Công văn 5189/TCT-CS

To: Departments of Taxation of provinces or central-affiliated cities

On June 13, 2019, the 14^th National Assembly has passed the Law on Tax Administration No. 38/2019/QH14, coming into force as of July 1, 2020.

On October 19, 2020, the Government has promulgated the Government’s Decree No. 126/2020/ND-CP elaborating the Law on Tax Administration, coming into force as of December 5, 2020.

General Department of Taxation hereby introduces new points of the Government’s Decree No. 126/2020/ND-CP and requests Departments of Taxation to promptly disseminate and give notices to tax officials and taxpayers in the provinces and cities.

(Details are provided in the Appendix enclosed).

Difficulties that arise during the implementation of this Circular should be reported to General Department of Taxation for consideration./.

APPENDIX

INTRODUCTION OF CERTAIN CONTENTS OF DECREE NO. 126/2020/ND-CP DATED OCTOBER 19, 2020 ON ELABORATION OF THE LAW ON TAX ADMINISTRATION
(Issued together with Official Dispatch No. 5189/TCT-CS dated December 7, 2020 of General Department of Taxation)

1. Scope

This Decree elaborates some Articles of the Law on Tax administration on management of taxes and other amounts payable to state budget (hereinafter referred to as “other amounts”), excluding regulations on tax administration of enterprises having related-party transactions, use of invoices and documentation, administrative penalties for tax-related offences, invoice-related offences and customs offences (specified in the Decrees mentioned in Decision No. QD-TTg dated July 26, 2019 of the Prime Minister).

2. Tax administration during taxpayer’s business suspension

a) Basis for determination of business suspension time or business resumption ahead of schedule provided for in clause 1, clause 3 Article 4

New point 1: Pursuant to Clause 1 Article 37 of the Law on Tax administration, the Decree requires that in case the business suspension is accepted, notified or requested by a competent authority, the business suspension time or business resumption ahead of schedule will be that written on the document issued by such competent authority. The tax authority shall not receive any application for business suspension or business resumption ahead of schedule from the taxpayer, but only receive the document sent by the aforementioned competent authority.

Before: Clause 2 Article 21 of the Circular No. 95/2016/TT-BTC stipulates that the business suspension time or business resumption ahead of schedule shall conform to applications for registration of taxpayers. The tax authority shall receive applications for business suspension time or business resumption ahead of schedule from every taxpayer.

New point 2: Pursuant to clause 2 Article 37 of the Law on Tax administration. The Decree stipulates that if the taxpayer is an organization, household business or individual business that is not required to apply for business registration, the application for business suspension or business resumption ahead of schedule shall be sent to the tax authority at least 01 working day before the suspension date.

Before: Clause 1 Article 21 of the Circular No. 95/2016/TT-BTC requires 15 days for corporates and 1 working days for households, groups of individuals, self-employed individuals.

New point 3: Supplementing the time for processing and returning results of business suspension or business resumption ahead of schedule by the tax authority to corporates, household businesses, self-employed individuals that are not required to apply for business registration.

Before: There was no such regulation.

b) Tax administration during taxpayer’s business suspension prescribed in clause 2 Article 4

New point: Amend regulations on powers and responsibilities of tax authorities regarding tax administration and rights and responsibilities of taxpayers regarding tax administration during taxpayer’s business suspension.

Before:

Article 14 of Circular No. 151/2014/TT-BTC on amendments to point d clause 1 Article 10 of Circular No. 156/2013/TT-BTC dated November 6, 2013 of the Ministry of Finance on guidelines for the Law on Tax administration; the Law on amendments to the Law on Tax Administration and the Government’s Decree No. 83/2013/ND-CP dated July 22, 2013 of the Government (hereinafter referred to as Circular No. 156/2013/TT-BTC):

““dd) If the taxpayer’s business operation is suspended and tax is not incurred, the tax declaration for the suspension period might not be submitted. If the taxpayer’s business is not suspended over the whole calendar year or tax year, the annual tax statement must be submitted…”

c) Supplement the regulation “the taxpayer that directly applies for taxpayer registration with a tax authority must not suspend its business if the tax authority has issued a notice that the taxpayer does not operate at the registered address” as prescribed in clause 4 Article 4.

Before: Applying regulation on management of other amounts payable to state budget by tax authorities (hereinafter referred to as taxes).

3. Management of other amounts payable to state budget

New point: Based on regulations on other amounts payable to state budget in clause 2 (collected by tax authorities), clause 3 (not collected by tax authorities) of Article 3 of the Law on Tax Administration and the Law on Tax Administration requires the Government to, pursuant to provisions of the Law and relevant laws, provide for the application of regulations on tax collection of this Law to management of other amounts payable to state budget in clause 3 Article 151 of the Law on Tax Administration, the Decree stipulates the management of other amounts payable to state budget in Article 5.

Before: There was no such regulation.

4. Taxpayer registration

New point 1: Amend the regulation that in case of changes to information about the ID card or passport of a taxpayer that is an individual, the changes will be applied within 20 days (30 days for mountainous, bordering areas and islands) from the date written on the ID card or passport (clause 2 Article 6).

Before: The Law on Tax Administration stipulates the time limit for submission of application for amendments to tax registration information is 10 working days since the date of change.

New point 2: Amend the regulation that taxpayers shall complete relevant procedures with their supervisory tax authority before relocation of the headquarters to another province, in specific, they may offset the corporate income tax and post-tax profit that remain after making provisional fund contributions before the tax finalization dossier is submitted against the amount payable under the tax finalization dossier (clause 2 Article 6).

Before: Clause 2 Article 8 of Decree No. 83/2013/ND-CP does not stipulate that taxpayers may offset these amounts.

New point 3: Amend the regulation that taxpayers shall complete relevant procedures with their supervisory tax authority when applying for TIN restoration; the taxpayer shall, in principle, fully pay taxes and other amounts to the supervisory tax authority before the TIN is restored. If the taxpayer still owes an amount of taxes and other amounts payable to state budget but a competent authority permits tax debt to be paid by installments, defers tax debt or exempts late payment interest on tax debt in accordance with the Law on Tax administration, the taxpayer is not required to fully pay taxes and other amounts to the supervisory tax authority before the TIN is restored (clause 4 Article 6).

Before: Article 20 of the Circular No. 95/2016/TT-BTC stipulates that the taxpayer has to fully pay taxes and other amounts payable to state budget.

5. Tax declaration, tax calculation

5.1. Supplementation to tax declaration

New point 1: Amend the regulation that in case of supplementation of the income payer’s terminal personal income tax return, the erroneous monthly or quarterly tax return shall also be supplemented (point a clause 4 Article 7).

Before: Clause 5 Article 10 of Circular No. 156/2013/TT-BTC stipulates: If the annual tax finalization dossier has been submitted, only supplementation to the annual tax finalization dossier is required, the erroneous monthly or quarterly tax return is not required to be supplemented.

New point 2: Amend the regulation that the taxpayer may only increase the refundable VAT if the tax declaration dossier of the next period and the application for tax refund is not submitted (point b clause 4 Article 7).

Before: Based on regulations of Circular No. 156/2013/TT-BTC dated November 6, 2013 of the Ministry of Finance, the General Department of Taxation guides as follows: In case the deadline for tax declaration of the next tax period has not been reached and the taxpayer has not yet submitted a tax declaration to bring the deductible VAT amount to the next period to the item about deductible VAT carried from previous period onto the official declaration of the next tax period and has not submitted the claim for tax refund to the tax authority, it may make an additional item about claim for refund on the supplementary document of that tax period.

New point 3: Amend the regulation that the taxpayer may submit supplementary documents if the tax declaration dossier is found erroneous but the deadline for submission of tax declaration dossier has not reached (clause 4 Article 7).

Before: Point a clause 5 Article 10 of Circular No. 156/2013/TT-BTC stipulates: The taxpayer may submit supplementary documents if the tax declaration dossier is found erroneous even after the deadline for submission of tax declaration dossier.

5.2. VAT declaration (except for VAT on lottery business, electricity generation, business of household businesses and individuals for property tax)

New point 1: Supplement the regulation that if the taxpayer is authorized by the state to collect certain amounts, in which case VAT on such amounts shall be separately declared and if the taxpayer is authorized to manage business cooperation contracts without establishment of separate juridical persons, in which case tax on each contract shall be separately declared under these contracts (points a, c, dd clause 2 Article 7).

Before: There was no such regulation.

New point 2: Amend the regulation that if the taxpayer has operational investment projects eligible for VAT refund, in which case a VAT declaration dossier shall be separately prepared for each project and VAT on purchases of each project shall be offset against VAT payable (if any) in the same tax period.

If the project owner designates project management boards and branches in provinces other than the province where the project owner is headquartered to, on behalf of the project owner, manage one or multiple projects, such management boards or branches must submit separate tax declarations to the local tax authorities and offset the input VAT of the projects against the VAT payable on all business lines in the same tax period of the project owner and branches.

When the project to establish enterprise is complete as well and the procedure for business registration and tax registration completes, the investor in the project must provide the new company with information about the amounts of VAT that are new, refunded, and not refunded so that it can declare, pay tax, and claim tax refund with the supervisory tax authority.

(point d clause 2 Article 7 and point a clause 1 Article 11).

Before:

- Point b clause 2 Article 10 of Decree No. 209/2013/ND-CP dated December 18, 2013 of the Government, amended by clause 6 Article 1 of Decree No. 100/2016/ND-CP stipulates as follows: In the cases where a business establishment which pays VAT under credit-invoice method has a new investment project (other than commercial housing project) in different a province from that where its headquarters is located and it has not been put into operation, registered, and applied for tax registration, VAT on the investment project shall be refunded if VAT on goods/services purchased during investment stage that remains after being offset against VAT payable on the headquarters’ business operation is at least VND 300 million, except for the case specified in Point c of this Clause.  Tax on the investment project shall be separately declared and refund thereof shall be claimed separately.

- Point c clause 3 Article 11 of Circular No. 156/2013/TT-BTC and clause 3 Article 18 of Circular No. 219/2013/TT-BTC , amended by clause 3 Article 1 Circular No. 130/2016/TT-BTC stipulates as follows:

“Where a taxpayer eligible to pay VAT using credit-invoice method is making investment in a project in the same province as the headquarter, a separate tax declaration for the project of investment shall be made. The VAT on purchased goods and services serving the project shall be offset against the VAT on the current business. After offsetting, if the deductible VAT on purchased goods and services serving the project still remains in a certain amount specified by law on VAT, it shall be refunded.

The taxpayer shall make a separate tax declaration for the project and submit it at the supervisory tax authority of the headquarter. If the taxpayer is making investment in a project in another province than that of the headquarter, which is not put into operation, has not applied for business registration and/or tax registration, the taxpayer shall make a separate tax declaration for the project and submit it at the supervisory tax authority of the headquarter.  If the taxpayer establishes project management boards or branches in the other province to manage one or multiple projects, such management boards or branches must submit separate tax declarations to the local tax authorities if they have the seal, keep accounting records, deposit accounts at banks, have applied for tax registration and issued with TINs. 

When the project and the procedure for business registration and tax registration is complete, the investor in the project must provide the new company with information about the amounts of VAT that are new, refunded, and not refunded so that it can declare, pay tax, and claim tax refund with the supervisory tax authority.

Where the taxpayer has a project of investment and offset VAT on purchased goods and services serving the project against VAT on the current business, then VAT on the project of investment shall be declared monthly or quarterly at the same time with the headquarter.”

New point 3: Amend the regulation that a taxpayer is not required to declare tax if the taxpayer only has business operations that are not subject to any tax as prescribed in law on VAT or the taxpayer is an export processing enterprise that only exports (point a, c clause 3 Article 7).

Before:

Pursuant to Circular No. 156/2013/TT-BTC , the General Department of Taxation guides that: If the taxpayer only has business operations that are not subject to VAT, it is not required to declare and pay VAT. If the taxpayer sells any good or service subject to VAT (for example: asset liquidation, etc.), the taxpayer shall use the invoice of the tax authority and pay VAT as required.

New point 4: Amend the regulation related to quarterly declaration of VAT on revenue from sale of ancillary industry products on the list of ancillary industry products prioritized for development of more than VND 50 billion per year (Article 9).

Before:

Clause 1 Article 3 of Circular No. 21/2016/TT-BTC stipulates: A taxpayer shall declare value-added tax (VAT) on a quarterly basis for revenue from ancillary industry products on the list of ancillary industry products prioritized for development (regardless of whether such revenue is over or under VND 50 billion per year).

New point 5: Amend the regulation that VAT is a tax declared monthly, quarterly and every time the tax is incurred. A taxpayer who declares tax monthly may, at their option, declare tax quarterly if all requirements for quarterly declaration are fulfilled or keep declaring tax monthly. In a monthly or quarterly declaration period throughout the calendar year, in case a taxpayer who is declaring tax monthly fulfills the requirements for quarterly declaration and wishes to declare tax quarterly, the taxpayer shall submit a written request to the supervisory tax authority; in case a taxpayer finds that the requirements for quarterly declaration are not fulfilled, the taxpayer is not required to submit tax declaration dossiers of the previous quarters; however, the taxpayer shall submit a document specifying the difference between monthly declared tax and quarterly declared tax and pay the late payment interest as per regulations (Article 9).

Before:

- Clause 3 Article 4 of Decree No. 91/2014/ND-CP only stipulates the rule that declarations shall be made quarterly by the taxpayers whose revenue in the previous year is 50 billion VND or lower.

- Article 15 of Circular No. 151/2014/TT-BTC dated October 10, 2014 of the Ministry of Finance stipulates: VAT shall be declared monthly or quarterly throughout the calendar year and the 3-year period, in case a taxpayer fulfills the requirements for quarterly declaration but wishes to declare tax monthly, the taxpayer shall submit a written request to the supervisory tax authority; in case a taxpayer, during declaring quarterly, finds that the requirements for quarterly declaration are not fulfilled, the taxpayer shall specify the difference between monthly declared tax and quarterly declared tax from the year succeeding the year in which the revenue is discovered to the end of stable period.

New point 6: Amend the regulation that a taxpayer that does accounting mainly at the headquarters and has dependent units or places of business in other provinces shall declare tax in the province in which the headquarters are based and apportion tax incurred in each province. (Clause 2 Article 11).

Before:

- Clause 1 Article 11 of Circular No. 156/2013/TT-BTC stipulates that: Where a manufacturing division situated in another province than that of the headquarter that does not directly sell goods and thus does not earn any revenue, does not keep accounting records at the headquarters but it is required to apportion the amount of tax payable among the manufacturing divisions.

- Points b, c clause 11 Article 11 of Circular No. 156/2013/TT-BTC and point a clause 1 Article 2 of Circular No. 26/2015/TT-BTC stipulates: VAT declaration in areas where the businesses take place: extra provincial construction, installation, sale, real estate transfer (with revenue under VND 1 billion; except for interprovincial works or real estate business projects), owners of ODA projects that are not eligible for VAT refund and foreign contractors that execute ODA projects eligible for VAT refund (except interprovincial projects).

 New point 7: Amend the regulation that the VAT on transfer of real estate or an infrastructure or housing development project for transfer (even if progress payments are collected) in a province other than the province where the taxpayer is headquartered shall be declared at the tax authority where the transfer takes place (point b clause 1 Article 11).

Before: Point c clause 1 Article 11 of Circular No. 156/2013/TT-BTC stipulates: Where the taxpayer plans to sell real estate in another province than that of the taxpayer’s headquarter and establishes an affiliate (branch, management board, etc.), then the taxpayer must apply for tax registration and use credit-invoice method to pay the tax on real estate trading to the tax authority of the locality where real estate is sold. If the taxpayer does not establish an affiliate (branch, management board, etc.), the taxpayer must declare and pay tax at the tax authority that manages its headquarter.

New point 8: Amend the regulation on tax declaration associated with every VAT declaration method, in specific: abolish the table of paid VAT on revenue from extra provincial business form No. 01-5/GTGT and notice of change from quarterly declaration to monthly declaration form No. 07/GTGT. Supplement the request for change from monthly tax period to quarterly tax period form No. 01/DK-TDKTT and the determination of difference between monthly declared tax and quarterly declared tax form No. 02/XD-PNTT (List of tax declaration in Appendix I issued together with Decree No. 126/2020/ND-CP)

Before:

- Point b clause 2 Article 11 of Decree No. 83/2013/ND-CP and clause 2 Article 5 of Decree No. 12/2015/ND-CP stipulates the VAT declaration dossier (monthly, quarterly or by each occurrence) is the VAT declaration form (monthly, quarterly or by each occurrence).

- Point e clause 1 Article 2 of Circular No. 26/2015/TT-BTC stipulates the VAT declaration dossier using credit-invoice method at the headquarters in case of extra provincial business must include the table of paid VAT on revenue from extra provincial business form No. 01-5/GTGT.

- Article 15 of Circular No. 151/2014/TT-BTC stipulates the change from quarterly tax period to monthly tax period must have a notice of change from quarterly declaration to monthly declaration form No. 07/GTGT. The notice of application of VAT calculation method form No. 06/GTGT has been annulled in Circular No. 93/2017/TT-BTC .

5.3. Declaration of excise tax (except for excise tax on lottery business)

New point: Supplement a separate excise tax declaration dossier for biofuel manufacturing and blending establishments (List of tax declaration in Appendix I issued together with Decree No. 126/2020/ND-CP).

Before: The Decree No. 14/2019/ND-CP dated February 1, 2019 of the Government has not stipulated a separate tax declaration dossier for biofuel manufacturing and blending establishments but these establishments will use the general tax declaration for all products subject to excise tax.

5.4. Declaration of corporate income tax (except for corporate income tax on petroleum exploration and extraction):

New point 1: Amend the regulation that declaration of corporate income tax every time the tax on transfer of real estate incurs is only required if the taxpayer pays tax directly on revenue under corporate income tax laws (point e clause 4 Article 8).

Before: Article 16 of Circular No. 151/2014/TT-BTC stipulates: CIT on real estate transfer shall be declared whenever it is incurred by the taxpayer that is not a real estate company, or by the real estate company that wishes to do.

New point 2: Amend the regulation on provisional quarterly corporate income tax; in particular, the total amount of provisional corporate income tax paid in the first 03 quarters of the year shall be at least 75% of the terminal tax from the tax period 2021. Otherwise, late payment interest shall be charged on the arrears over the period from the deadline for paying corporate income tax of the third quarter to the date of payment of the arrears (point b clause 6 Article 8).

Before:  Clause 6 Article 4 of Decree No. 91/2014/ND-CP and Article 17 of Circular No. 151/2014/TT-BTC stipulate that if the total of four provisional tax payments is smaller than the amount payable according to the financial statement by 20% or more, the taxpayer shall incur an interest on the amount that exceeds the 20% difference from the next day of deadline for paying taxes in the 4^th quarter of the company to the day on which the actual outstanding tax is paid.

New point 3: Amend the regulation that in case the taxpayer executes a project of investment in infrastructure or housing for transfer or lease purchase and collect progress payments from customers, provisional corporate income tax shall be paid quarterly at the rate of 1% of the amount collect (point b clause 6 Article 8).

Before: Article 16 of Circular No. 151/2014/TT-BTC stipulates: If the company is able to determine the expenses in proportion to recorded revenues, it shall pay CIT according to the difference between revenues and expenses; if not, it shall provisionally pay CIT at 1% of the revenue.

New point 4: Supplement the regulation that corporate income tax shall be declared where the dependent unit or business location generates income eligible for corporate income tax incentives at the tax authority of the province other than the province in which the taxpayer is headquartered (point h clause 1 Article 11).

Before: r The taxpayer must include the tax incurred by the affiliate in the CIT declaration at its headquarter.

New point 5: Amend the regulation on how the national defense and security company declares corporate income tax in accordance with the Law on Tax Administration No. 38/2019/QH14, in particular:

- The taxpayer shall calculate the provisional corporate income tax every quarter, submit the annual and terminal tax finalization when the national defense or security company is dissolved, shuts down, terminate a contract or undergoes rearrangement to the tax authority that supervises that company and pay the tax to the state budget  in accordance with Decree No. 126/2020/ND-CP .

- Tax finalization dossier: shall be made in accordance with point 7 Appendix I issued together with Decree No. 126/2020/ND-CP .

Before: Point b clause 2 section II of Joint Circular No. 85/2005/TTLT/BTC-BCA dated September 26, 2005; clause 2 Article 3 of Joint Circular No. 206/2014/BTC-BQP dated December 24, 2014 stipulate:

- Security companies affiliated to the Ministry of Public Security, national defense companies affiliated to the Ministry of National Defense (security and national defense companies for short) that earn revenues from manufacture and supply of public products and services and other products and services shall calculate the corporate income tax amount payable and pay the equivalent amount to the account of the Department of Finance affiliated to the Ministry of Public Security or the Ministry of National Defense.

- Every quarter, the Department of Finance affiliated to the Ministry of Public Security or the Ministry of National Defense shall furnish a statement of provisional corporate income tax paid by security and national defense companies to General Department of Taxation and remit the corporate income tax amount of these companies to the State Treasury at the same administrative level with the supervisory tax authorities of these companies.

- Every year, the Department of Finance affiliated to the Ministry of Public Security or the Ministry of National Defense shall send a final statement of corporate income tax to General Department of Taxation, and remit the remaining corporate income tax amount payable after finalization of the security and national defense companies to the State Treasury at the same administrative level with the supervisory tax authorities of these companies. The deadline for paying corporate income tax that remains after finalization is June 30 of the following year.

New point 6: Supplement Appendices 03-3D/TNDN; 03-8A/TNDN; 03- 8B/TNDN; 03-8C/TNDN; 03-9/TNDN enclosed with the final statement No. 03/TNDN (List of tax declaration in Appendix 1 issued together with Decree No. 126/2020/ND-CP).

5.5. Declaration of resource royalty (except for resource royalty on petroleum exploration and extraction):

New point: Supplement the regulation that resource royalty on irregular resource extraction licensed by competent authorities or exempt from licensing as prescribed by law shall be declared separately (point d clause 4 Article 8).

Before: There was no such regulation.

5.6. Declaration of taxes and other amounts payable to state budget on petroleum exploration and extraction (declared monthly as prescribed in point e clause 1 Article 8; declared quarterly as prescribed in point dd clause 1 Article 8; declared separately as prescribed in points p, q, r, s clause 4 Article 8; declared every time a sale is made as prescribed in clause 5 Article 8; finalized as prescribed in clause 6 Article 8):

New point 1: Amend the time limit for declaring and paying taxes in the following cases:

- Surcharges and preliminary corporate income tax from the surplus value oil under petroleum operation of Vietsovpetro JV in block 09.1, which must be declared within 10 days from the day on which the JV decides the surplus value under its Resolution but not later than December 31 (point r clause 4 Article 8).

- For taxes and other amounts on exploration, development and extraction of petroleum and natural gas declared monthly: the deadline for submission of the tax declaration dossier is the 20^th of the month following the month in which the tax incurs as prescribed in point a clause 1 Article 44 of the Law on Tax Administration No. 38/2019/QH14 (point e clause 4 Article 8).

Before:

- Point b clause 2 Article 25 of Circular No. 176/2014/TT-BTC of the Ministry of Finance guides that the surcharges and preliminary corporate income tax from the surplus value oil under petroleum operation of Vietsovpetro JV in block 09.1 must be declared and paid within 20 days from the date on which the JV decides the surplus value under its Resolution but no later than December 31.

- Point b clause 1 Article 12, point b clause 1 Article 20 of Circular No. 36/2016/TT-BTC and point a clause 2 Article 25 of Circular No. 176/2014/TT-BTC guides that the deadline for declaring and paying provisional taxes and other amounts on exploration, development and extraction of petroleum and natural gas is the 20^th of the month following the month in which the sale invoice was issued.

New point 2: Supplement the regulation on tax declaration dossier submission location of taxes and amounts payable to state budget on petroleum exploration, development and extraction: Executives, joint ventures, joint operating companies shall declarations of tax and other amounts on petroleum exploration, development and extraction to their supervisory tax authorities; Vietnam National Oil and Gas Group shall submit declarations of amount payables to state budget on petroleum operations to its supervisory tax authority in accordance with regulations of the Government and its financial management regulations (clause 5 Article 11).

Before:

- Article 4 of Circular No. 36/2016/TT-BTC dated February 26, 2016 guides the locations for registration, declaration and payment of corporate income tax and resource royalty on exploration, development and extraction of petroleum and natural gas (except for block 09.1) and corporate income tax on income from participating interest in petroleum contract;

- Article 4 of Circular No. 22/2010/TT-BTC dated February 12, 2010 guides the locations for registration, declaration and payment of surcharges.

- There was no such regulation on location for registration, declaration and payment of taxes on petroleum exploration and sale of Vietsovpetro JV in block 09.1 and petroleum profit split to the host country, signature bonus, and charges for reading and using petroleum documents.

5.7. Declaration of taxes on dividends, profits (point t clause 4 Article 8)

New point: Amend the regulation that dividends, profits on state investments in joint stock companies and multiple-member limited liability companies that are represented by ministerial agencies, governmental agencies, and local governments must be declared upon payment in accordance with the Law on Tax Administration (10 days from the day on which the liability is incurred).

Before: Clause 1 Article 9 of Circular No. 61/2016/TT-BTC dated April 11, 2016 of the Ministry of Finance stipulates that dividends, profits on state investments in joint stock companies and multiple-member limited liability companies that are represented by ministerial agencies, governmental agencies, local governments must be declared within 45 days from the date on which a notice of distribution of dividends, profits of the joint stock companies and multiple-member limited liability companies.

5.8. Declaration of post-tax profit that remains after making contributions to funds (point c clause 6 Article 8)

New point: Amend the regulation that the total post-tax profit that remains after making fund contributions in the first 03 quarters of the tax year must be at least 75% of that under the annual tax finalization dossier, starting tax period 2021.

Before: Clause 3 Article 7 of Circular No. 61/2016/TT-BTC stipulate that the total post-tax profit that remains after making fund contributions in the tax year must be at least 80% of that under the annual tax finalization dossier.

5.9. Declaration of taxes on use of collateral (point b clause 5 Article 7, point b clause 2 Article 8)

New point: Supplement the regulation that if a credit institution or a third party authorized by the credit institution uses the collateral pending settlement and the collateral is still under ownership of the borrower (corporate or enterprise), the credit institution or a third party authorized by the credit institution shall declare VAT, corporate income tax and personal income tax quarterly. In specific:

- Submit the tax declaration of VAT, corporate income tax, personal income tax on the use of collateral pending settlement using form No. 01/TSBD (in the list of tax declaration dossiers in Appendix 1 issued together with Decree No. 126/2020/ND-CP).

- A schedule of VAT, corporate income tax, personal income tax on the use of collateral pending settlement using form No. 01/TSBD (in the list of tax declaration dossiers in Appendix 1 issued together with Decree No. 126/2020/ND-CP).

Before: There was no such a separate tax declaration dossier for the credit institution or a third party authorized by the credit institution to declare on behalf of the taxpayer having the collateral but to declare in conjunction with the business of that credit institution or third party authorized by the credit institution.

5.10. Declaration of taxes on lottery business

New point 1: Supplement the regulation that if the taxpayer has multiple business operations including traditional or computerized lottery business, then VAT, excise tax and post-tax profit from lottery business shall be separately declared (point a clause 2 Article 7).

Before: There was no such a separate tax declaration dossier for traditional or computerized lottery business.

New point 2: Supplement the regulation that in case a taxpayer that has computerized lottery business, the taxpayer shall also submit a document specifying taxes paid (if any) in each province to the tax authority that supervises the headquarters related to VAT, excise tax, corporate income tax, and post-tax profit that remains after making contributions to funds of the computerized lottery business (clause 2 Article 11).

Before: Regulation on apportionment of VAT, excise tax, corporate income tax, and post-tax profit that remains after making contributions to funds of the computerized lottery business is specified in Decree No. 122/2017/ND-CP dated November 13, 2017 on particulars about financial management and performance assessment of lottery enterprises, stock exchanges and Vietnam Securities Depository; Circular No. 01/2014/TT-BTC dated January 2, 2014 of the Ministry of Finance on guidelines for financial management of lottery enterprises.

New point 3: Supplement the Appendix on apportionment of VAT payable to the local governments eligible for revenues from computerized lottery business form 01-3/GTGT; the Appendix on apportionment of excise tax payable to the local governments eligible for revenues from computerized lottery business form 01-3/TTDB; the Appendix on apportionment of corporate income tax payable to the local governments eligible for revenues from computerized lottery business form 03-8C/TNDN; the Appendix on apportionment of remaining profit payable to the local governments eligible for revenues from computerized lottery business form 01-1/QT-LNCL (in the list of tax declaration dossiers in Appendix 1 issued together with Decree No. 126/2020/ND-CP).

Before: Apportionment forms were specified in Official Dispatch No. 4311/TCT-DNL dated October 4, 2014 of General Department of Taxation.

5.11. Declaration of taxes on power generation

New point: Amend the regulation that if the taxpayer has a power plant (applied to power generation) in a province other than the province in which the taxpayer is headquartered, the taxpayer shall submit a VAT declaration dossier at the tax authority where the power plant is located (point c clause 1 Article 11).

Before:

- For hydropower generation: Pursuant to Article 23 of Circular No. 156/2013/TT-BTC , the hydropower producer shall declare VAT in the place where the headquarter is located and pay VAT to the treasury where the hydropower plant is located.

- For other power generation, except hydropower: Pursuant to point d Article 11 of Circular No. 156/2013/TT-BTC , the taxpayer shall declare VAT at the headquarter and pay VAT at the place where power plant is located with the rate of 2% on revenue with VAT-exclusive price.

5.12. Declaration of environment protection tax on petroleum

New point 1: Amend the regulation that taxpayers of environment protection tax on petroleum are wholesalers, dependent units of the wholesalers, subsidiary companies of the wholesalers and dependent units of subsidiary companies, in which subsidiary companies of the wholesalers are determined as prescribed in the Law on Enterprises (including subsidiary companies that the wholesaler holds more than 50% of controlling shares or has the right to directly or indirectly designate most or all of the members of the Board of Directors and Director/General Director of the subsidiary company or to decide revisions to the subsidiary company’s charter but the capital contribution rate of the wholesaler is less than 50%) (clause 4 Article 11).

Before: Point b clause 2 Article 16 of Decree No. 83/2013/ND-CP dated July 22, 2013 of the Government; Article 15 of Circular No. 156/2013/TT-BTC dated November 6, 2013 of the Ministry of Finance stipulate that taxpayers of environment protection tax on petroleum are petroleum wholesalers, branches of wholesalers, subsidiaries that keep independent records from the wholesalers; joint-stock companies that the wholesaler holds controlling shares (more than 50%) or branches of the subsidiaries, and branches of joint-stock companies.

Pursuant to this regulation, only subsidiary companies that the wholesaler holds controlling shares more than 50% are required to declare and pay environment protection tax. If a company is subsidiary company of the wholesaler in accordance with the Law on Enterprises (like having the right to directly or indirectly designate most or all of the members of the Board of Directors and Director/General Director of the subsidiary company or to decide revisions to the subsidiary company’s charter) but the capital contribution rate of the wholesaler is less than 50%, then that company is not required to declare and pay environment protection tax.

New point 2: Supplement the regulation that the wholesalers or their subsidiary companies that have dependent units in provinces other than the provinces where they are located and these dependent units do not declare environment protection tax themselves, the wholesalers or the subsidiary companies shall apportion environment protection tax payable in the provinces where the dependent units are located in accordance with regulations (clause 4 Article 11).

Before: There was no such regulation.

New point 3: Supplement the Appendix on apportionment of VAT payable to the local governments eligible for revenues from petroleum (in Appendix 1 issued together with Decree No. 126/2020/ND-CP).

Before: There was no such regulation.

5.13. Declaration of fees, charges and other amounts collected by diplomatic missions of Vietnam specified in Article 12

New point: Supplement the regulation that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or its authorized agencies and units by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs shall submit quarterly and annual declarations of fees, charges and other amounts collected by diplomatic missions of Vietnam to the tax authority where they are headquartered.

- Tax declaration dossier and tax finalization dossier are specified in Appendix 1 issued together with Decree No. 126/2020/ND-CP .

- Quarterly and annual tax declaration shall be submitted as specified in Article 44 of the Law on Tax administration.

Before: There was no such regulation that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs shall submit the quarterly and annual declarations of fees, charges and other amounts collected by diplomatic missions of Vietnam.

5.14. Declaration of personal income tax, other taxes and amounts payable of household businesses and property lessors

a) Tax declaration dossier:

New point 1: Amend the regulation that though no personal income tax is withheld in a month or quarter, the salary payer is still required to declare it (point b clause 3 Article 7).

Before: Point a .1 clause 1 Article 16 of Circular No. 156/2013/TT-BTC dated November 6, 2013 stipulates that if no personal income tax is withheld in a month or quarter, the salary payer is not required to declare it.

New point 2: Supplement the regulation that in case of business cooperation between an organization and an individual, tax shall not be directly declared by the individual.  The organization shall declare VAT on the whole revenue that is the result of the business cooperation regardless of how the revenue is distributed between the parties, and declare and pay personal income tax on behalf of the individual. In case of business cooperation between an organization and a household business or individual business defined in Clause 5 Article 51 of the Law on Tax administration who has the same business lines as the organization, both the late payment interest and the individual shall declare tax as per regulations (point c clause 5 Article 7).

Before: Pursuant to Circular No. 92/2015/TT-BTC dated June 15, 2015, Circular No. 39/2014/TT-BTC , General Department of Taxation provides Grab Taxi Co., Ltd (Grab Taxi operates under business cooperation in transport field) with guidelines as follows:  The company will, upon the business cooperation contract with a partner (corporate or individual), receive the distributed amount of revenue earned from transport and calculate VAT 10% on the distributed amount, and then declare and pay VAT and corporate income tax on the said amount. For the revenue of an individual partner: The company will withhold VAT 3% and personal income tax 1.5% and then declare and pay taxes on behalf of that individual; for the revenue of an corporate partner: Depending on the VAT declaration method of the partner (direct or credit invoice), the company will make corresponding invoices; and then the company will, based on the business cooperation contract, distribute the revenue to the partner for the further tax declaration as prescribed.

New point 3: Amend the regulation that the organization shall declare and pay tax on behalf of individuals who receive dividends in the form of securities; individuals that are existing shareholders that receive bonus in the form of securities; individuals whose stakes are increased due to reinvested profits; individuals contributing real estate, stakes, and securities.  Tax shall be declared and paid when the individual transfers the same type of securities, transfers or withdraws capital (point d clause 5 Article 7).

Before: Clauses 9 and 10 Article 26 of Circular No. 111/2013/TT-BTC dated August 15, 2013 of the Ministry of Finance stipulate: The individuals who receive dividends in the form of securities; individuals that are existing shareholders that receive bonus in the form of securities; individuals whose stakes are increased due to reinvested profits; individuals contributing real estate, stakes, securities shall declare and pay their personal income tax themselves. Tax shall be declared and paid personally when the individual transfers the same type of securities, transfers or withdraws capital.

New point 4: Supplement the regulation that the organization that pays bonuses, discounts, subsidies in cash or not in cash to household businesses and individual businesses paying fixed tax shall declare and pay tax on their behalf as per regulations (point dd clause 5 Article 7).

Before: There was no such regulation. To deal with this difficulty, according to Circular No. 219/2013/TT-BTC dated December 31, 2013, Circular No. 92/2015/TT-BTC dated June 15, 2015, General Department of Taxation promulgated certain Official Dispatches to guide that the organization is not required to withhold tax or declare and pay tax on behalf of individuals in case of discounts.

New point 5: Amend the regulation that if the real estate buyer must pay tax on behalf of the seller as prescribed by the real estate transfer contract (unless tax is exempt, cancelled or deferred), the buyer shall declare and pay tax on behalf of the seller (point g clause 5 Article 7).

Before: Clause 11 Article 2 of Decree No. 12/2015/ND-CP dated February 12, 2015 of the Government stipulates if the real estate buyer must pay tax on behalf of the seller as prescribed by the real estate transfer contract, the buyer shall declare and pay tax on behalf of the seller, without eliminating the cases that the tax is exempt, cancelled or deferred.

b) Taxes declared monthly, quarterly, annually, separately; tax finalization specified in Article 8

New point 1:

Amend the regulation that if the salary payer has personal income tax to withhold, it shall declare the personal income tax monthly. If the salary payer is eligible to declare VAT quarterly, it may choose to declare personal income tax quarterly at its own discretion (point a clause 1 Article 8).

Before: Point a.2 Clause 1 Article 16 of Circular No. 156/2013/TT-BTC dated August 15, 2013 of the Ministry of Finance stipulates: The salary payer has at least a type of personal income tax of VND 50 million or more to withhold in a month, it shall declare personal income monthly, unless it declares VAT quarterly.

New point 2:

Amend the regulation that if a salary earner is required to declare tax with tax authorities, he/she may choose to declare personal income tax monthly or quarterly at his/her own discretion (points, a, c clause 1 Article 8).

Before:  Clause 3 Article 21 of Circular No. 92/2015/TT-BTC stipulates: A resident that earns salaries or remunerations shall declare tax with tax authorities quarterly.

New point 3:

Amend the regulation that in case an employee is re-assigned to a new organization after the old organization is acquired, consolidated, divided or converted, or to a new organization that is in the same system as the old organization, the new organization shall finalize tax as authorized by such employee, including the income paid by the old organization, and collect documents about withholding of personal income tax issued by the old organization to the employee (if any) (point d.1 clause 6 Article 8).

Before: Circular No. 92/2015/TT-BTC only stipulates that in case an employee is re-assigned to a new organization after the old organization is acquired, consolidated, divided or converted, or to a new organization, the new organization shall finalize tax as authorized by such employee, including the income paid by the old organization. An then General Department of Taxation guides that in case an employee is re-assigned to a new organization that is in the same system as the old organization, the new organization shall finalize tax as authorized by such employee, including the income paid by the old organization.

c) Tax declaration dossier submission location specified in Article 11

New point 1: Supplement the regulation that individuals leasing out overseas real estate shall submit tax declaration dossiers to the supervisory tax authorities of the areas where they reside (point g clause 6 Article 11).

Before: There was no such regulation.

New point 2: Supplement the concepts housing, commercial housing including construction works, housing that has been transferred and put into use before issuance of the certificate of land use right and ownership of property on land (point dd.2 clause 6 Article 11).

Before: The concepts housing and commercial housing are prescribed in legislative documents on housing (Decree No. 71/2010/ND-CP dated June 23, 2010 elaborating the Law on Housing).

New point 3: Supplement the regulation that in case an individual earns salary in more than one location, including salary on which tax is declared directly and salary on which tax has been withheld by the income payer, the tax finalization dossier shall be submitted to the tax authority of the area where the biggest source of income is located (point b.1 clause 7 Article 11).

Before: Point Clause 3 Article 21 of Circular No. 92/2015/TT-BTC stipulates: In case an individual earns salary in more than one location (whether personal income tax is declared by the individual or withheld by the salary payer), the tax finalization dossier shall be submitted to the supervisory tax authority of the salary payer where personal exemption is claimed; if the personal exemption is not claimed, the tax finalization dossier shall be submitted to the sub-department of taxation of the area where the individual resides.

d) Taxes to be calculated and informed by tax authorities specified in Article 13

New point 1: Cancel the procedure related to notice of personal income tax payable to individuals earning income from capital assignment, receipt of dividends in form of shares, reinvested profits upon transfer (clauses 1, 2 Article 13).

Before: Appendix 02 on the list of forms for self-employed individuals and for personal income tax issued together with Circular No. 92/2015/TT-BTC dated June 15, 2015 of the Ministry of Finance stipulates: The tax authority must give a notice of the personal income payable to individuals earning income from capital assignment, receipt of dividends in form of shares, reinvested profits upon transfer.

New point 2: Supplement the regulation that within 03 working days from the receipt of the taxpayer’s tax declaration dossier, the tax authority shall complete and send Form No. 01/CCTT-TĐMN in Appendix II of Decree No. 126/2020/ND-CP to the competent authority, requesting the competent authority to provide cadastral information. This document is the basis for issuance of the tax notice (point c clause 6 Article 13).

Before: There was no such regulation.

New point 3: Supplement the regulation on time limit for the tax authority to send a request for supplementation to the sending authority in case the document determining land-related liabilities, decision, notice or document sent by the other competent authority is invalid (clause 8 Article 13).

Before: There was no such regulation.

5.15. Declaration, calculation and issue of notice of payment of land levies

New point 1: Supplement the regulation on responsibilities of tax authorities in management of land levies incurred within economic zones or hi-tech zones after receiving a notice of payment of land levies from the competent authority, including urging the taxpayer to pay accordingly; calculating late payment interest and enforcing payment of tax debt (if any) in accordance with the Law on Tax administration; prepare a report on collected amounts (point b clause 12 Article 13).

Before: There was no such regulation.

New point 2: Amend the forms of notices of payment of land levies applied to cases of authorized extension, unauthorized extension or initial and modified/supplementary notice (clause 13 Article and Appendix issued together with Decree No. 126/2020/ND-CP).

Before: Circular No. 76/2014/TT-BTC dated June 16,2 014 of the Ministry of Finance on guidelines for Decree No. 45/2014/ND-CP dated May 15, 2014 of the Government stipulates form No. 01 of notice of payment of land levies without regard to cases of authorized extension, unauthorized extension or initial and modified/supplementary notice.

New point 3: Amend the regulation on the day on which the land levy is incurred (point b clause 6 Article 10).

- In case of land allocation by the State or land repurposing, the land allocation date or repurposing date;

- In case of LUR certification, the day on which the land registration office sends information to the tax authority.

Before:

- Clause 4a Article 24 of Circular No. 83/2013/ND-CP stipulates: “The day on which the land levy is incurred is prescribed by law”.

- Clause 4a Article 18 of Circular No. 156/2013/TT-BTC stipulates: “If a business organization is allocated levied land, which can be repurposed, by the Government via an auction, the day on which financial liability is incurred is the effective date of the decision on land allocation made by a competent authority.  The day on which land is handed over shall be considered the day on which financial liability is incurred if it is not consistent with that in the decision on land allocation”.

New point 4: Supplement the regulation that the finance authority shall determine these deductible amounts and send these documents to the tax authority within 05 working days from the receipt of documents sent by the land registry office (point b clause 6 Article 13).

Before: There was no such regulation.

New point 5: Supplement the regulation on time limit for the tax authority to send a request for supplementation to the sending authority in case the document determining land-related liabilities, decision, notice or document sent by the other competent authority is invalid (clause 8 Article 13).

Before: There was no such regulation.

5.16. Declaration, calculation and issue of notice of payment of land rents and water surface rents

New point 1: Supplement the regulation on time limit for submission of declaration dossier of land rents and water surface rents without a contract or decision on land lease or water surface lease: the dossier shall be submitted within 30 days from the day on which the land is used for the purpose that requires lease of land or water surface (point b clause 5 Article 10).

Before: There was no such regulation.

New point 2: Supplement the regulation that the declaration dossier in case of change to the deciding factors of land rents or water surface rents shall be submitted to the single-window authorities in the area where the land is located (point d, clause 7 Article 11).

Before: There was no such regulation.

New point 3: Supplement the regulation that the finance authority shall determine the amounts that can be deducted from the land rents, water surface rents and land levy and send these documents to the tax authority within 05 working days from the receipt of documents sent by the land registry office (point b clause 6 Article 13).

Before: There was no such regulation.

New point 4: Supplement the regulation that within 03 working days from the receipt of the taxpayer’s tax declaration dossier, the tax authority shall complete and send Form No. 01/CCTT-TĐMN in Appendix II of Decree No. 126/2020/ND-CP to the competent authority, requesting the competent authority to provide cadastral information. This document is the basis for issuance of the notice of payment of rents, water surface rents (point c clause 6 Article 13).

Before: There was no such regulation.

New point 5: Supplement the regulation on time limit for the tax authority to send a request for supplementation to the sending authority in case the document determining land-related liabilities, decision, notice or document sent by the other competent authority is invalid (clause 8 Article 13).

Before: There was no such regulation.

New point 6: Supplement the regulation on responsibilities of tax authorities in management of land levies incurred within economic zones or hi-tech zones after receiving a notice of payment of land levies from the competent authority, including urging the taxpayer to pay accordingly; calculating late payment interest and enforcing payment of tax debt (if any) in accordance with the Law on Tax administration; prepare a report on collected amounts (point b clause 12 Article 13).

Before: There was no such regulation.

5.17. Declaration, calculation and issue of notice of payment of non-agricultural land use tax

New point 1: Amend the regulation that on location for submission of declaration dossiers of non-agricultural land use tax: “Organizations, households and individuals shall submit tax declaration dossiers to the single-window authorities or tax authorities (in case single-window authorities are not available) responsible for the area where the levied land is located” (point a1 clause 7 Article 11).

Before:

- Article 18 of Circular No. 156/2013/TT-BTC:

+ Point c.1 clause 1 stipulates: The taxpayer which is a corporate shall declare and submit the tax declaration dossier to the sub-department of taxation of the area where the land is located.

+ Point c.2 clause 1 stipulates: The taxpayer that is a household or individual shall declare and submit the tax declaration dossier to the People’s Committee of commune, or the sub-department of taxation of the area where the land is located, or a corporate or individual authorized by the tax authority as per the law on a case-by-case basis.

+ Point b.3 clause 1 stipulates: The taxpayer that is required to submit a consolidated tax declaration dossier shall do so to the chosen and registered sub-department of taxation.

- Joint Circular No. 88/2016/TTLT/BTC-BTNMT stipulates the liability declaration dossier includes “tax declaration form of non-agricultural land use tax equivalent to each case prescribed by law on tax administration (original)”.

New point 2: Amend the regulation that the People’s Committees of communes or LUR registry offices shall verify declarations of tax on non-agricultural land from the receipt of documents from the taxpayer or tax authority (point c7 clause 11 Article 13).

Before: Point b.1 Clause 1 Article 18 of Circular No. 156/2013/TT-BTC stipulates:

- For dossier of residential land tax declaration of households and individuals, the People’s Committee shall provide information on the tax declaration and send it to the Sub-department of taxation.

- If information in the declaration submitted by a corporate must be verified at the request of the tax authority, the local Land and Resources Authority shall verify it and notify the tax authority.

New point 3: Supplement the regulation that the People’s Committees of communes or LUR registry offices shall verify declarations of tax on non-agricultural land from within 03 working days from the receipt of documents from the taxpayer or tax authority (point c7 clause 11 Article 13).

Before: There was no such regulation.

New point 4: Supplement the declaration form of non-agricultural land use tax applicable to households and individuals in transfer, inheritance and gift of land use right No. 04/TK-SDDPNN in the Appendix I issued together with Decree No. 126/2020/ND-CP .

Before: There was no such regulation.

5.18. Receipt and issuance of notice of fees for grant of right to mineral extraction, water resource extraction, sea area usage

New point 1: Supplement the regulation that time limit for sending decisions, notices and documents about the fees for grant of right to mineral extraction, water resource extraction, and sea area usage to the Department of Taxation of the province where these activities take place within 05 working days from their issuance dates (clause 7 Article 10).

Before: Decree No. 82/2017/ND-CP dated July 17, 2017 of the Government on calculation method and charge for granting water right, Decree No. 67/2019/ND-CP dated July 31, 2019 of the Government on charges for granting mining right and calculation methods thereof, Joint Circular No. 198/2015/TTL-BTNMT dated December 7, 2015 of the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment on method of calculation, collection, management and use of sea area usage stipulate different time limits for sending decisions, notices and documents about the fees for grant of right to mineral extraction.

New point 2: Supplement the regulation that by the 30th of April, the tax authority shall issue the notice of the next years’ fees for extraction of minerals, water resources, and sea area usage if the fees are paid annually (point b clause 7 Article 13).

Before: There was no such regulation.

New point 3: Amend the regulation that time limit for tax authorities to issue and send tax notices to taxpayers in case of fees for sea area usage is 10 working days from the receipt of the valid decision, notice or document (point a clause 7 Article 13).

Before: Clause 1 Article 7 of Joint Circular No. 198/2015/TTL-BTNMT dated December 7, 2015 of the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment on method of calculation, collection, management and use of sea area usage stipulates a 3-day time limit.

5.19. Declaration, calculation, notice of registration fee

New point 1: Supplement notice of payment of registration fees for other property except housing and land form No. 02/TB-LPTB in Appendix II issued together with Decree No. 126/2020/ND-CP (split from the declaration form of registration fee for other property (except housing and land).

Before: There was no such regulation.

New point 2: Amend the required documents in the registration fee declaration dossier which include a copy of the former owner’s certificate of ownership and right to use registration or copy of certificate of revocation of vehicle registration and license plate certified by the police authority (for property the right to own or use in Vietnam of which is registered for the second time onwards) (in point 12 Appendix I issued together with Decree No. 126/2020/ND-CP).

Before: Point b clause 4 Article 1 of Decree No. 20/2019/ND-CP stipulates a legitimate copy of the former owner’s certificate of registration of ownership or right to use (related to the property the ownership or right to use of which is registered for the 2nd time onwards in Vietnam).

New point 3: Amend the regulation that the tax authority shall issue a notice of registration fee for housing and land to the taxpayer within 5 working days from the receipt of the document determining land-related liabilities sent by the competent authority (point a clause 6 Article 13).

Before: Clause 4 Article 10 of Circular No. 140/2016/ND-CP stipulates: Sub-department of taxation shall issue a notice of registration fee within 3 working days after receiving a duly complete dossier.

5.20. Declaration of environmental protection fee for mineral extraction

New point: Supplement the regulation that the mining entity or buyer of minerals will register to pay environmental protection fee on behalf of the miner every time the fee is incurred associated with irregular extraction of resources licensed by competent authorities or exempted from licensing as prescribed by law (point k clause 4 Article 8).

Before: Clause 2 Article 6 of Decree No. 164/2016/ND-CP on environmental protection fee for mineral extraction has not stipulated the declaration of environmental protection fee for mineral extraction every time the fee is incurred.

5.21. Declaration, calculation, issuance of notice of licensing fee

New point 1: Amend the regulation that new businesses (except household businesses and individual businesses), including medium and small enterprises converted from household businesses) and existing businesses that establish new dependent units or business location shall submit the licensing fee declaration by January 30 of the year preceding the establishment or inauguration year (point a clause 1 Article 10).

Before: Clause 3 Article 1 of Decree No. 22/2020/ND-CP dated February 24, 2020 stipulates: For corporates, deadline for submission of licensing fee declaration is January 30 of the year preceding the establishment or inauguration year.

New point 2: Supplement the regulation that in case capital in changed during the year, the licensing fee payer shall submit the declaration by January 30 of the year succeeding the year in which the change occurs (point a clause 1 Article 10).

Before: There was no such a regulation on declaration of licensing fee in case capital is changed during the year.

New point 3: Amend the regulation that household businesses and individual businesses are not required to submit licensing fee declarations (point b clause 1 Article 10).

Before: Clause 3 Article 1 of Circular No. 22/2020/ND-CP stipulates: Household businesses, individuals and groups of individuals paying fixed tax must not submit declarations of license fee.

5.22. Declaration of other fees and charges payable to state budget

New point 1: Annul regulation on finalization of charges.

New point 2: Regulation on declaration of customs fees; fees on goods, luggage, transiting vehicles: Annul regulation that requires the taxpayers to submit the declaration dossiers of customs fees; fees on goods, luggage, transiting vehicles to tax authorities (point i clause 5 Article 7; point d clause 1, point dd clause 6 Article 8).

Before: Article 20 and Article 25 of Decree No. 83/2013/ND-CP stipulate: Entities that are authorized to collect customs fees; fees on goods, luggage, transiting vehicles shall submit the declaration dossiers to the supervisory tax authorities.

5.23. Foreign contractor withholding tax

New point 1: Supplement the regulation on Corporate income tax of foreign transport companies shall be provisionally paid quarterly and finalized annually. The total corporate income tax provisionally paid in the first 03 quarters of the year shall be at least 75% of the terminal tax starting the tax year 2021. Otherwise late payment interest shall be charged on the arrears over the period from the deadline for paying corporate income tax of the third quarter to the date of payment of the arrears (point g clause 6 Article 8).

Before: There was no such regulation.

New point 2: Supplement the table of apportionment of VAT payable of foreign contractor to local governments eligible for revenues in the declaration of foreign contractor withholding tax with respect to direct method (in Appendix I issued together with Decree No. 126/2020/ND-CP).

Before: There was no such regulation.

5.24. Other regulations on tax declaration and calculation

New point 1: Supplement the regulation on cases in which the taxpayer is not required to submit tax declaration dossier: The taxpayer only has business operations that are not subject to any tax; the taxpayer applies for TIN invalidation, except termination of business operation, contract or business rearrangement prescribed in Clause 4 Article 44 of the Law on Tax administration (point a, dd clause 3 Article 7).

Before: There was no such regulation.

New point 2: Supplement the regulation that the organization or individual that declares or pays tax on behalf of another taxpayer shall comply with the same regulations on tax declaration and payment in this Decree (clause 5 Article 7).

Before: There was no such regulation.

New point 3: Supplement the regulation that in case of relocation, the taxpayer shall submit the tax declaration dossier to the tax authority in charge of the old location if the taxpayer has not completed the procedures for relocation with the business registration authority or tax authority in charge of the new location (clause 6 Article 7).

Before: There was no such regulation.

New point 4: Do not specify that the tax authority which receives and processes tax declaration dossiers is Department of Taxation or Sub-Department of Taxation or Director of Department of Taxation, but only stipulate the tax authority of the area where tax declaration dossier is submitted.

Before: Circular No. 156/2013/TT-BTC and amending Circulars specify that the tax authority which receives and processes tax declaration dossiers is Department of Taxation or Sub-Department of Taxation or Director of Department of Taxation.

New point 5: Supplement the regulation that certain taxpayers, although doing accounting in the province where the taxpayer is headquartered and has business operation in a province other than the province where the taxpayer is headquartered, is not required to submit a table of apportionment of the tax payable (if any) in each province eligible for revenue of state budget (point a, b, d, dd, e clause 2 Article 11).

Before: There was no such regulation.

New point 6: Supplement the regulation that the taxpayer shall distribute tax among the districts where their dependent units or business locations are located in the same province where the taxpayer is headquartered if so requested by a competent authority (clause 9 Article 11).

Before: There was no such regulation.

New point 7: Amend the regulation that in case of conversion (except equitized state-owned enterprises) where the enterprise after conversion inherits all tax obligations of the enterprise before conversion, tax shall be finalized at the end of the year instead of the issuance date of the decision on conversion (clause 6 Article 8).

Before:

- Article 16 of Circular No. 151/2014/TT-BTC dated October 10, 2014 of the Ministry of Finance stipulates: With regard to the conversion of company, if the transferee receives whole tax liabilities of the transferor before conversion (such as conversion from limited liability company into joint-stock company or conversely; conversion from state-owned company into joint-stock company and other cases prescribed in regulations of law), it shall not declare taxes until a decision on conversion of company is made, and it shall only declare taxes annually as prescribed.

- Clause 1 Article 21 of Circular No. 92/2015/TT-BTC dated June 15, 2015 of the Ministry of Finance stipulates: In case of enterprise conversion, if the transferee inherits every tax liability of the old enterprise (such as conversion from a limited liability company to a joint-stock company or vice versa, conversion of wholly-state-owned enterprise into a joint-stock company, and other cases prescribed by law), the old enterprise is not required to make a tax statement up to the time of issuance of the decision on enterprise conversion. The transferee shall make annual statements as prescribed.”

6. Tax liability imposition

New point 1: Supplement certain cases of tax liability imposition in Article 14 of Decree, including: Fails to implement the decision on tax audit, tax inspection; Sells, buys, exchanges goods with unusual values; records unusual value of goods; Buys, exchanges goods, services using illegal invoices; illegally uses invoices for actual goods and services as discovered by an investigating or inspecting authority while revenues and expenses as the basis for tax calculation have been declared (Article 14)

New point 2: Specify basis for tax liability imposition for corporate taxpayers: The tax authority’s database and trade database; documents and effective inspection verdicts; verification results; minimum revenue of 03 local business establishments selling the same commodities or having the same business lines and scale. In case such business establishments are not available or are available but information about their commodities, business lines or scale is inadequate, information about business establishments in other areas with the same natural and economic conditions may be used (clause 1 Article 15).

Before: There was no regulation on number of enterprises information of which is required and order of priority thereof.

New point 3: Supplement the basis for tax liability imposition for individuals transferring real estate; receiving real estate as inheritance or gift (point b.2, clause 1, Article 15).

Before: There was no such regulation.

New point 4: Supplement the regulation that organizations paying VAT using the subtraction method; individual businesses paying taxes using the declaration method shall have proportional tax on revenue imposed as prescribed (clause 2 Article 15)

Before: There was no such regulation.

New point 5: Specify tax liability imposition authority, procedures and decision (Article 16).

Before: There was no such regulation.

7. Deadlines for payment of land-related amounts, fees for grant of right to extraction of water resources and minerals, fees for grant of sea area usage

7.1. Land rents and water surface rents

New point 1: Supplement the regulation that in case the declaration is revised, the rent shall be paid within 30 days from the day on which the rent notice is issued (point a3, clause 3 Article 18).

Before: There was no such regulation.

New point 2: Supplement the regulation on deadline for payment of land rents and water surface rents in case of changes to the elements that affect the rent, in specific: Within 30 days from the issuance date of the rent notice, the tenant shall pay 50% of the rent specified in the notice; Within 90 days from the issuance date of the rent notice, the tenant shall pay the remaining 50% (point a.4 clause 3 Article 18).

Before: There was no such regulation.

New point 3: Amend the regulation on deadline for payment due to delay in land use time of the project and competent authority granting extension of land use: Within 30 days from the issuance date of the rent notice, the tenant shall pay 50% of the rent specified in the notice; Within 90 days from the issuance date of the rent notice, the tenant shall pay the remaining 50% (point a.4 clause 3 Article 18).

Before: Point c clause 3 Article 2 of Circular No. 333/2016/TT-BTC of the Ministry of Finance only stipulates entities eligible for extension of land use period for a lump-sum payment within 30 days from the grant of extension by the competent authority.

7.2 Non-agricultural land use tax

New point 1: Supplement regulation on deadline for making first non-agricultural land use tax payment: Within 30 days from the day on which the tax notice is issued by the tax authority (point a, clause 1 Article 18).

Before: There was no such regulation.

New point 2: Amend the regulation that from the second year, non-agricultural land use tax shall be paid annually by October 31 (point a, clause 1 Article 18).

Before: the tax shall be paid biannually.

New point 3: Supplement the regulation that in case the declaration is revised, tax shall be paid within 30 days from the day on which the tax notices is issued (point c, clause 1 Article 18).

Before: There was no such regulation.

7.3. Fees for grant of right to mineral extraction, water resource extraction, sea area usage

a) Fees for grant of right to water resource extraction

New point: Change the deadline for payment of the fee for grant of right to water resource extraction (clause 5 Article 18 Decree No. 126/2020/ND-CP):

- Within 90 days from the day on which the first notice or adjustment notice is issued by the competent authority;

- From the second year: (i) If the taxpayer chooses paying annually, the fee shall be paid by May 31; (ii) If the taxpayer chooses the latter, the first 50% shall be paid by May 31 and the rest by October 31.

Before: The fee for grant of right to water resource extraction shall be paid annually, the taxpayer may choose between paying monthly, quarterly or annually.

b) Fees for grant of the right to mineral extraction:

New point: Clause 6 Article 18 of Decree No. 126/2020/ND-CP specifies the amount payable in a certain period from the second time onwards if the taxpayer chooses paying biannually: the first 50% shall be paid by May 31 and the rest by October 31.

Before: There was no such regulation.

c) Fees for grant of right to sea area usage

New point:

In case fee is paid annually:

Fee shall be paid within 30 days from the day on which the first notice or adjustment notice is issued by the competent authority.

From the second year, the taxpayer may choose between paying annually or biannually.  If the taxpayer chooses the former, fee shall be paid by May 31.

Before: There was no such regulation on deadline for making the first payment of the fee for grant of right to sea area usage; the taxpayer may not choose between paying annually or biannually.

8. Deferral of fee for grant of right to mineral extraction in case of land clearance difficulties

New point: Article 20 of Decree No. 126/2020/ND-CP specifies application for deferral, deferral period, deferred amount, deferral procedures and powers related to fee for grant of right to mineral extraction in case of land clearance difficulties.

Before: There was no such regulation on deferral of fee for grant of right to mineral extraction in case of land clearance difficulties. Clause 1 Article 11 of Decree No. 67/2019/ND-CP dated July 31, 2019 of the Government stipulates that the payment of fee for grant of right to mineral extraction in case of land clearance difficulties shall comply with law on tax administration.

9. Fulfillment of tax obligations upon exit from Vietnam

New point: Pursuant to Article 66 and clause 7 Article 124 of the Law on Tax Administration regarding fulfillment of tax obligations, the Decree supplements that the individual that is the legal representative of an enterprise who has not fulfilled tax obligations under a tax enforcement decision will be suspended from exit from Vietnam.

Before: Clause 1 Article 40 of Circular No. 156/2013/TT-BTC only stipulates that the Vietnamese people that emigrate to reside overseas, Vietnamese people residing overseas, foreigners must fulfill their tax liability before leaving Vietnam.

10. Debt freezing procedures

New point: Article 23 of Decree No. 126/2020/ND-CP stipulates debt freezing procedures, documentation and time in case the taxpayer is dead or declared dead, missing or incapacitated by the court; the taxpayer dissolves or goes bankrupt; the taxpayer no longer does business at the registered address; or the taxpayer has its business registration certificate revoked.

Before: There was no such regulation.

11. Cooperation between tax authorities, business registration authorities and local governments in cancelling debts, collecting cancelled debts before issuance of the  certificate of business registration

New point: Article 25 of Decree No. 126/2020/ND-CP stipulates cooperation between tax authorities and business registration authorities in controlling taxpayers whose debts have been cancelled, if the said taxpayer wishes to resume the business, the cancelled tax debt must be reimbursed to the state.

Before: There was no such regulation on information exchange between the tax authority and business registration authority with respect to cases of tax debt cancellation.

12. Enforcement of payment of tax debt

New point 1: The tax authority may request the customs authority to suspend customs procedures for exported goods and imported goods (clause 8 Article 33 of Decree No. 126/2020/ND-CP).

Before: There was no such regulation that the tax authority may request the customs authority to suspend customs procedures for exported goods and imported goods.

New point 2: If the decision on enforcement by invoice suspension expires before the taxpayer fully pays the tax debt and the next enforcement measures cannot be implemented, or the invoice suspension is effective, the tax authority shall keep implementing the effective enforcement measures.  In case an enforcement measure is found to be more effective or practical while another measure is being implemented, the former may be implemented by the tax authority (point b.2 clause 3 Article 34 of Decree No. 126/2020/ND-CP).

Before: The enforcement by invoice suspension may not apply together with other enforcement actions.

New point 3: The enforcement decision takes effective as of the date of issue (Articles of Chapter VII of Decree No. 126/2020/ND-CP).

Before: The enforcement decision takes effective after 5 days since the date of issue (clause 3 Article 27 of Decree No. 129/2013/ND-CP), enforcement decision takes effective after 3 days since the date of issue (clause 1 Article 36 of Decree No. 129/2013/ND-CP).

13. Publishing of information

New point: Supplement the regulations below: Information about a taxpayer will be published by the tax authority in the following cases: the taxpayer fails to submit the tax declaration dossier, the taxpayer is not operating at the registered address; published information and publishing method; authority to publish information is vested in the head of the supervisory tax authority of the taxpayer (Article 29 of Decree No. 126/2020/ND-CP).

Before: There was no such regulation.

14. Responsibilities of relevant entities to provide information about taxpayers

New point 1: Supplement regulatory authorities responsible for providing information for tax authorities: the Ministry of Construction, the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Ministry of Information and Communications, the Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Science and Technology and competent authorities of other Ministries and agencies: Audit authorities; General Statistics Office; Social Security agencies; the courts and arbitral tribunals, etc. (clause 2 Article 26 of Decree No. 126/2020/ND-CP)

New point 2: Supplement the regulation that the Ministry of Finance shall be in charge and cooperate with other Ministries, central authorities and regulatory authorities mentioned in Point a of this Clause in developing the regulations on exchange and provision of information and cooperation between the Ministry of Finance with each unit (point c clause 2 Article 26).

New point 3: Supplement information provided for tax authorities (clause 2 Article 26 of Decree No. 126/2020/ND-CP) such as:

- Information about e-commerce, franchising, content of e-commerce and franchising licenses.

- Information about land use, revenues from land and property on land, licensing resource extraction, annual production of each license.

- Information about Internet service provision, online information and online video games; information about online advertising; online sale of information technology products, digital trade, etc.

New point 4: Supplement responsibilities of relevant organizations and individuals to provide information (Article 27 of Decree No. 126/2020/ND-CP):

- Income payers shall provide information about paid income and tax withheld when preparing annual tax finalization dossiers or requested by tax authorities.

- Competent authorities shall provide information before auction of imported goods that are exempt from tax or not subject to tax for customs authorities, which will impose tax liability.

- When the tax authority makes a written request for information, the requested party shall provide the information within 10 days from the receipt of such request.

New point 5: Responsibilities of regulatory authorities, organizations and individuals to provide information (Article 28 of Decree No. 126/2020/ND-CP):

- Supplement the regulation that when requested by tax authorities, regulatory authorities, organizations and individuals shall fully and punctually provide information in accordance with Article 15, Clause 2 and Clause 4 Article 98 of the Law on Tax Administration.

- Supplement the regulation that if information is not punctually and adequately provided when requested by the tax authority in a manner that affects the determination of tax obligations or timely processing of the taxpayer’s application for tax refund or tax remission, the requested party shall be held responsible for the damage incurred by the taxpayer in accordance with Clause 2 Article 61 and Clause 3 Article 75 of the Law on Tax Administration.

15. Duties and entitlements of commercial banks and payment service providers (PSPs) specified in Article 30

New point 1: Supplement the duties and entitlements of commercial banks collecting and transferring taxes and other amounts to state budget as prescribed in Article 56 of the Law on Tax Administration and the Government’s Decree No. 11/2020/NĐ-CP dated January 20, 2020 on state treasury-related administrative procedures  (point a.1 clause 1 Article 30).

Before: There was no such regulation.

New point 2: Amend the regulation that if the collected amounts are not fully and punctually transferred to state budget through the commercial bank’s fault, the commercial bank shall pay late payment interest in accordance with the Law on Tax Administration (point a.4 clause 1 Article 30).

Before: Point b clause 4 Article 5 of Circular No. 84/2016/TT-BTC stipulates: The bank shall make timely adjustments to deviation and omission in connection with payment orders of users of payment services; cooperate with relevant banks or State Treasury agencies in recovery of mistaken or excess sum of transferred money as prescribed in law and regulations; and compensate for damage caused by itself in accordance with regulations and law.

New point 3: Amend that in case of errors, the commercial bank shall send notices to relevant units and must not return the paid tax to the taxpayer if information has been transmitted to State Treasury. The commercial bank where the State Treasury’s account is opened shall compare payment documents with those of the State Treasury (point a.5 clause 1 Article 30).

Before: Point dd clause 1 Article 17 of Circular No. 84/2016/TT-BTC stipulates: dd) If the taxpayer conducts one e-Tax payment more than 02 (two) times in a day, the taxpayer must request the bank/State Treasury agency to remain one payment.  If the paid tax of the coincident payment has been included in the State budget, the taxpayer may deduct that sum of money from other amounts payable or request for refund as prescribed in law on tax administration.

New point 4: Supplement duties and entitlements of commercial banks that have agreed to connect to the tax authority’s web portal to obtain the corresponding codes of these amounts on the tax authority’s web portal and write them on the payment orders.  Do no cancel a payment order after payment information has been transmitted to the tax authority’s web portal (point b.2 clause 1 Article 30).

Before: There was no specific regulation on this matter.

New point 5: Amend the regulation that commercial banks have duties to develop an information technology system that is suitable for the information exchange standards and formats established by tax authorities.  Protect the confidentiality of information. Only use information about payments by taxpayers and customs declarants provided by tax authorities on their web portals for collection purposes (point b.3 clause 1 Article 30).

Before: Points a, b clause 3 Article 5 of Circular No. 84/2016/TT-BTC stipulates: The commercial banks shall perform the agreement on cooperation in collection concluded with General Department of Taxation and use and protect confidentiality of information about collection and payment furnished by tax authorities on the web portal of General Department of Taxation.

New point 6: Supplement duties of PSPs in collecting taxes and other amounts payable to state budget (point c clause 1 Article 30).

Before: There was no regulation specifying duties of PSPs in collecting taxes.

New point 7: Supplement that commercial banks shall provide information about taxpayers’ checking accounts opened at the banks for tax authorities (clause 2 Article 30).

Before: There was no such regulation.

16. Purchase of information, documents and data serving tax administration

New point: Supplement the regulation on purchase of information, documents and data serving tax administration. This regulation enables tax authorities and customs authority to use funding of state budget to purchase information, documents and data serving tax administration and actions against violations of tax law and customs law (Article 40 of Decree No. 126/2020/ND-CP).

Before: There was no such regulation.

17. Advance pricing agreement to enterprises having related-party transactions (Article 41)

17.1. Application of advance pricing agreement to enterprises having related-party transactions

New point: Supplement the regulation that the application of APA shall comply with Clause 6 Article 42 of the Law on Tax Administration, in specific:

- On the basis of request of the taxpayers, consensus between the tax authorities and the taxpayer under unilateral, bilateral and multilateral agreements between tax authorities, taxpayers and tax authorities of relevant countries or territories;

- According to information provided by the taxpayers and legally verified commercial database;

- Subject to approval by the Minister of Finance. Regulations of law on international treaties and international agreements shall apply to bilateral and multilateral agreements participated in by foreign tax authorities.

Before: There was no such regulation.

17.2. Steps/procedures for requesting application of APA

New point: Supplement steps/procedures for requesting application of APA, including: Consulting before submitting the official application of APA (if any); Submitting the official application of APA;  submitting the request for initiating mutual agreement procedures (in case of bilateral or multilateral APA); obligations of taxpayers in submitting annual APA reports (and ad-hoc APA reports, if any); application for renewal, modification, revocation and cancellation of APA (if any).

Before: Consultation with General Department of Taxation before submitting the official application of APA: Pursuant to Article 8 of Circular No. 201/2013/TT-BTC , the consultation step before submitting the official application is compulsory. But pursuant to Decree No. 126/2020/ND-CP , this step is optional depending on the need of the taxpayer.

17.3. Specific regulation on power to approve and conclude APA

New point: the basis of the negotiation result with the taxpayer (in case of unilateral APA) or the tax authority of the other party and the taxpayer (in case of bilateral or multilateral APA), General Department of Taxation shall draft the APA and submit it to the Ministry of Finance for approval. For bilateral and multilateral APAs participated in by foreign tax authorities, the Ministry of Finance shall consult with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Justice, relevant  authorities, the Government and the Prime Minister about conclusion of the APA in accordance with regulations of law on conclusion of international agreements.

Before: Decree No. 83/2013/ND-CP stipulates that the Ministry of Finance will approve and designate the General Department of Taxation to conclude APA.

17.4. Effectiveness of APA

New point: The effective date of the APA shall comply with Clause 16 Article 3 of the Law on Tax Administration.  The Ministry of Finance shall submit reports on bilateral and multilateral APAs relevant to foreign tax authorities to the Government for consideration and decision.

Before: Decree No. 83/2013/ND-CP stipulates that the signed APA takes effect up to 5 years and may be renewed up to 5 more years; the effective date is after the day on which the taxpayer submits the application of APA./.