July, 2026 Newsletter
August 28th, 2026
Tax administration of enterprises’ related-party transactions from July 1st, 2026
On June 30th, 2026, the Government issued Decree No. 255/2026/ND-CP (“Decree 255”) regulating tax administration of enterprises’ related-party transactions with some remarkable regulations from July 1st, 2026 are as follows:
a) Identification of related-party transactions
Related-party transactions are transactions with the following characteristics:
(i) Purchase, sale, exchange, rent, lease, borrow, lend, transfer, assign goods; provide services; get a loan, grant a loan, financial services, financial guarantees and other financial instruments; purchase, sale, exchange, rent, lease, borrow, lend, transfer, assign tangible assets or intangible assets; and agreements on the purchase, sale or mutual use of resources such as assets, capital, labour, cost-sharing;
(ii) Between related-parties;
(iii) Excluding business transactions of goods or services in scope of price control by State under the laws on prices.
b) Supplement of cases for determining related-party relationships
- Add the cases of determining related-party relationships through borrowing or lending transactions between an enterprise and an individual who manages, controls the enterprise, or an individual in one of the prescribed family relationships, with the value of the transaction being at least 10% of the owner’s equity at the time of transaction in the tax period.
- Add the cases where none application of related-party relationships: The creditor, guarantor being the organisation wholly owned by the State with the function of purchasing, selling, handling debts that does not directly or indirectly participate in the management, control the capital contribution, investment in the indebted enterprise or the guaranteed enterprise as prescribed by law.
c) Databases used for declaration, determination and administration of related-party transaction prices
- Add the national database used for the declaration, determination and administration of related-party transaction prices.
- The order of priority in the use of databases as follows:
(i) Sources of publicly or officially disclosed data (published data on the stock market; commodity and service exchanges; the national database, etc.);
(ii) Commercial databases;
(iii) Tax administration databases.
d) Increase of the revenue threshold for exemption from documentation of the related-party transaction pricing
- The revenue threshold for exemption from documentation of the related-party transaction pricing is increased from VND 200 billion to less than VND 500 billion, with the minimum net profit margins applicable to each field;
- Abolition of qualitative criteria such as “performing simple functions” when considering the conditions for application of the exemption.
e) Provisions on the Country-by-Country Reports (“CbCR”)
- Change of the global consolidated revenue threshold to be required for the CbCR: A taxpayer being the ultimate parent company in Vietnam with global consolidated revenue in the fiscal year prior the reporting year equivalent to EUR 750 million or more (replacing the previous threshold of VND 18,000 billion) must prepare and submit the CbCR.
- The deadline for submission is no later than 12 months from the end of the fiscal year of the ultimate parent company for the reporting year.
f) Effectiveness and transitional provisions
- Decree 255 shall come into effect from July 1st, 2026 and shall be applied from the corporate income tax year of 2026.
- Enterprises in the scope of transition under Article 3 of Decree No. 20/2025/ND-CP shall keep on with the transitional treatment for the remaining period. Specifically, enterprises in the category of carrying forward with non-deductible interest expenses during the 2020 - 2023 period may continue to carry forward the remaining interest expense to the subsequent tax periods for the remainder of the applicable timeframe as ruled.
Regulations on the management and use of e-invoices from July 1st, 2026
On June 30th, 2026, the Government issued Decree No. 254/2026/ND-CP (“Decree 254”) guiding the Law on Tax Administration regarding e-invoices and e-documents. Accordingly, some remarkable regulations on the management and use of e-invoices effective from July 1st, 2026 are as follows:
a) Provisions on cases in which the use of e-invoices is not required
- Cases of none required to use e-invoices inherited the principles from Decree No. 123/2020/ND-CP, such as goods circulated internally for continued production and capital contribution in the form of assets;
- Decree 254 clarifies that the lending of machinery and equipment without collection of fees and without transfer of ownership are not required to issue e-invoices;
- Decree 254 supplements guidance on transactions that were previously not regulated in detail, such as cross-border digital content services, financial activities (reinsurance, deposit receiving, sale of debt, foreign currency transactions, etc.), agency activities, as well as specific provisions applicable to household businesses and individual businesses.
b) Changes to the invoiced time
There are some amendments and supplements in provisions on invoice issuance time to align with the characteristics of business lines and business operations, as follows:
- Deposits: Amounts of deposits under the Civil Code for the purpose of guarantee the performance of service contracts are not required to be invoiced at the time of receipt. This is applied to all types of services and is no longer limited in some sectors as the previous regulations.
- Services invoiced after reconciliation: Services with large volumes, frequent, requiring time for data reconciliation (such as logistics, maritime pilotage services, digital technology services, digital platforms, information technology services, digital-asset services, support services on the carbon exchange, etc.) are invoiced at the time of completion of the reconciliation, but no later than the 7th day of the month following the month of service providing or no later than 7 days from the end of the agreed term.
- Medical examination and treatment clinics: These are permitted to issue e-invoices at the end of the day for medical services if they satisfy the conditions of management systems, data storage and none of invoices request by clients.
- Transactions in night-time working hours without seller’s automated invoice software, shall be invoiced no later than the following working day.
c) Principles for the issuance, management and use of invoices
- When selling goods or providing services, e-invoices must be issued by seller to the buyer in the standard data format with full contents as ruled;
- The use of e-invoices must be registered in accordance with regulations;
- The seller of goods or provider of services can authorise a third party to issue e-invoices;
- Where a tax, fee, charge-collecting organization and a service provider jointly collect such amounts and payments for goods, services from the same customer, the receipt and invoice may be integrated into a single electronic format for delivery to the purchaser.
d) Transitional provisions for paper invoices and receipts
- The management and use of paper invoices for the sale of national reserve goods shall be kept on compling with the laws on the sale of national reserve goods until the Ministry of Finance issues a notice on conversion to e-invoices.
- The remain of paper receipts printed or ordered for printing under Decree No. 123/2020/ND-CP may be used until December 31st, 2026. From January 1st, 2027, such receipts must be destroyed and converted to e-receipts in the standard data format.
- The invoices printed by tax authorities shall be invalidated from July 1st, 2026 and destroyed in accordance with regulations.
New regulations on enterprise’s beneficial owners from July 23rd, 2026
On July 23rd, 2026, the Government issued Decree No. 296/2026/ND-CP (“Decree 296”) amending and supplementing certain articles of Decree 168/2025/ND-CP (“Decree 168”), with the aim of further improving the regulations on enterprise registration, as following:
a) Prohibition of capital contributions through nominee person
One of the notable new provisions of Decree 296 is the requirement that enterprise owners, shareholders and members must fully comply with regulations on contributed assets and must not act as nominees for others to contribute capital to an enterprise.
b) Improving regulations on the identification of beneficial owners
Decree 296 with new approach to identifying and declaring the beneficial owners of enterprises., in which, instead of primarily basing on the ratio of capital ownership, voting shares or the right to control key matters of an enterprise, it is approached by identifying individuals who holds actual ultimate ownership or control over the enterprise.
Accordingly, a beneficial owner of a legal-entity enterprise is one or more individuals who directly or indirectly own or exercise ultimate effective control over such enterprise, excluding individuals representing state capital in the enterprise. In addition to maintaining the ownership threshold of 25% or more of charter capital or voting shares, the criteria for identifying beneficial owners is expanded, specifically:
(i) Individuals who, directly or indirectly, or both directly and indirectly, own 25% or more of the charter capital or 25% or more of the total voting shares of the enterprise:
- In cases a group of individuals who have a family relationship or an contractual relationship jointly directly or indirectly, or both directly and indirectly, own 25% or more of the charter capital or 25% or more of the total voting shares of the enterprise, shall be identified as the beneficial owners of the enterprise;
- In the case of a general partnership company, all general partners shall be the beneficial owners of the enterprise, regardless of their charter capital contribution ratios or voting rights in the enterprise.
(ii) The beneficial owner is identified by the actual control through one or more of the following rights: The right to appoint, dismiss or remove the majority or all members or the chairman of the Board of Directors, the majority or all members or the chairman of the Board of Members, the Director, the General Director; amend or supplement the enterprise's charter; alter the organizational structure; decide on the enterprise's financial, investment and operational policies; and reorganize, dissolve the enterprise.
(iii) The enterprise identifies an individual as the manager with the highest authority to act on behalf of the enterprise, excluding individuals representing state capital in the enterprise.
c) Obligation to declare and notify information on beneficial owners
- Founders and the enterprises shall (i) identify the beneficial owners of the enterprise by reviewing each level in the enterprise’s ownership structure until the individuals holding actual ultimate ownership or control is identified, and (ii) declare, notify to the Business Registration Authority about information on the enterprise’s beneficial owners.
- The order for declaring beneficial owners:
(i) Identification of individuals with ownership rights: declare, notify individuals who satisfies the ownership-right criteria specified in Section b.(i);
(ii) Identification based on control rights: If no individual satisfies the criteria in Section b.(i), or indicating that the individual identified as of the criteria in Section b.(i) is not the beneficial owner, it shall be identified an individual satisfying the criteria for actual controlling rights specified in Section b.(ii) for declaration and notification;
(iii) If none of individual satisfies the above two criteria, it shall be declared and notified the information of the individual who is the manager with the highest level of authority as specified in Section b.(iii).
Regulations on goods prohibited from export and import from September 5th, 2026
On July 22nd, 2026, the Government issued Decree No. 292/2026/ND-CP (“Decree 292”) detailing some articles and measures for organizing and guiding the implementation of the Law on Foreign Trade Management. Accordingly, the List of goods prohibited from export and import are promulgated and came into effect from September 5th, 2026, replaces Decree No. 69/2018/ND-CP (“Decree 69”), specifically:
a) Categories of goods prohibited from export: There are 10 categories of goods prohibited from export under the management of:
- Ministry of National Defence: 02 categories (comprising weapons, ammunition, explosives, military equipment and cryptographic products used to protect State secrets);
- Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism: 02 categories (comprising relics, antiquities and national treasures; cultural products prohibited from dissemination or circulation and publications prohibited from dissemination or circulation in Vietnam);
- Ministry of Science and Technology: 01 category (postal stamp goods prohibited from trading, exchange, display, and promotion);
- Ministry of Agriculture and Environment: 02 categories (comprising round logs and sawn timber of various types derived from domestic natural forests wood and specimens harvested from the wild belonging to endangered, precious, or rare species, as well as aquatic species, livestock breeds, and plant varieties, in accordance with regulations);
- Ministry of Industry and Trade: 03 categories (remaining the categories of goods concerning hazardous chemicals and adding 02 categories of goods: rough diamonds prohibited from export; and electronic cigarettes, heated cigarettes).
b) Categories of goods prohibited from import: There are 23 categories of goods prohibited from import under the management of:
- Ministry of National Defence: 01 category (comprising weapons, ammunition, explosives, military equipment);
- Ministry of Public Security: 01 category (including various types of fireworks, sky lanterns and devices for jamming vehicle speed-measuring equipment);
- Ministry of Industry and Trade: 04 categories (remaining the categories of goods concerning hazardous chemicals; used consumer goods and means of transport as prescribed in Decree 69 and and adding 02 categories of goods: rough diamonds prohibited from export; electronic cigarettes, heated cigarettes);
- Ministry of Health: 02 categories (used medical equipment and pharmaceuticals, pharmaceutical raw materials);
- Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism: 02 categories (cultural products and publications prohibited from dissemination or circulation);
- Ministry of Science and Technology: 04 categories (such as used digital technology products; prohibited postage stamps; radio equipment and radio-frequency devices that do not comply with regulations; and radioactive waste);
- Ministry of Construction: 03 categories (comprising regulated means of transport; used materials and vehicles; and products and materials containing amphibole-group asbestos);
- Ministry of Agriculture and Environment: 05 categories (such as chemicals, plant protection products, animal and plant specimens, controlled substances, and veterinary drugs prohibited), including the addition of 02 categories of goods: (i) controlled substances and equipment or products containing or manufactured from controlled substances, in accordance with commitments to implement international treaties on the protection of the ozone layer; and (ii) veterinary drugs prohibited from use in Vietnam; and the removal of 01 categories of goods, namely scrap, waste, and refrigeration equipment using C.F.C;
- Ministry of Home Affairs: 01 categories (newly added compared to Decree 69 which are products or goods wholly or partially extracted, produced, or manufactured through forced labor).
c) Exception mechanism for special cases
The export or import of goods prohibited from export and import shall be permitted in accordance with the Law on Foreign Trade Management and Decree No. 146/2025/ND-CP regarding the decentralization and delegation of authority in the industrial and commercial sectors. Traders with such needs must carry out the licensing procedures, including:
(i) An application for the export or import of goods prohibited from export and import;
(ii) Documentation explaining the usage plan, the procedure for managing the goods during use, and the plan for handling the goods after use;
(iii) Report on the implementation status of previously granted licenses; other documents and papers as prescribed (if any).
The duration for the storage and use of goods prohibited from import in Vietnam shall be in accordance with the trader's registration with the licensing authority, but shall not be more than 02 years. In addition, licensed traders shall be responsible for submitting a report on the export, import, use and handling of the goods to the licensing authority before December 31st of each year.
The detailed regulations on e-commerce and the responsibilities of parties on e-commerce platforms from July 1st, 2026
On June 30th, 2026, the Government issued Decree No. 248/2026/ND-CP (“Decree 248”) detailing a number of articles of Law on E-commerce, creating an important legal corridor for e-commerce activities in the new period. Accordingly, several detailed regulations on e-commerce and the responsibilities of parties on e-commerce platforms effective from July 01st, 2026 as follows:
a) Information that must be publicly disclosed on e-commerce platforms
E-commerce platforms must be publicly disclosed information about the platform operator, privacy policies, rights and obligations of participating parties, methods for receiving and resolving complaints, policies on pricing, payment, delivery, good returns, refunds and the conditions for providing goods and service.
b) Responsibilities of entities in managing and operating e-commerce platforms
The operators of the e-commerce platform must fully disclose information; submit periodic online reports; promptly inspect and address violations of the law; maintain and use accounts that have completed administrative procedures to receive and respond to information for resolving complaints; and cooperate with competent state authorities when necessary.
c) Deadline for submitting online reports on e-commerce operational results online via the E-Commerce Operation Management System
- Operators of e-commerce platform must electronically report the results of its e-commerce activities for the preceding year before February 15th each year.
- Large digital platforms must be electronically reported on e-commerce activities before the 15th of each month and electronically report on removal results within 48 hours from the time of receipt of a request from competent state authorities.
- Relevant organizations must also report the results of blocking, suspension, or removal within 48 hours from the time of receipt of a request from competent state authorities.
- Organizations providing e-contract certification services must report before the 15th of each month.
- Organizations providing logistics services supporting e-commerce must report before the 15th of the first month of each quarter.
d) E-contract authentication services in commerce:
(i) Responsibilities of the service provider:
- Ensure the confidentiality, integrity, and authenticity of contracts;
- Assign an online contact person, provide documents, and assist competent state authorities in investigating violations;
- Publicly disclose the operating regulations in a conspicuous location, in Vietnamese, on its system of service provision;
- Securely and fully archive data relating certified e-contract; ensure the ability to access, search, and provide such data upon request. The minimum archiving period is 10 years from the time of certification, unless otherwise prescribed by law for a longer period.
(ii) An enterprise shall be granted a Business License for e-contract authentication services in commerce upon meeting the following conditions:
- Having a Business License to provide trust services for data message authentication services; and
- Having a Proposal for e-contract authentication services in commerce in accordance with regulations.
(iii) Business License for e-contract authentication services in commerce shall be valid for a term of 10 years.
Digital transformation in tax administration and regulations on tax administration for e-commerce platforms
On June 30th, 2026, the Government issued Decree No. 252/2026/ND-CP (“Decree 252”), detailing certain articles and measures for organizing and guiding the implementation of specific provisions of the Law on Tax Administration. On the same day, the Ministry of Finance also issued Circular No. 89/2026/TT-BTC (“Circular 89”), detailing certain articles of the Law on Tax Administration and Decree 252.
Accordingly, Decree 252 and Circular 89 are established new regulations on digital transformation in tax administration and tax administration for e-commerce platforms, including:
a) Regulations on e-transactions in tax administration
- Tax authorities, taxpayers and relevant organizations and individuals shall conduct e-transactions in tax administration.
- Taxpayers have conducted e-transactions in tax administration without requirement to use other methods.
- Electronic dossiers and documents shall have been the same legal validity as paper dossiers if the integrity of the data message is ensured, accessible and usable in a complete form and having a lawful electronic signature or digital signature.
- Using electronic identities for e-transactions in tax administration, connecting via the National Public Service Portal, the Tax Administration Information System, the Information Systems of T-VAN service providers connected to the Tax Administration Information System, the electronic payment services of state agencies, payment service providers or intermediary payment service providers or other service providers that are directly or indirectly connected to the Tax Administration Information System.
b) Deadline for submitting tax declarations
- Tax declaration per each occurrence: no later than the 10th day from the day following the date on which the tax obligation arises;
- Tax declaration per month: no later than the 20th day of the month following the month in which the tax obligation arises;
- Tax declaration per quarter: no later than the last day of the first month of the quarter following the quarter in which the tax obligation arises;
- Annual tax declaration: no later than the last day of the first month of the following calendar year or the following fiscal year.
c) Strengthening tax administration for e-commerce and foreign suppliers
- Foreign suppliers doing business in Vietnam via e-commerce platforms shall declare and pay tax monthly if regular business or per each occurrence of revenue in Vietnam if irregular business.
- Non-resident individuals conducting business on e-commerce platforms without online ordering and payment functions shall register, declare and pay taxes per occurrence.
- Operators of e-commerce platforms with online ordering and payment functions (both domestic and overseas) shall withhold and remit the value added tax (“VAT”) and corporate income tax (“CIT”) for each transaction of the supply of goods and services that generates revenue in Vietnam by the foreign suppliers doing business on e-commerce platforms.
- Business organizations in Vietnam applying the VAT deduction method when buying goods and services from foreign suppliers or non-resident individuals on e-commerce platforms shall have the responsibility to withhold and remit:
· VAT on service provision on behalf of the foreign suppliers or non-resident individuals;
· CIT on behalf of foreign suppliers;
· Personal income tax on behalf of non-resident individuals.
- Business organizations in Vietnam that have withheld and remitted tax on behalf of foreign suppliers or non-resident individuals shall notify the operator of the e-commerce platform by electronic method so that tax is not further withheld for the same transaction.
Some notable new points of Decree No. 253/2026/ND-CP on personal income tax
On June 30th, 2026, the Government issued Decree No. 253/2026/ND-CP detailing certain articles and measures for the guidance on the implementation of the Law on Personal Income Tax (“PIT”) (“Decree 253”) with several notable changes as follows:
a) Expansion of regulations on tax-exempt and tax-reduced income, such as
- The tax-exempt allowance for mid-shift meals and lunch is increased to VND 1.2 million/person/month;
- Severance allowance and unemployment allowance: payments exceeding statutory limits are excluded the employee’s taxable income, provided that such payment is stipulated in the financial regulations, internal policies, labor contract or collective labor agreement;
- Tax exemption for salaries and wages paid for night work, overtime, salaries and wages paid for unused annual leave days;…
b) Amendments to criteria for determining dependents
- The maximum income level of dependents for determining a taxpayer’s dependent is increased from VND 1 million/month to VND 3 million/month;
- Children over 18 years old who have lost civil act capacity are added as the dependants;
- Other destitude individuals being directly supported by taxpayer are defined as dependents if they satisfy the conditions of living together with the taxpayer and the taxpayer has a support obligation under the Law on Marriage and Family and other relevant laws;
- Definition of dependents unable to work: individuals with a loss of working capacity of 81% or higher, are determined in accordance with the law.
c) Deductions from taxable income to tax calculating
(i) Additional deductions for medical, education and training expenses of the taxpayer and their dependents:
- Medical examination and treatment at domestic medical clinics in the scope of the health insurance list: a maximum deduction of VND 23 million/year;
- Education and training at domestic institutions: a maximum deduction of VND 24 million/year;
(ii) Contributions of fee for supplementary pension insurance, voluntary pension insurance, and life insurance: increase the maximum deduction to VND 3 million/month (including contributions made by both the employer and the employee).
d) 10% PIT withholding on irregular income of VND 5 million or more per payment
- Organizations, individuals paying salaries, wages, remuneration, other disbursements to resident individuals who do not enter into a labor contract or who enter into a labor contract of less than 03 months (including cases where salaries or other income are paid to employees whose labor contracts have been terminated), with amount of VND 5 million or more per payment, must withhold tax and remit the tax withheld from the individual at the rate of 10% of the income before paying such income to the individual.
- If the income payment is less than VND 5 million per payment, the income payer may withhold tax upon the individual’s request.
e) Clarification of regulations on digital assets and new type of transactions within the scope of PIT
- Digital assets (virtual assets, crypto assets, and other digital assets as prescribed by the law on digital technology industry) are identified as income subject to PIT, with the payable tax calculated as follows:
PIT = Transfer price × 0.1%
- Other income from the transfer of “.vn” domain names; greenhouse gas emission reduction outcomes and carbon credits; and vehicle license plates won at auction are identified as income subject to PIT, with the payable tax calculated as follows:
PIT = Taxable income × 5%
f) Transitional provisions
- The deadline for registering dependents and submitting supporting documentation for the 2025 tax year and earlier shall comply with effective regulations prior to the effective date of this Decree.
- 2026 tax declarations submitted from January 1st, 2026 to before July 1st, 2026 are not required to re-submit monthly or quarterly tax declaration dossiers; instead, they shall be adjusted in the annual tax finalization declaration for 2026.
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This newsletter is for general information on relevant matters. This should not be treated as our professional advice. Should you need further information on the matter or professional assistance for your specific cases, please contact LA.
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