RESPONSIBILITIES FOR WITHHOLDING, DECLARING, AND PAYING TAXES OF E-COMMERCE PLATFORMS

Specifically, Article 11 of Decree No. 68/2026/ND-CP stipulates that: “Operators of e-commerce platforms and other digital platforms, whether domestic or foreign, that provide online ordering and payment functions shall be responsible for withholding, declaring, and paying on behalf of household businesses and individual businesses the amount of tax withheld for each transaction involving the provision of goods or services, in accordance with Decree No. 117/2025/ND-CP dated June 9, 2025 of the Government on tax administration for business activities conducted on e-commerce platforms and digital platforms by household businesses and individuals.”

 This provision clearly identifies the entities responsible for withholding, declaring, and paying taxes on behalf of taxpayers, namely operators of e-commerce platforms or other digital platforms, whether domestic or foreign, that provide both online ordering and payment functions. With respect to e-commerce platforms, e-commerce law defines the platform operator as a “trader or organization that establishes an e-commerce website to enable other traders, organizations, or individuals to conduct part or all of the process of buying and selling goods or services on that website” pursuant to Clause 1 Article 35 of Decree No. 52/2013/ND-CP.

 From these provisions, it can be seen that the law assigns the obligation to withhold and pay taxes on behalf of taxpayers to the entities responsible for operating and managing the platforms, namely organizations that establish and manage the online transaction environment. At the same time, not all digital platforms fall within the scope of this regulation. Only platforms that simultaneously provide two functions—online ordering and payment—are required to withhold, declare, and pay taxes on behalf of household businesses and individual businesses for transactions generated on the platform. This indicates that the withholding and payment of taxes are carried out directly at the time a transaction occurs on the e-commerce or digital platform.

 From the above provisions, it can be observed that Vietnamese law has gradually formed a tax management mechanism for business activities conducted on e-commerce and digital platforms by assigning the responsibility for withholding, declaring, and paying taxes on behalf of taxpayers to platform operators. Through Decree No. 117/2025/ND-CP and Decree No. 68/2026/ND-CP, the law clearly identifies the entities responsible for implementing this mechanism as organizations that manage and operate e-commerce platforms or other digital platforms that simultaneously provide online ordering and payment functions. By linking tax obligations to platform operators—entities capable of monitoring transaction processes and payment flows—the tax management approach is implemented directly at the source where digital transactions arise. Consequently, the mechanism for withholding, declaring, and paying taxes on behalf of taxpayers is established as a method of tax administration for the business activities of household businesses and individual businesses on e-commerce and digital platforms in accordance with the provisions of tax administration law.