On August 31, the tax body said that it had coordinated with relevant authorities to collect information and data related to Netflix – a Netherlands-based company providing online television entertainment services in over 100 countries, including Vietnam.

On that basis, the agency has asked Netflix to fulfill its tax declaration and payment obligations in accordance with the provisions of Vietnamese tax law.

The total number of pay TV subscribers via the internet of cross-border platforms such as Netflix and Apple TV were announced earlier, with about 1 million subscribers and an estimated revenue of nearly VND 1,000 billion (US$41.6 million).

As for Netflix, in 2020, its representative said that the governments of the countries where this platform operates have full authority to decide on tax policy and Netflix always complies with Vietnam’s applicable laws.

“We support the implementation of necessary mechanisms so that foreign service providers like Netflix can fulfill their tax obligations in Vietnam, but such a mechanism does not yet exist,” the representative said.

Regarding this issue, the General Department of Taxation officially launched a portal for foreign suppliers on March 21.

On this portal, foreign suppliers can send dossiers and look up and receive tax authorities' notices on tax identification numbers, tax amounts, and tax payment codes, which helps simplify information about tax payment and helps taxpayers easily make tax payments anytime and anywhere.

As of August 15, 30 foreign suppliers had successfully registered and declared tax.

Lao Dong