How Should Amazon and Etsy Sellers Issue Invoices in Vietnam?

Amazon and Etsy sellers work with several types of documents and transaction data, including order details, payment reports, platform fees, refunds and adjustments. They are useful for tracking sales and reconciling accounts, but they are not necessarily the invoices a seller is required to issue in Vietnam.

For sellers subject to Vietnam’s e-invoicing rules, selling through an overseas marketplace does not remove the requirement to issue invoices in Vietnam. The practical questions are which marketplace documents can be used as supporting records, which invoice should be issued for the sale, and when it needs to be issued.

 

1. Amazon and Etsy documents vs. seller-issued invoices

The records available to Amazon and Etsy sellers generally fall into two groups.

• The first covers transactions between the marketplace and the seller, such as service fee invoices and records of other charges made by Amazon or Etsy.

• The second covers the seller’s own sales: order details, selling prices, payments, refunds, delivery status and other adjustments. These records help sellers track individual transactions and reconcile their sales.

Neither type of record automatically qualifies as the electronic invoice required for the seller’s own sale in Vietnam.

• Clause 1, Article 4 of Decree No. 254/2026/ND-CP requires sellers to issue electronic invoices when selling goods or providing services. The requirement also covers goods and services used for promotions, advertising or samples, as well as goods given away, exchanged, used for internal consumption and other cases specified by the Ministry of Finance.

• There are exceptions. Article 7 of Decree No. 254/2026/ND-CP, for example, exempts certain household and individual businesses providing digital information products and services to overseas organizations or individuals, including digital entertainment, games, films, images, music and advertising. Other exemptions under Article 7 are not directly relevant to the sale of goods through Amazon or Etsy and are outside the scope of this article.

For businesses selling goods through Amazon or Etsy, an overseas sale is not automatically exempt from Vietnam’s e-invoicing rules. Whether an invoice is required depends on the seller and the nature of the transaction.

Where an electronic invoice is required, Article 10 of Decree No. 254/2026/ND-CP sets out the information it must contain, including details of the seller and buyer, the goods or services sold, transaction value, VAT where applicable and the invoice date.

In short, marketplace documents and seller-issued invoices serve different purposes. Amazon and Etsy records help document and reconcile marketplace activity. The electronic invoice records the seller’s sale in accordance with Vietnamese invoicing rules.

 

2. Selling through Amazon or Etsy does not replace the seller’s invoicing obligation

Amazon and Etsy facilitate the sale, but they do not take over the seller’s invoicing obligations in Vietnam.

Under Clause 4, Article 4 of Decree No. 254/2026/ND-CP, electronic invoice and document data generated from sales of goods and services form part of the information used for tax administration. The regulations also recognize that sellers may need information held by the marketplace to prepare their invoices. Point c, Clause 1, Article 17 of Decree No. 254/2026/ND-CP allows sellers to request information from an e-commerce platform operator, including buyer details, transaction information, delivery timing and confirmation that an order has been completed.

For an Amazon or Etsy seller, this means marketplace data can support the invoicing process. It can help identify the transaction, confirm order details and provide information needed for the invoice. Where Vietnamese regulations require an invoice, however, issuing it remains the seller’s responsibility.

 

3. Which invoice should Amazon and Etsy sellers use?

Vietnam does not have a separate invoice type for sales made through Amazon or Etsy. The invoice used depends on the seller’s tax position, VAT method and the type of transaction.

• Businesses applying the credit method for VAT use VAT invoices for transactions covered by Clause 1, Article 8 of Decree No. 254/2026/ND-CP, including exports of goods and services provided overseas.

• For economic organizations, household businesses and individual businesses applying the direct VAT method, Clause 2, Article 8 of  Decree No. 254/2026/ND-CP provides for the use of sales invoices, including for exports of goods and services provided overseas.

• A third option is the electronic commercial invoice under Clause 3, Article 8 of Decree No. 254/2026/ND-CP. This applies to economic organizations, household businesses and individual businesses exporting goods or providing services overseas if they can electronically transmit commercial invoice data to the tax authority.

If an exporter cannot meet the data transmission requirements for an electronic commercial invoice, the same provision allows the use of an electronic VAT invoice or electronic sales invoice instead.

The fact that a sale takes place on Amazon or Etsy is therefore not what determines the invoice type. The seller’s tax position, VAT method and the transaction itself are what matter.

 

4. When should the invoice be issued?

Amazon and Etsy do not necessarily pay sellers as soon as a sale takes place. Before a payout is made, the marketplace may deduct fees, refunds and other adjustments. As a result, the amount received in the bank account, and the date it arrives, may be quite different from the original sale. The payout date should not automatically be used as the invoice date.

For sales of goods, Clause 1, Article 9 of Decree No. 254/2026/ND-CP sets the invoice date as the date ownership or the right to use the goods is transferred to the buyer, regardless of whether payment has been received.

A specific rule applies to exported goods, including goods processed for export. The seller may determine when to issue the electronic commercial invoice, electronic VAT invoice or electronic sales invoice, but Clause 1, Article 9 of Decree No. 254/2026/ND-CP requires the invoice to be issued no later than the next working day after customs clearance.

Amazon and Etsy sellers should therefore determine the invoice date from the transaction and the relevant export documents, rather than from the marketplace payout schedule.

 

5. What if buyer information is incomplete?

Amazon and Etsy sellers do not always receive the same level of buyer information they would collect in a direct sale. An order may contain enough information to process the transaction while still missing some of the details normally associated with an invoice. Vietnam’s invoicing rules provide for these situations.

Under Point b, Clause 4 of the Appendix on invoice contents issued with Decree No. 254/2026/ND-CP, if an individual consumer provides their name, address and personal identification number, those details are included on the invoice. For a foreign buyer, the address and personal identification number may be replaced by the buyer’s passport or immigration document details and nationality.

If an individual consumer does not provide a name, address or personal identification number, the invoice may state “Sale to consumer” under the same provision.

A buyer’s digital signature is also not required in every case. Point a, Clause 9 of the Appendix covers cases where an electronic invoice does not need the buyer’s digital signature, including goods sold or services provided to overseas customers.

If the buyer is a business, the parties may agree that the buyer will digitally or electronically sign the seller’s invoice, provided the buyer has the technical capability to do so. In that case, both the seller’s and buyer’s signatures will appear on the invoice in line with their agreement.

 

6. How Amazon and Etsy records support invoicing and reconciliation

Although marketplace records do not replace Vietnamese electronic invoices, they remain an important part of the seller’s accounting records.

Amazon and Etsy data can help sellers:

• Identify sales that have taken place.

• Match orders with invoices already issued.

• Track cancellations, refunds and other adjustments.

• Reconcile sales, marketplace fees and payouts.

• Check differences between marketplace data, invoices and accounting records.

An Amazon settlement is a good example. Sales recorded during a settlement period may be higher than the amount eventually transferred to the seller because Amazon can deduct fees, refunds, reserves and other adjustments before making the payout.

Looking only at the amount received in the bank account can therefore give an incomplete picture of the transactions that took place during the period. Sellers need to reconcile the full transaction trail: orders, invoices, adjustments, payouts and accounting records. Doing so makes it easier to spot orders that have not been invoiced and investigate figures that do not match.

 

7. Managing invoices as order volumes grow

Manual invoicing may work when a business handles only a few dozen orders a month. At hundreds or thousands of orders, issuing individual invoices is no longer the only challenge. The accounting team also needs to keep track of which orders have been invoiced, which have not, how refunds and adjustments have been handled, and whether the invoices issued match the underlying orders.

This becomes more difficult when marketplace data and invoice records are kept separately. Teams may need to download files, maintain spreadsheets and manually compare transactions across different sources. The more orders there are, the more time this takes. Automation can reduce this manual work and keep order and invoice data connected, making it easier for the accounting team to check and reconcile transactions.

 

Automated invoicing for Amazon and Etsy sellers with GenInvoice

For Amazon and Etsy sellers, invoicing is not just about issuing invoices quickly. The order data behind each invoice also needs to be accurate and easy to check.

GenInvoice, Genbook’s automated invoicing solution, helps syncs order data, creates invoices from sales data and supports batch issuance. Invoice records are kept in one place, making them easier to check against the underlying orders. This reduces manual data entry and helps accounting teams keep order and invoice data aligned as transaction volumes grow.

Contact Sliner for advice on setting up an invoicing process that fits your Amazon or Etsy operations.