Vietnam has seen a remarkable rise in the number of new businesses registered in recent years, with the first nine months of 2022 seeing a 31.9% jump over 2021. A successful business in Vietnam, whether local or foreign-owned, has to fulfill numerous obligations in business processes, including timely tax reporting and corporate compliance.
Are you a business owner in Vietnam? Being compliant with all the changing legal requirements is one of the biggest challenges of doing business in Vietnam. In our detailed guide below, however, you’ll find updates on everything you need to know about tax reports, submissions, and compliance deadlines for 2022 for Vietnam-based companies. Staying up to date with regulations will keep your company safe from hefty fines and penalties.
Instructions for Report Submission
Below is a list of the compulsory reports to submit as part of your company’s corporate compliance, grouped by the relevant governing authorities.
Local Tax Authority
- Business license tax report (see Section 4)
- Tax finalization report (VAT, PIT, CIT)
- Financial statements (audited for FDI companies)
Labor Department (DOLISA)
- Employment and labor report (including foreign employment)
- Report on labor accidents
- Unemployment insurance report
- Occupational Safety & Hygiene report
Statistic Department
- Statistical Report
- Financial statements (audited for FDI companies)
Department of Planning & Investment (DPI)
- FDI reports
Vietnam Taxation Compliance Deadlines
“Tax season” and regulations on the fiscal year
There are generally four fiscal periods in Vietnam that foreign companies can choose from, although any 12-month period will suffice.
- January 1 – December 31 (applicable to most companies)
- April 1 – March 31 (between the start of Q2 and the end of Q1)
- July 1 – June 30 (between the start of Q3 and the end of Q2)
- October 1 – September 30 (between the start of Q4 and the end of Q3)
If your business doesn’t opt for a specific fiscal year upon registration, the fiscal year period is automatically to be from January 1 – December 31. Usually, for branch and representative offices, the parent company’s native fiscal year is followed.
Critical compliance deadlines for CIT finalization and Financial statements are mostly in the first quarter of a fiscal year. As a result, this period is also known as the “tax season” in Vietnam.
Report submission deadlines
As mentioned above, most annual report submission deadlines fall in “tax season”, the first quarter of the following year. Additionally, Vietnam authorities may require companies to submit specific reports bi-annually (twice a year), quarterly or monthly.
| Frequency | Type of report | Deadline |
|---|---|---|
| Annual submissions | Information on Business License (business license declaration (if any) and business license tax) | 20 days from the end of the fiscal year (see Section 4) |
| Financial report to tax authorities (audited for FDI companies) that includes profit and loss, balance sheet, and cash flow, financial statement note | 30 days from the end of the fiscal year | |
| Corporate income tax finalization and personal income tax finalization | 90 days from the end of the fiscal year | |
| Yearly unemployment insurance report | 15 January each year | |
| Occupational Safety & Hygiene report | 10 January each year | |
| Statistical Report | ||
| Financial report to Statistics Department | 30 days from the end of the fiscal year | |
| Annual FDI reports | 31 March each year | |
| Bi-annual submissions | Employment and labor use report | 5 June (reporting the first six months)5 December (for the whole year) |
| Foreign employment report | 5 July (reporting the first six months)5 January (for the whole year) | |
| Labor accidents report | 5 July (reporting the first six months)5 January (for the whole year) | |
| Quarterly submissions | Personal income tax payment (if any) and declaration | within the month following the end of the quarter |
| Corporate income tax payment (if any) | within 30 days of the end of the quarter | |
| Value-added tax payment (if any) and declaration | within 30 days of the end of the quarter | |
| Quarterly FDI reports | within 10 days of the end of the quarter | |
| Monthly submissions (for companies exceeding VND 50 billion in turnover in the previous year) | Value-added tax payment (if any) and declaration | within 20 days of the end of the month |
| Personal income tax payment (if any) and declaration | within 20 days of the end of the month |
3. 2022 Tax Payment Deadlines:
Your tax payment deadline is always the same as the report submission date. To be more specific, here are the due dates for the 2022 fiscal year:
- For PIT annual finalization and payment: 31 March 2023
- For CIT annual finalization and payment: 31 March 2023
- For VAT annual finalization and payment: 28 February 2023
- For annual Business License Tax: 30 January 2023 (see Section 4)
A new government Draft Decree submitted in February 2022 states that businesses have to pay at least 80% of all four quarters’ CIT by the fourth quarterly deadline. After that, any remaining amount shall be paid by the annual finalization date.
4. Annual Business License Fee and Business License Declaration:
Business License Tax is a fixed tax that’s determined by the charter capital of your company. There are three levels of business license tax applicable to foreign business entities:
- Registered charter capital of VND 10 billion (US$430,000) or lower: VND 2 million (US$85) paid annually.
- Registered charter capital of more than VND 10 billion (US$430,000): VND 3 million (US$130) paid annually.
- Representative offices, branches, public service providers, business locations, and other business organizations: VND 1 million (US$40) paid annually.
Related: Accounting & Bookkeeping, Things To Know for Foreign-owned Companies
For business entities established in 2022, as stated in Circular 81/2021/TT-BTC, this tax will not be imposed for the first year of operations (still, the enterprise should still file a business license tax declaration for that year). However, according to Decree 22/2020/ND-CP, entities established as a branch of parent companies registered before 24/02/2020 will not be eligible for this exemption.
In case of any change in the Enterprise Registration Certificate (ERC, also known as Business Registration Certificate or BRC) which affects the business license payable amount (such as opening more branches, opening more representative offices; increasing or reducing capital …), this change will be applied from the following year.
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