A foreign-invested enterprise (FIE) in Vietnam deals with four taxes almost every month: value added tax (VAT) on what it sells, personal income tax (PIT) withheld from its staff, corporate income tax (CIT) on its profit, and foreign contractor tax (FCT) whenever it pays an overseas supplier for services or royalties. Around those four sit taxes that depend on the business: import and export duties, special consumption tax, environmental protection tax, natural resources tax and land-related charges.
Each tax has its own law, but all of them are declared, paid and audited under one procedural law, the Law on Tax Administration (Law 38/2019/QH14). Understanding that split — substantive tax laws on one side, one administration law on the other — is the quickest way to find the right rule when a question comes up. This guide maps the system as it stands in 2026 and points to where each piece is regulated.
The four taxes that reach almost every company
| Tax | What it taxes | Main law | How it usually runs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Corporate income tax | The company's profit | Law 67/2025/QH15, applied from the 2025 tax year | Provisional payments each quarter, annual finalisation |
| Value added tax | Sales of goods and services in Vietnam, and imports | Law 48/2024/QH15, in force from 1 July 2025 | Monthly or quarterly return; input VAT credited against output VAT |
| Personal income tax | Employees' salaries and other individual income | Law on Personal Income Tax and its guidance | Withheld by the employer, declared monthly or quarterly, finalised yearly |
| Foreign contractor tax | Vietnamese-source income of overseas suppliers | Rules under the CIT and VAT laws and tax administration guidance | Withheld by the Vietnamese payer when it pays |
The standard CIT rate is 20%, with reduced rates of 15% and 17% for companies whose total annual revenue is not more than VND 3 billion, or more than VND 3 billion up to VND 50 billion. VAT has three rates — 0%, 5% and 10% — and a temporary 2% reduction has been applied to certain groups of goods and services under resolutions of the National Assembly; check whether it covers your products for the period in question, because the scope and end date are set each time.
Foreign contractor tax is not a separate law but a regime: when a Vietnamese company pays a foreign entity for services, interest, royalties or certain supplies, the payment carries Vietnamese VAT and CIT that the payer usually withholds. For a subsidiary that buys group services, licences software or borrows from its parent, FCT is a monthly reality rather than an occasional issue.
Taxes that depend on what your business does
Beyond the core four, the list depends on activity and assets:
- Import and export duties — charged at the border on the customs value of goods, alongside import VAT and, for some goods, special consumption tax and environmental protection tax. Manufacturers under processing or export arrangements often have duty treatment of their own, which is handled with customs rather than the tax office.
- Special consumption tax — on goods and services the State wants to restrict or regulate, such as tobacco, alcohol, beer and cars. A new law, Law 66/2025/QH15, applies from 1 January 2026. If you import or produce anything in these groups, the rate structure and taxable price need a separate review.
- Environmental protection tax — on a defined list of products such as fuels and certain plastic bags, usually collected at production or import.
- Natural resources tax — for companies that extract resources, including water used in some industrial processes.
- Land-related charges — land rent for leased land, non-agricultural land use tax, and registration fees when an asset changes hands. In industrial parks, land rent is often paid through the infrastructure developer, but the legal obligation still needs to be understood.
Social insurance, health insurance and unemployment insurance are not taxes, but they are levied on the same payroll as PIT and audited by a different authority. Finance teams usually manage them in the same monthly cycle.
What has disappeared recently
Two changes simplify the picture for 2026. First, the annual business licence fee was abolished from 1 January 2026 under Resolution 198/2025/QH15, so there is no longer a separate licence fee declaration each year. Amounts that fell due for earlier years and were not paid remain payable.
Second, the same resolution ends the presumptive (lump-sum) tax method for household businesses no later than 2026. That matters to an FIE indirectly: many small local suppliers — canteens, drivers, repair shops, landlords of staff housing — are household businesses. As they move to declaring their own revenue, more of them will be able to issue proper invoices, and your accounts payable team should expect the documentation from these suppliers to change during the transition.
A third change is administrative rather than a tax: since 1 July 2025 the personal identification number replaces the personal tax code. Payroll records for Vietnamese staff should now carry the identification number; expatriates without one still need a tax registration handled through the employer.
One procedural law for all of them
Whatever the tax, the procedure follows the Law on Tax Administration: registration, filing, payment, refunds, exemptions, audits and enforcement. Its implementing framework was renewed in mid-2026. Decree 252/2026/NĐ-CP guides the Law on Tax Administration and Circular 89/2026/TT-BTC guides both the law and the decree; both took effect on 1 July 2026. Periods before that date may still be governed by the earlier documents, such as Decree 126/2020/NĐ-CP and Circular 80/2021/TT-BTC. We name these so you know where to look; read the text itself before relying on a specific procedure.
The core calendar under the Law on Tax Administration has not moved:
- Monthly returns: by the 20th of the following month.
- Quarterly returns: by the last day of the first month of the next quarter.
- Annual CIT finalisation for an organisation: by the last day of the third month after the financial year ends.
- Individuals finalising PIT themselves: by the last day of the fourth month.
Vietnam works on self-assessment. The company calculates, declares and pays; the tax authority checks afterwards, either at its own office from the returns or by visiting the company. Late payment attracts interest calculated per day on the amount paid late — the rate has long been 0.03% per day; check the rate currently in force.
How the pieces meet in an ordinary month
A hypothetical example shows how the taxes interlock. Suppose a foreign-invested distributor in Dong Nai has the following month:
- It sells goods to local retailers and issues e-invoices. Output VAT arises on each invoice; the revenue will later count for CIT.
- It buys goods from local suppliers. Their e-invoices give it input VAT to credit, provided invoices of VND 5 million or more are paid by non-cash means, and the costs become deductible for CIT if the conditions are met.
- It imports a batch of goods. Customs collects import duty and import VAT; the import VAT is creditable in the monthly VAT return.
- It pays salaries and withholds PIT for Vietnamese and expatriate staff.
- It pays its parent company a management fee. That payment triggers foreign contractor tax, and the fee must also stand up as a deductible expense under the related-party rules.
By the 20th of the next month, the company files its VAT return (if monthly), its PIT withholding return (if monthly) and the FCT declaration for the payment to the parent. Each quarter it makes a provisional CIT payment. Once a year it finalises CIT and PIT. The same transactions feed several taxes, which is why a mismatch in one — an invoice missing from the VAT return, for example — tends to surface in another.
Who you deal with
The tax administration was reorganised in 2025. Since 1 July 2025 Vietnam has 34 provinces and centrally run cities and no district level, and the tax authority works in three tiers: the Tax Department at central level, provincial and city tax offices, and grassroots tax offices (Thuế cơ sở). Your company is managed by one of them, shown in the taxpayer lookup.
Customs is a separate authority for anything that crosses the border. Social insurance has its own agency. For land, the local natural resources and environment authority and the provincial tax office share the work. An FIE therefore rarely has a single counterpart; what it can do is keep one internal owner for each relationship and one master calendar that covers all of them.
Where to check your own position
- The taxpayer information lookup of the tax authority shows your company's registration status and managing tax office, searched by tax code (mã số thuế).
- Your company's e-tax account shows returns filed, payments credited and amounts the system treats as outstanding. The mobile tax app gives a read-only view of much of the same.
- The e-invoice portal shows invoices issued by and to your company, which is where a VAT or expense mismatch usually starts.
- Your managing tax office, for anything the systems do not answer.
For the full text of the laws named here, the Vietnamese-language library on our sister site NganhThue.com lists them with their effective dates.
Frequently asked questions
Which taxes will a newly licensed FIE deal with first?
Usually VAT and PIT, because they start with the first sale and the first payroll. CIT starts with the first quarterly provisional payment, and foreign contractor tax starts with the first payment to an overseas supplier, which for many subsidiaries is the setup fee charged by the parent.
Is there a single tax return that covers everything?
No. Each tax has its own return, filed through the e-tax system on its own cycle. The procedures are uniform because they all follow the Law on Tax Administration, but the returns are separate.
Does Vietnam tax on a territorial or worldwide basis for companies?
A Vietnamese company is taxed on its income, including income earned abroad, with credit for foreign tax under the rules and treaties that apply. A foreign company without a Vietnamese entity is taxed only on Vietnamese-source income, mostly through foreign contractor tax or a permanent establishment.
Is the 2% VAT reduction still available?
It has been applied for set periods and to defined groups of goods and services under resolutions of the National Assembly. Check the resolution covering the period and whether your products are on the included or excluded lists before invoicing at the reduced rate.
Do we still need to pay the business licence fee for our branches?
No, the business licence fee was abolished from 1 January 2026 under Resolution 198/2025/QH15, for the company and its branches. Unpaid amounts for earlier years remain payable.
Where do customs duties fit in?
Import and export duties are administered by customs, not the tax office, and are paid when goods clear the border. Import VAT collected by customs is still creditable in your VAT return with the tax office.
