Online business, livestream & affiliate marketing: the latest rules not to be missed

From July 1, 2026, the E-Commerce Law 2025 and Decree No. to online sellers, livestream sellers and affiliate marketers. This is the first time that sales and affiliate marketing activities are directly adjusted, relatively complete in a specialized e-commerce legal document.

Online business is identified in a broader range

The E-Commerce Law of 2025 defines e-commerce as a commercial activity carried out in part or in whole on the electronic environment. E-commerce platforms include live business e-commerce platforms, intermediary e-commerce platforms, e-commerce activity social networks, and integrated e-commerce platforms. For the first time at the legal level, the concept of “social networking and e-commerce” is directly defined and established as a type of e-commerce platform system. Accordingly, the sale of goods through social networking accounts, group meetings or livestream with carts, order links is no longer considered merely personal transaction activities on social networks.

According to Article 18 of the Law on E-commerce 2025, the owner of a social network is responsible for allowing organizations and individuals to choose a seller account when registering and publicly displaying the sign of the seller’s account. This regulation helps distinguish ordinary personal accounts from accounts that are used regularly for business purposes.

According to Article 21 of the E-Commerce Law 2025, sellers operating on an e-commerce platform are responsible for providing information to the platform owner to serve identity authentication. The seller must also provide information on the name and location of the business in accordance with the content registered with the business registration agency (for enterprises, business households) or corresponding personal information. This regulation aims to overcome the situation of anonymous business in the network environment.

Prohibited behavior in e-commerce

Article 6 of the Law on E-commerce 2025 stipulates  Prohibited acts are generally applied to all organizations and individuals participating in e-commerce activities. Accordingly, all acts of fraud and deception on the e-commerce platform are strictly prohibited. The law also prohibits doing business, or creating conditions for others to do business on the basis of e-commerce, illegal services, banned goods, counterfeit goods, goods infringing on intellectual property rights, smuggled goods, goods of unknown origin, goods expired, as well as goods violate the law on product and goods quality.

Regulations on responsibility for people who operate livestreams 

The 2025 e-commerce law stipulates that sales livestream is live and online on an e-commerce platform to deliver content in the form of audio and images to advertise, introduce goods and services and allow orders through the online ordering function. that foundation. 

For the seller, Article 23 of the E-commerce Law of 2025 stipulates that the seller, when performing the livestream of the sale, must provide the person directly with the following documents: Documents proving that the business investment conditions are met for the investment industry or profession. Conditional business before livestream sales; Papers proving that the quality of products and goods is satisfied as prescribed by the law on product and goods quality; Documents confirming advertising content for platform owners and livestream salespeople performing livestream sales with goods and services that, according to the law, must have a written confirmation of advertising content.   

People who directly livestream sales are also provided for by the E-Commerce Law with specific legal responsibilities in Article 24 of this Law. In addition to general regulations such as providing information to verify identity, livestreamers must not provide false or misleading information about the use, origin, quality, price, promotion policy, warranty and other contents related to goods and services; Do not use language, images, costumes, acts against social morality, fine customs and traditions in the process of livestream sales. When detecting a violation or at the request of the seller or at the request of a competent state agency, the livestreamer must  Stop cooperation, stop streaming, remove infringing information.

Regulations on responsibility for affiliate marketers in e-commerce

Not only the sales livestream, affiliate marketing is also one of the governing objects of the e-commerce law 2025. Affiliate marketing is defined by law as the advertising of goods and services through access links, referral codes or the same associated method. with e-commerce platform. 

In addition to the regulations on affiliate marketing activities, Article 26 of the E-commerce Law 2025 stipulates that affiliate marketers have the following responsibilities: 

• Provide information to organizations and individuals providing affiliate marketing services for identity verification.

• Refusing to perform affiliate marketing on digital platforms that have been publicly notified by competent state agencies to notify violations of the law on national security, social order and safety or on digital platforms of multi-level business without a certificate of registration of multi-level selling activities.
• Refuse to carry out affiliate marketing associated with content using language, images, costumes, behaviors that are contrary to social morality, fine customs and traditions.

• For access links, referral codes or similar methods that have been established, the affiliate marketer in e-commerce shall perform the following responsibilities: remove links for goods and services that violate the law or at the request of a competent state agency; Provide information on affiliate marketing activities in e-commerce at the request of the state management agency in charge of e-commerce.

Tax liability for online business

In addition to the e-commerce law, doing business on the digital platform is also governed by tax law. According to Decree No. Vi apply to deduct, declare and pay tax on behalf of business households and individuals according to regulations. For business activities on the basis of not having a payment function and not being deducted, paying tax on behalf of, households and individuals must directly register, declare and pay tax.

Therefore, revenue from sales via livestream, online store, referral code or affiliate marketing commission needs to be monitored, reconciled and fulfilled tax obligations in accordance with the legal status of the earner.

The 2025 E-Commerce Law marks the shift from a management mechanism based primarily on the responsibility of the seller to the multi-subject responsibility model. The platform, sellers, livestreamers, and affiliate marketers must all be identified, transparent and proactive in preventing violations. These new regulations will contribute to limiting counterfeiting, false advertising, anonymous business accounts and avoidance of liability. For businesses and individuals doing online business, complying with the law from product selection, preparation of documents, building advertising content to tax declaration will become an important condition for sustainable operation in the digital market..