Law No. 48/2024/QH15

LAW

ON VALUE-ADDED TAX

Pursuant to the Constitution of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam;

The National Assembly hereby promulgates the Law on Value-Added Tax.

Chapter I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope of regulation

This Law provides for taxable subjects, non-taxable subjects, taxpayers, bases and methods of tax calculation, and deduction and refund of value-added tax.

Article 2. Value-added tax

Value-added tax is a tax calculated on the added value of goods and services arising in the process from production and circulation to consumption.

Article 3. Taxable subjects

Goods and services used for production, business and consumption in Vietnam are subject to value-added tax, except for the subjects specified in Article 5 of this Law.

Article 4. Taxpayers

1. Organisations, households and individuals that produce or trade in goods and services subject to value-added tax (hereinafter referred to as business establishments).

2. Organisations and individuals that import goods subject to value-added tax (hereinafter referred to as importers).

3. Organisations and individuals that produce or trade in Vietnam and purchase services (including services purchased in connection with goods) from foreign organisations without a permanent establishment in Vietnam or from overseas individuals who are non-residents of Vietnam, except for the cases specified in Clauses 4 and 5 of this Article; organisations that produce or trade in Vietnam and purchase goods and services to conduct oil and gas exploration, field development and oil and gas extraction activities from foreign organisations without a permanent establishment in Vietnam or from overseas individuals who are non-residents of Vietnam.

4. Foreign suppliers without a permanent establishment in Vietnam that conduct e-commerce or digital platform-based business with organisations and individuals in Vietnam (hereinafter referred to as foreign suppliers); organisations that are foreign digital platform managers shall withhold and pay, on behalf of foreign suppliers, the tax payable by those suppliers; business organisations in Vietnam applying the credit method of value-added tax calculation that purchase services from foreign suppliers without a permanent establishment in Vietnam through e-commerce channels or digital platforms shall withhold and pay, on behalf of those foreign suppliers, the tax payable by them.

5. Organisations that manage e-commerce trading floors, and managers of digital platforms with payment functions, shall withhold and pay tax on behalf of, and declare the withheld tax amount for, business households and business individuals on e-commerce trading floors and digital platforms.

6. The Government shall detail Clauses 1, 4 and 5 of this Article, and shall provide for taxpayers in cases where foreign suppliers provide services to buyers that are business organisations in Vietnam applying the credit method prescribed in Clause 4 of this Article.

Article 5. Non-taxable subjects

1. Crop products, planted forest products, livestock products, and farmed and caught aquatic products that have not been processed into other products or have undergone only ordinary preliminary processing, sold by the organisations or individuals that produce or catch them themselves, and at the import stage.

2. Livestock breed products under the law on animal husbandry and plant propagating materials under the law on crop production.

3. Animal feed under the law on animal husbandry; aquatic feed under the law on fisheries.

4. Salt products produced from seawater, natural rock salt, refined salt and iodised salt whose main component is sodium chloride (NaCl).

5. Public-property housing sold by the State to the tenants.

6. Irrigation and drainage; ploughing and harrowing; dredging of in-field canals and ditches serving agricultural production; and agricultural product harvesting services.

7. Transfer of land use rights.

8. Life insurance, health insurance, student insurance and other insurance services related to humans; livestock insurance, crop insurance and other agricultural insurance services; insurance for ships, boats, equipment and other necessary tools directly serving fishing; reinsurance; insurance for oil and gas works and equipment and foreign-flagged oil storage vessels hired by oil and gas contractors or foreign subcontractors to operate in Vietnamese waters and overlapping waters that Vietnam and neighbouring or opposite coastal States have agreed to place under joint exploitation.

9. The following financial, banking, securities business and commercial services:

a) Credit extension services under the law on credit institutions and the fees specifically stated in loan agreements between the Government of Vietnam and foreign lenders;

b) Lending services of taxpayers that are not credit institutions;

c) Securities business, including securities brokerage, securities proprietary trading, securities issuance underwriting, securities investment consultancy, securities investment fund management and securities investment portfolio management under the law on securities;

d) Capital transfer, including transfer of part or all of the capital invested in another economic organisation (regardless of whether a new legal entity is established), transfer of securities, transfer of the right to contribute capital and other forms of capital transfer under law, including the sale of an enterprise to another enterprise for production and business where the purchasing enterprise succeeds to all rights and obligations of the selling enterprise under law. Capital transfer under this Point does not include the transfer of investment projects or the sale of assets;

dd) Debt sale, including the sale of payables and receivables;

e) Foreign currency trading;

g) Derivative products under the law on credit institutions, the law on securities and the law on commerce, including: interest rate swaps; forward contracts; futures contracts; call and put option contracts and other derivative products;

h) Sale of collateral securing debts of an organisation 100% owned by the State in charter capital, established by the Government with the function of buying and selling debts to handle bad debts of Vietnamese credit institutions.

10. The following medical and veterinary services:

a) Medical services, including: medical examination, treatment and disease prevention services for humans, family planning services, health nursing and rehabilitation services for patients; care services for the elderly and persons with disabilities; patient transport, and hire of sickrooms and sickbeds of medical establishments; testing, imaging and radiography; and blood and blood products for patients.

Care services for the elderly and persons with disabilities include medical care, nutrition care and the organisation of cultural, sports and recreational activities, physiotherapy and rehabilitation for the elderly and persons with disabilities.

Where a treatment service package prescribed by the Ministry of Health includes the use of medicines, revenue from the medicines within that treatment service package is also not subject to value-added tax;

b) Veterinary services, including: examination, treatment and disease prevention services for livestock.

11. Funeral services.

12. Maintenance, repair and construction activities funded by contributions from the people or humanitarian aid (accounting for 50% or more of the total capital used for the work) for historical-cultural relics, scenic landscapes, cultural and artistic works, public-service works, and infrastructure and housing for social policy beneficiaries.

13. Teaching and vocational training activities under the law on education and vocational education.

14. Radio and television broadcasting funded by the state budget.

15. Publication, import and distribution of newspapers, magazines, bulletins, special issues, political books, textbooks, curricula, legal document books, science and technology books, books serving external information, books printed in ethnic minority languages, and propaganda and campaign pictures, photographs and posters, including those in the form of audio or video tapes or discs or electronic data; money, and the printing of money.

16. Public passenger transport by bus, tram and inland waterway vessels.

17. Machinery, equipment, spare parts and materials of a type that cannot yet be produced domestically, to be imported for direct use in scientific research and technology development; machinery, equipment, replacement parts, specialised means of transport and materials of a type that cannot yet be produced domestically, to be imported for oil and gas exploration and field development activities; aircraft, helicopters, gliders, drilling rigs and vessels of a type that cannot yet be produced domestically, to be imported to form an enterprise's fixed assets or to be leased from abroad for use in production, business or leasing.

18. National defence and security products on the list issued by the Minister of National Defence and the Minister of Public Security; imported products and services serving the defence and security industry on the list issued by the Prime Minister.

19. Imported goods in cases of humanitarian aid or non-refundable aid. Goods and services sold to foreign organisations and individuals and international organisations for humanitarian aid or non-refundable aid to Vietnam.

20. Goods in re-export transit or in transit through Vietnamese territory; temporarily imported goods for re-export; temporarily exported goods for re-import; materials imported for producing or processing export goods under production or processing contracts signed with foreign parties; goods and services traded between foreign countries and non-tariff zones and between non-tariff zones.

Goods imported from abroad by a financial leasing company and transported directly into a non-tariff zone for financial lease to enterprises in the non-tariff zone.

21. Technology transfer under the Law on Technology Transfer; assignment of intellectual property rights under the Law on Intellectual Property; software products and software services under law.

22. Gold in bars or pieces not yet crafted into artwork, jewellery or other products, at the import stage.

23. Export products that are extracted natural resources and minerals not yet processed into other products, and export products that are extracted natural resources and minerals processed into other products, according to the List prescribed by the Government in line with the State's orientation of not encouraging and restricting the export of raw natural resources and minerals.

24. Artificial products used to replace body parts of patients, including products that are long-term implants in the human body; crutches, wheelchairs and other specialised appliances for persons with disabilities.

25. Goods and services of business households and individuals with annual revenue of VND 200 million or less; assets sold by non-business organisations and individuals that are not value-added tax payers; national reserve goods sold by the national reserve agency; fees and charges collected under the law on fees and charges.

26. Imported goods in the following cases:

a) Gifts to state agencies, political organisations, socio-political organisations, socio-political-professional organisations, social organisations, socio-professional organisations and people's armed units within the import duty exemption norms under the law on export duty and import duty;

b) Gifts and presents within the import duty exemption norms under the law on export duty and import duty from foreign organisations and individuals to Vietnamese individuals; belongings of foreign organisations and individuals under diplomatic exemption standards and relocated property within the import duty exemption norms under the law on export duty and import duty;

c) Goods within the standard of duty-free import baggage under the law on export duty and import duty;

d) Imported goods donated or sponsored for the prevention, control and remediation of consequences of disasters, natural calamities, epidemics and wars, as prescribed by the Government;

dd) Goods traded and exchanged across the border to serve the production and consumption of border residents, on the List of goods traded and exchanged by border residents as prescribed by law and within the import duty exemption norms under the law on export duty and import duty;

e) Relics, antiques and national treasures under the law on cultural heritage imported by competent state agencies.

27. Business establishments trading in goods and services not subject to value-added tax under this Article are not entitled to deduct or refund input value-added tax, except where the 0% tax rate under Clause 1, Article 9 of this Law applies.

28. The Government shall detail this Article. The Minister of Finance shall prescribe the dossiers and procedures for determining non-taxable subjects of value-added tax under this Article.

Chapter II

BASES AND METHODS OF TAX CALCULATION

Article 6. Bases for tax calculation

The bases for calculating value-added tax are the taxable price and the tax rate.

Article 7. Taxable price

1. The taxable price is prescribed as follows:

a) For goods and services sold by business establishments, it is the selling price exclusive of value-added tax; for goods and services subject to special consumption tax, it is the selling price inclusive of special consumption tax but exclusive of value-added tax; for goods subject to environmental protection tax, it is the selling price inclusive of environmental protection tax but exclusive of value-added tax; for goods subject to both special consumption tax and environmental protection tax, it is the selling price inclusive of special consumption tax and environmental protection tax but exclusive of value-added tax;

b) For imported goods, it is the import duty dutiable value under the law on export duty and import duty, plus import duty, plus supplementary import duty under law (if any), plus special consumption tax (if any) and plus environmental protection tax (if any);

c) For goods and services used for exchange, internal consumption, or given as gifts or donations, it is the value-added tax taxable price of goods and services of the same or equivalent kind at the time these activities arise.

For goods and services used for promotion under the law on commerce, the taxable price is determined to be zero (0);

d) For asset leasing activities, it is the lease amount exclusive of value-added tax.

Where leasing is carried out with rent paid periodically or paid in advance for the lease term, the taxable price is the lease amount paid periodically or in advance for the lease term, exclusive of value-added tax;

dd) For goods sold on instalment or deferred payment, it is the price calculated on the lump-sum selling price of those goods exclusive of value-added tax, excluding instalment interest or deferred-payment interest;

e) For goods processing, it is the processing price exclusive of value-added tax;

g) For construction and installation activities, it is the value of the works, work items or work portions handed over, exclusive of value-added tax. Where construction and installation do not include the supply of materials, machinery and equipment, the taxable price is the construction and installation value excluding the value of materials, machinery and equipment;

h) For real estate business activities, it is the real estate selling price exclusive of value-added tax, less the land use levy or land rent paid to the state budget (deductible land price). The Government shall prescribe the determination of the deductible land price under this Point in line with the law on land;

i) For agency and brokerage activities in the sale and purchase of goods and services for commission, it is the commission received from these activities, exclusive of value-added tax;

k) For goods and services for which payment invoices are used that state the payment price as a price inclusive of value-added tax, the taxable price is determined by the following formula:

l) For casino services, prize-winning electronic games and betting, it is the amount collected from these activities less the amount refunded to customers for unused funds and the prize money paid to customers (if any), inclusive of special consumption tax and exclusive of value-added tax;

m) For the following production and business activities: electricity generation by Vietnam Electricity Group; transport, loading and unloading; tourism services in the form of travel agency; pawn services; books subject to value-added tax sold at the issue price (cover price); printing activities; agency services for appraisal, claim assessment, recovery from third parties and handling of compensated goods, paid in full by fee or commission; the taxable price is the selling price exclusive of value-added tax. The Government shall prescribe the taxable price for the production and business activities specified in this Point.

2. The taxable price of goods and services prescribed in Clause 1 of this Article includes surcharges and additional fees enjoyed by the business establishment.

3. The Government shall detail this Article.

Article 8. Time of determining value-added tax

1. The time of determining value-added tax is prescribed as follows:

a) For goods, it is the time of transfer of ownership or the right to use the goods to the buyer, or the time of issuing the invoice, regardless of whether payment has been received;

b) For services, it is the time of completion of the service provision or the time of issuing the service invoice, regardless of whether payment has been received.

2. The time of determining value-added tax for the following goods and services shall be prescribed by the Government:

a) Exported goods and imported goods;

b) Telecommunications services;

c) Insurance business services;

d) Electricity supply activities, electricity generation and clean water production;

dd) Real estate business activities;

e) Construction and installation activities and oil and gas activities.

Article 9. Tax rates

1. The 0% tax rate applies to the following goods and services:

a) Exported goods, including: goods sold from Vietnam to foreign organisations and individuals and consumed outside Vietnam; goods sold from the Vietnamese domestic market to organisations in non-tariff zones and consumed in non-tariff zones for direct use in export production activities; goods sold in quarantine areas to individuals (foreigners or Vietnamese) who have completed exit procedures; and goods sold at duty-free shops;

b) Exported services, including: services provided directly to foreign organisations and individuals and consumed outside Vietnam; services provided directly to organisations in non-tariff zones and consumed in non-tariff zones for direct use in export production activities;

c) Other exported goods and services, including: international transport; leasing of means of transport used outside the territory of Vietnam; aviation and maritime services provided directly or through agents for international transport; construction and installation of works abroad or in non-tariff zones; digital information content products provided to foreign parties with dossiers and documents proving consumption outside Vietnam as prescribed by the Government; spare parts and replacement materials for repair and maintenance of means of transport, machinery and equipment for foreign parties and consumed outside Vietnam; goods processed in sequence for export under law; goods and services not subject to value-added tax when exported, except the cases in which the 0% tax rate is not applied under Point d of this Clause;

d) Cases in which the 0% tax rate does not apply include: technology transfer and assignment of intellectual property rights abroad; reinsurance services abroad; credit extension services; capital transfer; derivative products; postal and telecommunications services; export products specified in Clause 23, Article 5 of this Law; imported tobacco, liquor and beer that are subsequently exported; petrol and oil purchased in the domestic market and sold to business establishments in non-tariff zones; and cars sold to organisations and individuals in non-tariff zones.

2. The 5% tax rate applies to the following goods and services:

a) Clean water for production and daily life, excluding bottled or jar water of all kinds and other soft drinks;

b) Fertilisers, ores for fertiliser production, plant protection drugs and livestock growth stimulants under law;

c) Services of digging, embanking and dredging canals, ditches, ponds and lakes serving agricultural production; cultivation, care and pest control for crops; preliminary processing and preservation of agricultural products;

d) Crop products, planted forest products (except timber and bamboo shoots), livestock products, and farmed and caught aquatic products that have not been processed into other products or have undergone only ordinary preliminary processing, except the products specified in Clause 1, Article 5 of this Law;

dd) Rubber latex in the form of crepe latex, sheet latex, vermicelli latex and crumb latex; fishing nets, ropes and yarn for weaving fishing nets;

e) Products made of jute, sedge, bamboo, reed, leaves, straw, coconut husk, coconut shell, water hyacinth and other handicraft products made from materials reused from agriculture; carded and combed cotton fibre; newsprint;

g) Fishing vessels operating at sea; specialised machinery and equipment serving agricultural production as prescribed by the Government;

h) Medical devices under the law on medical device management; medicines for disease prevention and treatment; pharmaceutical substances and medicinal materials that are raw materials for the production of medicines for disease prevention and treatment;

i) Equipment for teaching and learning, including: models, drawings, boards, chalk, rulers and compasses;

k) Traditional and folk performing arts;

l) Toys for children; books of all kinds, except the books specified in Clause 15, Article 5 of this Law;

m) Science and technology services under the Law on Science and Technology;

n) Sale, lease and lease-purchase of social housing under the Law on Housing.

3. The 10% tax rate applies to goods and services not specified in Clauses 1 and 2 of this Article, including services provided by foreign suppliers without a permanent establishment in Vietnam to organisations and individuals in Vietnam through e-commerce channels and digital platforms.

4. Business establishments trading in many kinds of goods and services with different value-added tax rates (including non-taxable subjects) must declare value-added tax at each tax rate prescribed for each kind of goods and services; if a business establishment does not determine the amounts by tax rate, it must calculate and pay tax at the highest tax rate applicable to the goods and services it produces or trades in.

5. Crop products, planted forest products, livestock products, and farmed and caught aquatic products that have not been processed into other products or have undergone only ordinary preliminary processing and are used as animal feed or medicinal materials are subject to the value-added tax rate prescribed for crop, planted forest, livestock and aquatic products.

Defective products, by-products and scrap recovered for recycling or reuse, when sold, are subject to the tax rate of the defective product, by-product or scrap item sold.

6. The Government shall detail Clauses 1 and 2 of this Article. The Minister of Finance shall prescribe the dossiers and procedures for applying the 0% value-added tax rate under Clause 1 of this Article.

Article 10. Methods of tax calculation

The methods of calculating value-added tax include the credit method and the direct method.

Article 11. Credit method

1. The credit method is prescribed as follows:

a) The value-added tax payable under the credit method equals output value-added tax minus deductible input value-added tax;

b) Output value-added tax equals the total value-added tax of goods and services sold, stated on value-added tax invoices.

The value-added tax of goods and services sold, stated on the value-added tax invoice, equals the taxable price of the taxable goods and services sold multiplied by the value-added tax rate of those goods and services.

Where an invoice stating the payment price as a price inclusive of value-added tax is used, output value-added tax is determined as the payment price minus the value-added tax taxable price determined under Point k, Clause 1, Article 7 of this Law;

c) Deductible input value-added tax equals the total value-added tax stated on value-added tax invoices for purchased goods and services, the value-added tax payment documents for imported goods, or the tax payment documents in the case of purchased services specified in Clauses 3 and 4, Article 4 of this Law, and meets the conditions prescribed in Article 14 of this Law.

2. The credit method applies to business establishments that fully observe the accounting, invoice and document regime under the law on accounting, invoices and documents, including:

a) Business establishments with annual revenue from the sale of goods and provision of services of VND 01 billion or more, except business households and individuals;

b) Business establishments that voluntarily apply the credit method, except business households and individuals;

c) Foreign organisations and individuals supplying goods and services for oil and gas exploration, field development and oil and gas extraction activities, who pay tax under the credit method with the Vietnamese party declaring, deducting and paying on their behalf.

3. The Government shall detail this Article.

Article 12. Direct method

1. The value-added tax payable under the direct method on added value equals the added value multiplied by the value-added tax rate applicable to the purchase, sale and fabrication of gold, silver and gemstones.

The added value of the purchase, sale and fabrication of gold, silver and gemstones is determined as the payment price of the gold, silver and gemstones sold minus the payment price of the corresponding gold, silver and gemstones purchased.

Where a business establishment engages in the purchase, sale and fabrication of gold, silver and gemstones, it must account for this activity separately in order to pay tax under the direct method on added value.

2. The value-added tax payable under the direct method on revenue equals a percentage multiplied by revenue, applied as follows:

a) Applicable subjects include:

a1) Enterprises, cooperatives and cooperative unions with annual revenue below the revenue threshold of VND 01 billion, except in the case of voluntarily applying the credit method under Clause 2, Article 11 of this Law;

a2) Business households and individuals, except the cases specified in Clause 3 of this Article;

a3) Foreign organisations without a permanent establishment in Vietnam and overseas individuals who are non-residents of Vietnam with revenue arising in Vietnam that have not fully observed the accounting, invoice and document regime, excluding the foreign suppliers specified in Clause 4, Article 4 of this Law;

a4) Other organisations, except the case of paying tax under the credit method prescribed in Clause 2, Article 11 of this Law;

b) The percentages for calculating value-added tax are prescribed as follows:

b1) Distribution and supply of goods: 1%;

b2) Services and construction not including the supply of materials: 5%;

b3) Production, transport, services associated with goods, and construction including the supply of materials: 3%;

b4) Other business activities: 2%;

c) Revenue for calculating value-added tax is the total amount from the sale of goods and services stated on sales invoices, including surcharges and additional fees enjoyed by the business establishment.

3. Business households and individuals that do not observe, or do not fully observe, the accounting, invoice and document regime under law shall pay value-added tax under the lump-sum tax method prescribed in the Law on Tax Administration.

4. The Government shall detail Clause 1 of this Article. The Minister of Finance shall prescribe in detail the groups of goods and services subject to the percentages in Point b, Clause 2 of this Article.

Chapter III

DEDUCTION AND REFUND OF TAX

Article 13. Prohibited acts in tax deduction and refund

1. Buying, giving, selling, organising the advertising of, or brokering the sale and purchase of invoices.

2. Creating fictitious transactions for the sale and purchase of goods or provision of services, or transactions not in accordance with law.

3. Issuing invoices for the sale of goods or provision of services during a period of temporary suspension of business operations, except for issuing invoices to customers to perform contracts signed before the notice of temporary suspension of business.

4. Using illegal invoices and documents, or illegally using invoices and documents, as prescribed by the Government.

5. Failing to transmit electronic invoice data to the tax authority as prescribed.

6. Falsifying, misusing, illegally accessing or destroying the information system on invoices and documents.

7. Giving, receiving or brokering bribes, or committing other acts related to invoices and documents in order to have tax deducted or refunded, to misappropriate tax money, or to evade value-added tax.

8. Collusion, concealment, or connivance between tax officials or tax authorities and business establishments or importers, or among business establishments or importers, in using illegal invoices and documents or illegally using invoices and documents in order to have tax deducted or refunded, to misappropriate tax money, or to evade value-added tax.

Article 14. Deduction of input value-added tax

1. Business establishments paying value-added tax under the credit method may deduct input value-added tax as follows:

a) Input value-added tax on goods and services used for producing and trading in goods and services subject to value-added tax is deductible in full, including input value-added tax that is not compensated for goods and services subject to value-added tax that are lost, and for goods that suffer natural shrinkage due to physical and chemical properties during transport;

b) Input value-added tax on goods and services used simultaneously for producing and trading in taxable and non-taxable goods and services is deductible only to the extent of input value-added tax on goods and services used for producing and trading in goods and services subject to value-added tax. Business establishments must account separately for deductible and non-deductible input value-added tax; where separate accounting is not possible, deductible input value-added tax is calculated by the percentage of revenue from goods and services subject to value-added tax over total revenue from goods and services sold;

c) Input value-added tax on goods and services sold to organisations and individuals using humanitarian aid or non-refundable aid capital is deductible in full;

d) Input value-added tax on goods and services used for oil and gas exploration and field development activities is deductible in full;

dd) Input value-added tax arising in a month or quarter shall be declared and deducted when determining the tax payable for that month or quarter. Input value-added tax not fully deducted in the month or quarter shall be deducted in the following month or quarter.

Where a business establishment discovers errors or omissions in the declaration and deduction of input value-added tax, it may amend its tax declaration before the tax authority or competent authority announces a decision on tax inspection or tax audit, as follows:

The taxpayer shall make an additional declaration for the month or quarter in which the erroneous or omitted input value-added tax arose if the tax declaration for that month or quarter increases the tax payable or reduces the tax refund; the taxpayer must pay the full additional tax payable, or the corresponding refunded tax amount shall be recovered, and the taxpayer shall pay late-payment interest into the state budget (if any).

The taxpayer shall make the declaration in the month or quarter in which the error or omission is discovered if the tax declaration for the month or quarter in which the erroneous or omitted input value-added tax arose reduces the tax payable or only increases or reduces the value-added tax remaining deductible and carried forward to later months or quarters;

e) For input value-added tax that is not deductible, the business establishment may include it in expenses for calculating corporate income tax or in the historical cost of fixed assets under the law on corporate income tax, except for the value-added tax on goods and services purchased without non-cash payment documents as prescribed by the Government;

g) The Government shall detail the deduction of input value-added tax for: goods and services forming fixed assets serving employees; contribution of capital by assets; goods and services purchased by authorising other organisations or individuals where the invoice bears the name of the authorised organisation or individual; fixed assets that are passenger cars with 09 seats or fewer; and production and business establishments organising closed-chain production with centralised accounting.

2. The conditions for deduction of input value-added tax are prescribed as follows:

a) Having a value-added tax invoice for purchased goods and services, or a document of value-added tax payment at the import stage, or a document of value-added tax payment on behalf of the foreign party under Clauses 3 and 4, Article 4 of this Law. The Minister of Finance shall prescribe the documents of value-added tax payment on behalf of the foreign party;

b) Having non-cash payment documents for purchased goods and services, except for certain specific cases as prescribed by the Government;

c) For exported goods and services, in addition to the conditions prescribed in Points a and b of this Clause, having: the contract signed with the foreign party on the sale or processing of goods or provision of services; the invoice for the sale of goods or provision of services; non-cash payment documents; the customs declaration for exported goods; and the packing list, bill of lading and cargo insurance documents (if any). The Government shall prescribe the conditions for deduction in the case of exporting goods through e-commerce trading floors abroad and certain other specific cases.

3. Business establishments that do not meet the provisions on tax deduction in Clauses 1 and 2 of this Article, and invoices and documents created through acts prohibited under this Law, are not entitled to deduction of value-added tax.

4. The Government shall detail this Article.

Article 15. Refund of value-added tax

1. Tax refund for exports is prescribed as follows:

a) A business establishment that, in a month or quarter, has exported goods or services and has input value-added tax of VND 300 million or more not yet fully deducted is entitled to a value-added tax refund on a monthly or quarterly basis, except for goods that are imported and then exported to another country;

b) A business establishment that, in a month or quarter, has both exported goods and services and goods and services consumed domestically must account separately for the input value-added tax used for producing and trading in exported goods and services; where separate accounting is not possible, the input value-added tax of exported goods and services is determined by the ratio of revenue from exported goods and services to total revenue from taxable goods and services of the refund period. The refund period is determined from the value-added tax period with continuously undeducted input value-added tax that has not been refunded to the tax period in which a refund is requested.

If the input value-added tax of exported goods and services (including the input value-added tax separately accounted for and the input value-added tax determined by the above ratio), after offsetting against the value-added tax payable on domestically consumed goods and services, remains at VND 300 million or more, the business establishment is entitled to a refund for exported goods and services. The refunded value-added tax on exported goods and services shall not exceed 10% of the revenue from exported goods and services of the refund period. Input value-added tax already determined for exported goods and services but not refunded because it exceeds 10% of the revenue from exported goods and services of the previous refund period shall be deducted in the next tax period to determine the value-added tax refund on exported goods and services for the next refund period.

2. Tax refund for investment is prescribed as follows:

a) A business establishment that has registered to pay value-added tax under the credit method and has an investment project (a new investment project or an expansion investment project) under the law on investment (including an investment project divided into many investment phases or investment items, except where the investment project does not form fixed assets of the enterprise) in the investment phase, or an oil and gas exploration and field development project in the investment phase, with input value-added tax arising in the investment phase that has not been refunded, shall offset it against the value-added tax payable from ongoing production and business activities (if any). After offsetting, if the input value-added tax of the investment project not yet fully deducted is VND 300 million or more, value-added tax is refunded.

Where an investment project has been completed (including an investment project divided into many phases or items in which a phase or item has been completed) but the business establishment has not carried out the refund of value-added tax arising in the investment phase (the completed investment item or phase), the business establishment shall submit a value-added tax refund dossier as prescribed within 01 year from the date the investment project, or the investment phase or item, is completed.

The date on which an investment project, or an investment phase or item, is completed is the date on which revenue of the investment project, or of the phase or item, arises. Revenue under this Clause does not include revenue arising during the trial-run period, financial activity revenue, or revenue from the liquidation of materials of the investment project;

b) Business establishments are not entitled to a value-added tax refund but shall carry forward the undeducted tax of the investment project under the law on investment to the next period in the following cases:

b1) The business establishment's investment project has not contributed the full charter capital as registered at the time of submitting the refund dossier; the establishment conducts conditional investment and business lines without meeting the business conditions under the law on investment or without maintaining sufficient business conditions during operation, except for investment projects in the investment phase which, under the law on investment and specialised laws, are not yet required to request a competent state agency to grant a licence for the conditional investment and business line, and investment projects which, under the law on investment and specialised laws, are not required to hold a licence for the conditional investment and business line;

b2) Investment projects for the extraction of natural resources and minerals (excluding the oil and gas exploration and field development projects specified in Point a of this Clause) and investment projects for producing products that are extracted natural resources and minerals processed into other products as specified in Clause 23, Article 5 of this Law.

3. A business establishment that produces only goods or provides only services subject to the 5% value-added tax rate and has input value-added tax of VND 300 million or more not yet fully deducted after 12 consecutive months or 04 consecutive quarters is entitled to a value-added tax refund; where a business establishment produces goods or provides services subject to many value-added tax rates, the refund is made according to the allocation ratio prescribed by the Government.

4. A business establishment that pays value-added tax under the credit method is entitled to a value-added tax refund upon dissolution or bankruptcy if it has overpaid value-added tax or has input value-added tax not yet fully deducted.

Where a cooperative group paying tax under the credit method is converted into a cooperative, the cooperative succeeds to the overpaid value-added tax or the input value-added tax not yet fully deducted of the cooperative group for deduction and refund as prescribed.

5. Foreigners and overseas Vietnamese carrying passports or international travel documents are entitled to a tax refund for goods purchased in Vietnam and carried with them on exit.

The Government shall prescribe the dossiers, procedures, refundable tax amounts and refund methods for the case specified in this Clause.

6. Value-added tax refund for programmes and projects using non-refundable official development assistance (ODA) capital or non-refundable aid or humanitarian aid is prescribed as follows:

a) The owner of the programme or project, or the main contractor, or the organisation designated by the foreign donor to manage the programme or project using non-refundable ODA capital, is refunded the value-added tax paid on goods and services purchased in Vietnam to serve the programme or project;

b) Organisations in Vietnam that use non-refundable aid or humanitarian aid money from foreign organisations and individuals to purchase goods and services for non-refundable aid or humanitarian aid programmes or projects in Vietnam are refunded the value-added tax paid on those goods and services.

7. Persons entitled to diplomatic privileges and immunities under the law on diplomacy who purchase goods and services in Vietnam for use are refunded the value-added tax paid as stated on the value-added tax invoice or on the payment document stating the payment price inclusive of value-added tax.

8. Business establishments having a decision on value-added tax refund by a competent authority under law, and cases of value-added tax refund under international treaties to which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a party.

9. Business establishments in the cases of tax refund prescribed in this Article must satisfy the following conditions:

a) A business establishment entitled to a refund under Clauses 1, 2, 3 and 4 of this Article must pay value-added tax under the credit method, prepare and keep accounting books and accounting documents under the law on accounting, and have a deposit account at a bank under the establishment's tax code;

b) It satisfies the provisions on deduction of input value-added tax under Clause 2, Article 14 and is not in the cases specified in Clause 3, Article 14 of this Law;

c) The seller has declared and paid value-added tax as prescribed for the invoices issued to the business establishment requesting the refund.

10. A taxpayer in a case of value-added tax refund whose input value-added tax fully satisfies the refund conditions under this Article and who complies with the regulations on tax declaration under the law on tax administration shall prepare a value-added tax refund dossier for each case of value-added tax refund and send it to the competent tax authority for receipt.

The tax authority shall classify value-added tax refund dossiers into those subject to refund first and inspection later or inspection before refund, and shall settle value-added tax refund dossiers under the law on tax administration.

11. The Government shall detail this Article.

Article 16. Invoices and documents

1. The sale and purchase of goods and services must be evidenced by invoices and documents under law and the following provisions:

a) Business establishments applying the credit method use value-added tax invoices. Where goods or services subject to value-added tax are sold and the value-added tax invoice does not state the value-added tax amount, output value-added tax is determined as the payment price stated on the invoice multiplied by the value-added tax rate, except for the case specified in Clause 2 of this Article;

b) Business establishments applying the direct method use sales invoices.

2. For stamps, tickets and cards that are payment documents with a pre-printed payment price, the payment price of those stamps, tickets and cards already includes value-added tax.

Chapter IV

IMPLEMENTATION PROVISIONS

Article 17. Amendment and supplementation of Clause 1, Article 3 of the Law on Personal Income Tax No. 04/2007/QH12, as amended and supplemented by Law No. 26/2012/QH13 and Law No. 71/2014/QH13

“1. Income from business, including:

a) Income from production and trading in goods and services;

b) Income from independent professional practice of individuals holding practice licences or certificates under law.

Income from business under this Clause does not include income of business households and individuals whose revenue is below the level prescribed in Clause 25, Article 5 of the Law on Value-Added Tax.”

Article 18. Effect

1. This Law takes effect on 01 July 2025, except for the case specified in Clause 2 of this Article.

2. The provisions on the revenue level of business households and individuals that are non-taxable subjects in Clause 25, Article 5 of this Law, and Article 17 of this Law, take effect on 01 January 2026.

3. The Law on Value-Added Tax No. 13/2008/QH12, as amended and supplemented by Law No. 31/2013/QH13, Law No. 71/2014/QH13 and Law No. 106/2016/QH13, ceases to be effective from the date this Law takes effect.

This Law was passed on 26 November 2024 by the 15th National Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam at its 8th session.