Vietnam to use AI technology to monitor e-commerce platform operations

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Ho Duc Phoc speaks at the ongoing session of the National Assembly in Hanoi on November 5

Phoc was speaking at the ongoing National Assembly session in Hanoi in response to National Assembly deputies’ proposal that the government and relevant agencies should tighten the management for e-commerce platforms, especially cross-border e-commerce platforms.

The deputies raised concerns about the operation of e-commerce platforms in Vietnam, saying with the rapid growth of e-commerce, countless transactions take place daily on online platforms, generating substantial revenue but also posing risks of tax evasion.

Online businesses and individual sellers can easily engage in transactions that are difficult to monitor or may underreport earnings, leading to tax evasion. This impacts national revenue and disadvantages a fair business environment.

To address this issue, the government is intensifying the use of technical measures, such as artificial intelligence and big data analysis, to monitor and detect tax evasion activities. The goal is to ensure all transactions are transparent, fair, and that all businesses comply with tax regulations.

“Next week, we will launch an AI tool to monitor revenue and sales activities on e-commerce platforms,” said Phoc.

Regarding cross-border e-commerce platforms, Phoc revealed that tax collection has already been implemented for 102 foreign IT companies, including Google and Facebook. In Hanoi alone, approximately VND35 trillion has been collected. For domestic e-commerce platforms, he said tax collection will be initiated this year.

According to the General Department of Taxation, all e-commerce platforms operating in Vietnam are subject to strict licensing and tax management, while also making it as convenient as possible for taxpayers, and this is done through registration, declaration, and tax payment processes available on the tax authority’s online portal.

The tax authority affirmed that tax management for e-commerce platforms in Vietnam is handled rigorously to ensure that tax collection is accurate, sufficient, fair, and transparent, in full compliance with the country’s tax regulations. It said it is enhancing outreach efforts to communicate tax policies to all business entities, particularly new ones operating in Vietnam.

Recently, there have been public concerns about tax management for cross-border e-commerce platforms operating in Vietnam, especially new platforms that have been heavily advertised on social media, such as Temu.

The General Department of Taxation also confirmed that the e-commerce platform Temu registered for tax through the General Department’s online portal for foreign suppliers on September 4.