Frequently Asked Questions on Tax and Accounting

You need five sets of information: a company name (checked for availability), a valid registered address, business lines, charter capital and details of the legal representative. The filing itself consists of the business registration application, the company charter, the list of members or shareholders and copies of each member's identity documents. Processing normally takes 3 working days from the date a valid file is submitted.

As soon as the Enterprise Registration Certificate is issued, five things follow in order: make the company seal and put up a signboard at the registered office, open a bank account in the company's name, register a digital signature, register e-invoice use with the tax authority, and open the accounting books from the very first transaction. The signboard is the step most often skipped, yet it is what the tax authority uses to confirm the company genuinely operates at its registered address.

No. Under Resolution 198/2025/QH15 the business licence fee was abolished with effect from 1 January 2026. Companies no longer file a business licence fee return and no longer pay the VND 1 to 3 million a year that used to apply. Note that many older guides still list this fee as compulsory; that information is out of date.

Yes. A company must file all periodic tax returns and the annual financial statements even before it earns any revenue. In that case the returns are filed as nil returns with tax payable of zero. Failing to file still attracts a late filing penalty of VND 2 million to 25 million depending on how many days late, under Decree 125/2020/ND-CP.

Yes, provided three conditions are met: the spending directly serves the establishment and operation of the company, it is supported by lawful invoices and documents, and the founding members have signed an authorisation for the representative who incurred it. Typical items are office rent, equipment purchases, legal service fees and registration costs.

A newly established company may choose quarterly VAT filing, which suits most businesses because it reduces the workload. After twelve months of operation, the following calendar year is decided by the previous year's revenue: VND 50 billion or less means quarterly filing continues, above VND 50 billion means monthly filing becomes compulsory.

Most business lines have no minimum charter capital, so the amount is the company's own decision based on its scale. Three points matter, though: charter capital must be fully contributed within 90 days of the Enterprise Registration Certificate being issued, interest expense corresponding to any uncontributed portion is not deductible, and certain conditional business lines carry their own statutory capital requirement.

Since 1 July 2025 the provinces of Bac Giang and Bac Ninh have merged into a single Bac Ninh province, with the administrative centre located in the former Bac Giang area. Registration files go to the provincial business registration office of Bac Ninh province, or online through the National Business Registration Portal. For tax matters the company deals with the Bac Ninh provincial tax office or the local tax office covering its area.

The quarterly VAT return is due no later than the last day of the first month of the following quarter. In practice: Q1 by 30 April, Q2 by 31 July, Q3 by 31 October and Q4 by 31 January of the following year. If the final day falls on a weekend or public holiday, the deadline moves to the next working day.

The monthly VAT return is due no later than the 20th of the following month. For example, the March return is due by 20 April at the latest. Any tax payable is due on the same date as the return.

The annual financial statements, the corporate income tax finalisation return and the personal income tax finalisation return filed by the paying organisation are all due no later than the last day of the third month after the financial year ends. For a company whose financial year matches the calendar year, that is 31 March of the following year. Individuals filing their own personal income tax finalisation have until the end of April.

Monthly filing is the default; quarterly filing is the exception granted on request. A company may file quarterly if its total revenue from goods and services in the immediately preceding year was VND 50 billion or less, or if it is newly established. The revenue tested is the total shown on the VAT returns for the whole calendar year, not the revenue in the financial statements. The filing period must stay unchanged for a full calendar year.

The penalty depends on how many days late, under Decree 125/2020/ND-CP: 1 to 5 days late with mitigating circumstances draws a warning; 1 to 30 days draws VND 2 to 5 million; 31 to 60 days draws VND 5 to 8 million; 61 to 90 days draws VND 8 to 15 million; more than 90 days draws VND 15 to 25 million. This applies per tax file and does not depend on the amount of tax payable.

There is no administrative penalty for late filing, but late payment interest of 0.03% per day applies to the tax paid late, running from the due date to the date of actual payment. The tax authority's system calculates this automatically.

The company must switch to monthly filing from the quarter in which the error is found, and refile monthly returns for the periods that were wrongly filed quarterly. If the tax payable changes, late payment interest is due on the difference. The good news is that filing these additional monthly returns is generally not treated as a late filing offence.

Five measures work well: set three reminders at 10 days, 3 days and 1 day before the deadline; close the books internally 7 days before the deadline so there is time to chase missing documents; check the digital signature is still valid every quarter; keep the filing confirmation for every month; and make one person solely accountable rather than spreading the duty across several people.

Most companies pay three main taxes: value added tax, corporate income tax and the personal income tax withheld from employees' salaries. Depending on the industry, foreign contractor tax, import-export duty, special consumption tax, natural resources tax or environmental protection tax may also arise. The business licence fee was abolished entirely from 1 January 2026.

Under Corporate Income Tax Law 67/2025/QH15, effective 1 October 2025, the rate is banded by revenue: annual revenue of VND 3 billion or less is taxed at 15%; revenue above VND 3 billion up to VND 50 billion at 17%; revenue above VND 50 billion at the standard 20%. The band is determined by the revenue of the immediately preceding tax period.

Yes. Under Decree 141/2026/ND-CP, applicable from 1 January 2026, companies with total annual revenue of VND 1 billion or less are exempt from corporate income tax. An estimated 235,800 companies nationwide benefit. The exemption does not remove the obligation to file the finalisation return and the annual financial statements.

The reduction of value added tax from 10% to 8% for the qualifying groups of goods and services continues to apply until the end of 31 December 2026. Companies should check the list carefully because not every item qualifies. Applying the wrong rate leads to assessment of the difference plus late payment interest, and it also affects the buyer's right to credit the input VAT.

Yes. When paying a foreign organisation with no permanent establishment in Vietnam, the Vietnamese company must withhold and remit foreign contractor tax. This covers online advertising, software purchases, server rental, royalties and fees paid to foreign specialists. It is the most commonly overlooked tax and is often assessed for several years at once during a tax audit.

No corporate income tax is payable because there is no taxable income, but the corporate income tax finalisation return and the annual financial statements must still be filed in full. The loss is carried forward to later years under the rules. Note that declaring losses year after year is one of the strongest risk indicators the tax authority uses when selecting companies for audit.

From 1 January 2026 household businesses no longer use the lump-sum tax method and are instead taxed on actual revenue. Household businesses with annual revenue of VND 1 billion or less pay neither personal income tax nor value added tax, under Decree 141/2026/ND-CP. The previous threshold was VND 500 million.

Conversion makes sense when the household business needs to issue VAT invoices to corporate customers, needs to raise capital or expand, or wants liability limited to the capital contributed. From 2026 small companies enjoy more relief than before: corporate income tax of only 15% on revenue under VND 3 billion, exemption on revenue under VND 1 billion, and no more business licence fee. The decision should be worked through with actual revenue and customer mix.

No. Purchases of goods or services of VND 5 million or more including VAT must be supported by a non-cash payment document. Without it the company loses the right to credit input VAT and the expense is not deductible when determining taxable income for corporate income tax. Acceptable documents include payment orders, bank transfers, payments through a licensed e-wallet, or debt offsetting supported by a contract.

Yes. The tax authority applies the threshold to the total value of transactions with the same supplier in one day, not to each invoice separately. Splitting invoices to stay under the VND 5 million threshold is treated as circumvention and the whole expense can be disallowed on audit.

An expense must satisfy three conditions at the same time: it is actually incurred and relates to the company's production or business activity; it is supported by lawful invoices and documents; and there is a non-cash payment document for invoices of VND 5 million or more. If any condition fails, the whole expense is disallowed — there is no mechanism for partial disallowance.

No reissue is needed. Where only the buyer's name or address is wrong but the tax code is correct, the seller simply notifies the buyer that the invoice contains an error. If the tax code, amount, tax rate, tax amount or goods are wrong, the two parties must sign a written agreement and the seller issues an adjustment or replacement invoice.

Under Decree 70/2025/ND-CP the invoice date for a sale of goods is the date ownership or the right of use passes to the buyer, regardless of whether payment has been received. For services, the invoice is issued when the service has been completed. For exported goods, the deadline is the working day following customs clearance.

The company must prove the transaction was genuine, using the contract, bank payment records, goods handover minutes and evidence of transport and warehousing. Without that proof the expense is disallowed and the input VAT cannot be credited. The way to prevent this is to check the supplier's operating status on the tax authority's system before paying large orders.

No. Salaries and wages of the owner of a private enterprise, and of the owner of a single-member limited liability company owned by one individual, fall within the non-deductible category for corporate income tax purposes. Many small business owners are unaware of this rule and have the expense disallowed at finalisation.

Five main groups: spending without lawful invoices or documents; personal spending by the owner and their family; wages where the conditions and amounts are not specified in the labour contract or financial regulations; costs exceeding statutory limits, such as excess depreciation and interest corresponding to uncontributed charter capital; and administrative fines and late tax payment interest.

Compulsory insurance totals 32% of the salary used as the contribution base, of which the employer pays 21.5% and the employee 10.5%. The breakdown is social insurance 25.5%, health insurance 4.5%, unemployment insurance 2% and occupational accident and disease insurance 0.5%. The employer also pays trade union funding of 2% of the payroll, bringing the real employer cost to around 23.5% of payroll.

Yes. Employees working under a labour contract with a term of one month or more are subject to compulsory social insurance. The 2024 Social Insurance Law, effective 1 July 2025, also extended coverage to part-time workers whose monthly pay reaches the minimum level, and to registered household business owners.

Under Decree 293/2025/ND-CP, effective 1 January 2026, Bac Ninh province after its merger with Bac Giang is divided into three regions: region II is VND 4,730,000 a month, equivalent to VND 22,700 an hour; region III is VND 4,140,000 a month, equivalent to VND 20,000 an hour; region IV is VND 3,700,000 a month, equivalent to VND 17,800 an hour. Companies should re-check which region applies under the new administrative names after the merger.

From the 2026 tax year the deduction for the taxpayer is VND 15.5 million a month, equivalent to VND 186 million a year. The deduction for each dependant is VND 6.2 million a month, equivalent to VND 74.4 million a year. Both are a substantial increase on the previous levels.

An employee with no dependants earning up to around VND 17 million a month, after compulsory insurance is deducted, will generally pay no personal income tax. With one dependant, the threshold rises to around VND 23 million a month.

The 2026 progressive table has 5 brackets, down from 7. Taxable income up to VND 10 million a month is taxed at 5%; above VND 10 million to 30 million at 10%; above VND 30 million to 60 million at 20%; above VND 60 million to 100 million at 30%; above VND 100 million at 35%. Compared with the old table, the second bracket falls from 15% to 10% and the third from 25% to 20%.

Under the rules applying from 2026, overtime and night shift pay is exempt from personal income tax to the extent of the premium over the standard hourly rate. The previous calculation was more complex and frequently got done wrong. This is a clear improvement for manufacturers running multiple shifts.

Yes. An individual with no labour contract, or a contract shorter than three months, who receives VND 2 million or more per payment has personal income tax withheld at 10%. Where the individual estimates their total income for the year will fall below the taxable threshold and already holds a tax code, they may sign a commitment so that no tax is withheld for the time being.

Lotus prices by revenue and business type. For trade and services: a company with no revenue yet pays VND 500,000 a month; revenue under VND 2 billion a year is VND 2,500,000 a month; VND 2 to under 10 billion is VND 4,000,000 a month; VND 10 to under 25 billion is VND 6,000,000 a month. For construction, manufacturing, import-export, logistics and tourism the fee is around VND 500,000 to 1,000,000 higher per band. Prices exclude VAT.

The Lotus package covers VAT filing, personal income tax filing, preparation of financial statements, annual tax finalisation, social insurance registration, bank account registration where needed, and ongoing tax advice. Issuing VAT invoices is free for 1 to 5 invoices a month, VND 500,000 a month for 5 to 10 invoices, and VND 1,000,000 a month for 15 to 30 invoices.

For companies with revenue under VND 25 billion a year, outsourcing usually saves 40% to 70%. One in-house accountant costs roughly VND 14 to 21 million a month once you add up a salary of VND 10 to 15 million, insurance and trade union funding of about 23.5%, accounting software, digital signature and e-invoice costs, plus desk space and management time. The equivalent outsourced package for the same size of company is around VND 2.5 to 6 million a month.

Lotus pays 100% of the penalty where the error originated with Lotus. That commitment is written into the service contract, not given verbally. Lotus also offers a full refund within the first three months if the service does not meet the client's expectations.

Yes. Lotus represents the company and deals directly with the tax authority during inspections, audits and requests for explanation. The work covers reviewing and completing the accounting records and supporting documents, assembling a properly structured explanation file with legal grounds, and sending a qualified person to meet the tax officers in person.

It is safe where the contract is with a properly incorporated firm and includes confidentiality clauses and written liability commitments. The far greater risk is handing the work to an individual moonlighting without any legal obligation, because if something goes wrong the company has no basis to claim compensation and may lose the data entirely.

Yes. Lotus has professional interpreters in English, Chinese and Korean who understand both the language and the accounting, so companies can work accurately with foreign counterparts. Beyond accounting, Lotus also handles customs clearance, work permits and visas for foreign nationals, which suits FDI companies in the industrial parks of Bac Ninh and Bac Giang.

Alongside full-service tax accounting, Lotus provides company incorporation, audit services, customs clearance, work permits for foreign nationals and visa processing for foreign nationals. To keep the work objective, Lotus maintains a strict separation between its accounting team and its audit team.

Yes. Since 1 July 2025 Bac Giang and Bac Ninh have merged into a single Bac Ninh province, so supporting companies across the whole province is straightforward. Beyond Bac Ninh province, Lotus also serves companies in Hung Yen, Thai Nguyen, Hanoi and Hai Duong.

Four steps: contact the hotline on 0964.865.812 or email dungdodinh@gmail.com to book a consultation; give your estimated revenue and business type to receive a detailed quote within 24 hours; sign the service contract with its explicit liability commitments; hand over the documents so Lotus can take over and set up the accounting system. Newly established companies get a free review of the full checklist of things to do at the start.