Newsletter

Corporate Income Tax (“CIT”)

Entertainment expenses without sufficient evidence documents are non-deductible when calculating CIT and are deemed income when calculating personal income tax (PIT)

On 6 April 2021, Hai Duong Tax Office issued Official Letter No. 2138/CTHHU-TTHT regarding entertainment expenses as follows:

Entertainment expenses are not salaries or salary-in-kinds, thus in case an employee is given a fixed payment by the Company to pay entertainment expenses that are without invoices and evidence documents, the expenses shall not be deductible when calculating CIT. In case the employee who receives the fixed payment cannot prove that he/she uses the payment to settle entertainment expenses on behalf of the company, the fixed payment shall be deemed a personal income and included when calculating his/her PIT.

“Food Services” electronic invoice (E-invoice) must show a complete list of foods and drinks sold for the expenses and their VAT to be deductible

On 11 May 2021, Hanoi Tax Office issued Official Letter 15176/CTHN-TTHT on invoices of which contents are “Food services”.

In case the invoice is an E-invoice, its content must follow provisions of Article 6, Circular No. 32/2011/TT-BTC and must show the full list of foods and drinks sold so that the E-invoice’s content can be completely retrieved and used, as prescribed in Clause 3, Article 3, Circular No. 32/2011/TT-BTC dated 14 March 2011 issued by the Ministry of Finance.

Foreign Contractor Tax (“FCT”)

Finalizing FCT after completion of a contract

On 29 March 2021, Hanoi Tax Office issued Official Letter No. 9157/CTHN-TTHT on FCT finalization as follows:

In case a foreign contractor’s Value-added Tax (VAT) and CIT are declared using the Direct Method, after its contract with the Vietnamese entity has finished, the foreign contractor must finalize its FCT (including VAT and CIT) in accordance with point e, Clause 6, Article 8 of Decree No. 126/2020/ND-CP.

FCT calculation method:

Value-added Tax (“VAT”)

Foreign-invested enterprises must issue VAT invoices when selling an apartment

On 7 April 2021, Bac Ninh Tax Office issued Official Letter No. 568/CTBNI-TTHT regarding issuance of VAT by foreign-invested enterprises when selling an apartment.

In case a company that buys an apartment is a foreign-invested enterprise, it may only use the apartment to provide accommodation to its employees, and may not sublease the apartment, or use the apartment as an office and/or for other purposes.

Before the apartment ownership expires according to the Law on Housing, the company may donate or sell the apartment to subjects eligible to own houses in Vietnam. In case the company sells the apartment, it must issue VAT invoice, declare VAT, and pay CIT according to regulations.

Customs

Notice that processing re-entrustment contracts can be submitted via email from 2 May 2021

On 22 April 2021, the General Department of Customs issued Official Letter No. 1891/TCHQ-GSQL regarding submission of Notice of Processing re-entrustment contracts. Accordingly, such a Notice can be submitted to any local Customs Offices via email (addresses ended with @customs.gov.vn).

Submission by email starts on 2 May 2021. The Notice must follow Form 18a/TB-HĐGCL/GSQL issued in Appendix II of Circular No. 39/2018/TT-BTC. Enterprises that wish to submit the Notice by email must register their submission email addresses with the local Customs Offices.

In case an enterprise sends its Notice outside of working hours or on weekends/public holidays, it must follow provisions set forth in Article 4 of Circular No. 38/2015/TT-BTC. The acceptance email addresses for the Notices shall be posted publicly at the head offices of the local Customs Offices, and on websites of provincial and municipal Customs Offices, as well as the homepage of the General Department of Customs. For any email address, an customs officer shall regularly check the mailbox and reply to any received Notices within 2 working hours.