KIEU TRADING AND SERVICE COMPANY LIMITED | 0315332062 |
35 | MAKAO TRADING AND SERVICE COMPANY LIMITED | 0315228456 |
36 | THIEU BA TRADING AND SERVICE COMPANY LIMITED | 0315201366 |
37 | HIEP TAN TRADING AND IMPORT-EXPORT COMPANY LIMITED | 0315302734 |
38 | TAN BEAUTY OFFICE CO., LTD. | 0315302734 |
39 | HUONG MAI CONSTRUCTION - TRANSPORTATION - RESTAURANT COMPANY LIMITED | 0315302036 |
40 | KIM HONG CONSTRUCTION - TRANSPORTATION - RESTAURANT COMPANY LIMITED | 0315328517 |
41 | TIEU VY CONSTRUCTION - TRANSPORTATION - RESTAURANT COMPANY LIMITED | 0315311111 |
42 | DA KAO CONSTRUCTION - REAL ESTATE - RESTAURANT COMPANY LIMITED | 0315243101 |
43 | PHI LONG RESTAURANT CONSTRUCTION AND TRANSPORTATION COMPANY LIMITED | 0315325308 |
44 | QUOC DAT CONSTRUCTION COMPANY LIMITED | 0311745950 |
45 | KIM SAIGON CONSTRUCTION COMPANY LIMITED | 0310883316 |
46 | BUU HUNG REAL ESTATE CONSTRUCTION COMPANY LIMITED | 0311317218 |
47 | DUC LIEN HUNG TRANSPORTATION COMPANY LIMITED | 0314618622 |
48 | THANH DANH DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION TRADING AND SERVICE COMPANY LIMITED | 0313844114 |
49 | LAM KIEU ANH TRADING AND SERVICE COMPANY LIMITED | 0314649772 |
3. Expert advice for businesses
Over time, the tax authorities, in coordination with other state management agencies, have identified a series of businesses engaging in the buying and selling of invoices to legitimize goods traded illegally on the market, and to legitimize expenses for corporate income tax purposes, thereby reducing tax payable and causing revenue losses for the state budget. This will affect businesses that receive input invoices from these high-risk companies.
To avoid risks for businesses in controlling input invoices, businesses need to pay attention to the following points:
- Businesses should closely manage the purchase of goods and services, such as establishing inspection procedures and disseminating them to purchasing and accounting departments for compliance.
- Establish regulations regarding the documentation required to prove the authenticity of a transaction, including the following: contract, letter of introduction from the individual directly involved in the transaction, order documents, meeting records between the two parties, service acceptance/delivery records, seller's warehouse release form (with full signatures and stamps) and our warehouse receipt, invoices, payment and settlement documents, and other relevant records.
See more: The documentation proves that the transaction was genuine.
- Conduct transactions with parties that issue complete invoices, have been assigned a tax authority code, and look up complete information on the electronic tax website.
- Only accept input invoices from the entity that actually conducts the purchase or provides services with you, avoiding transactions with one party but receiving input invoices from a different party.
- Verify the legality and relationship between the company issuing the invoice and the person directly involved in the transaction. Check the General Department of Taxation's website for the operational status, tax status, and invoices of those companies for large or suspicious transactions.
- During transactions, check the operational status of the partner on the General Department of Taxation's website, capture and store the data as a basis for explaining the documentation if necessary later.
- The company needs to establish regulations regarding document collection, ensuring that all necessary input documents are available and assigning responsibility to the relevant personnel.