Selling on social networks must register and pay taxes.
Organizations and individuals using sales services must register with the Ministry of Industry and Trade in the form of an e-commerce trading floor.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade has just issued Circular No. 47/2014/TT-BCT (referred to as Circular 47) regulating the management of e-commerce websites. Circular No. 47 specifically stipulates the exclusion of notification and registration obligations as prescribed in Decree No. 52 for specialized e-commerce websites in a number of specific fields.
Circular 47 does not apply to websites operating in the fields of finance, banking, credit, insurance; websites buying, selling, exchanging money, gold, foreign exchange and other means of payment; websites providing online game services, betting services or games with prizes. These websites are subject to the regulation of the relevant specialized management laws.
According to the new regulations, traders who set up websites to sell goods and services on the list of goods and services subject to conditions for granting a certificate of eligibility for business must publish on their websites the number, date of issue and place of issue of the certificate of eligibility for business for those goods and services.
Notably, Circular No. 47 specifically regulates the management of business activities on social networks, including one of the forms of operation such as allowing participants to open booths on it to display and introduce goods and services; allowing participants to set up branch websites to display and introduce goods and services or websites with a buying and selling section that allows participants to post information about buying and selling goods. Organizations and individuals using the service must register with the Ministry of Industry and Trade in the form of an e-commerce trading floor.
In addition, traders and organizations establishing social networks shall perform the responsibilities of traders and organizations providing e-commerce trading floor services in accordance with the provisions of law. Sellers on social networks must comply with the provisions of Article 37 of Decree No. 52.
Merchants and organizations providing e-commerce services supplement regulations on the responsibilities of merchants, organizations and individuals owning websites providing e-commerce services for information posted on their websites by automatic information filtering mechanisms or by specific technical measures for information posted that is not in accordance with the provisions of law.
In addition, Circular No. 47 supplements the forms of online promotional websites, promotions for goods of other traders, organizations and individuals according to the terms of promotional service contracts in the following forms: Giving away goods or providing samples for customers to try without paying; selling goods at a price lower than the previous selling price, applied for a certain period of time or to a certain number of customers; other forms according to the provisions of the law on promotions...
Circular 47 officially takes effect from January 20, 2014./.
According to VOV
