Công văn 3790/TCT-DNL

In response to Official Dispatch No.9066/VPCP-DMDN dated September 20, 2018 and No.9153/VPCP-DMDN dated September 21, 2018 of the Government's Office regarding proposal for determination of deductible loan interest when calculating taxable income specified in Decree No.20/2017/ND-CP dated February 24, 2017 (hereinafter referred to as “Decree No.20”) by the BOT36.71 Limited Company and Crowe Vietnam Company Limited, below are opinions from the General Department of Taxation:

- Article 2 of Decree No.20 providing for regulated entities:

“1. Commodity or service production and business entities (hereinafter referred to as taxpayers) that are entities paying corporate income tax according to the declaration method and performing transactions with related parties under the provisions of Article 5 hereof.”

- Clause 3 Article 8 of Decree No.20 providing for the deductible loan interest when determining taxable income:

“3. Taxpayer’s deducible loan interest incurred in a tax period shall not exceed 20% of total net profit generated from business activities plus loan interest and depreciation cost incurred within the same period.

This regulation shall not apply to taxpayers who are regulated by the Law on Credit Institutions or the Law on Insurance Business."

Total deductible loan interest mentioned in Clause 3 Article 8 of Decree No.20 refers to total loan interest incurred in a tax period (whether it is incurred by related parties or unrelated parties).

The General Department of Taxation has no authority to handle issues concerning regulations on determination of deductible loan interest as mentioned above (e.g. effective date of Decree No.20 or the case in which total net profit from business operation plus loan interest plus depreciation cost in a specific tax period is less than or equal to 0, etc). However, these issues will be sent to the Ministry of Finance and the Prime Minister for consideration and further instructions.