1. Environmental protection

On 6 January 2025, the Government issued Decree 05/2025/ND-CP (“Decree 05”) amending Decree 08/2022/ND-CP dated 10 January 2022 guiding a number of Articles of the Law on Environmental Protection. Decree 05, which takes effect from the date of signing, introduces some notable amendments as follows.

Public consultation in the EIA process

The environmental impact assessment (EIA) process requires consultation with population communities and individuals directly affected by the project, and agencies and organisations directly related to the project. Annex VIa of Decree 05 specifies contents that need to be consulted such as description of the details and location of the project, summary of impacts relating to wastes generated into the environment in the construction phase and the operation phase of the project, measures taken to minimize negative impacts on the environment, and comments of the project owner, etc. In addition, Decree 05 requires a project owner to send opinion slips for consultation to individuals directly affected by the project who do not attend the consultation meeting co-chaired by the project owner and the commune-level People’s Committee where the project located. The number of participants in the consultation meeting and those consulted through the method of sending opinion slips must account for at least two-thirds of the total number of directly affected individuals.

Environmental licences

Decree 05 provides more detailed guidance on procedures for granting environmental licences. The application file for an environmental licence must be submitted to the relevant environmental licensing agency for appraisal. The environmental licensing agency shall, based on results of the appraisal or results of inspection, issue an environmental licence to the project or business establishment, or explain the reasons for its refusal. The environmental licensing agency may require the owner of the project/business establishment to amend or supplement the application file. In such a case, the owner must complete and resubmit the application file within 12 months from the date of request.

Management of wastewater

Decree 05 adds provisions requiring business establishments engaged in production, business or services on the list of those likely to cause environmental pollution specified in Annex II of this Decree of which the wastewater discharge into the environment is 50m3/day or more must install independent power meters and meters to measure the output flow for their wastewater treatment systems, and keep operation diaries of treatment systems which must be written in Vietnamese and archived for at least 2 years.

For other business establishments that discharge wastewater into the environment, they must install meters to measure the output follow.

Recycling products and packaging

Producers and importers of products and packaging specified in Column 3 of Annex XXII of Decree 05 (e.g. batteries, lubricating oil, electrical and electronic products) for sale on the Vietnamese market must recycle such products and packaging according to the compulsory recycling ratio and specifications and the recycling schedule laid down in Decree 05. Producers and importers are those who are responsible for the quality and labelling of products and goods in Vietnam as provided by law.

The compulsory recycling ratio and specifications for each type of product or packaging in the first 3 years are detailed in Column 4 of Annex XXII. The competent authority shall adjust the compulsory recycling ratio every 3 years.

Other changes

Decree 05 amends, supplements and replaces a number of annexes of Decree 08/2022/ND-CP such as amending the list of projects likely to cause significant adverse environmental impacts and the list of projects likely to cause adverse environmental impacts; supplementing the form of opinion slips for consultation. It also amends provisions on environment protection in concentrated business zones and industrial clusters, and rehabilitation in mineral mining.

Under Decree 05, organisations and individuals are exempted from import tax on specialised machinery, equipment, vehicles, tools and materials imported for their own use in waste treatment facilities and environmental protection facilities subject to certain conditions.

2. Investment support

The Government issued Decree 182/2024/ND-CP (“Decree 182”) dated 31 December 2024 providing for the establishment, management and use of the Investment Support Fund. Decree 182 became effective on 31 December 2024 and applicable from the fiscal year 2024 onward. Below are the highlights of Decree 182.

Eligible enterprises

The Investment Support Fund (the Fund) will be set up by the Government to provide financial support for high-tech enterprises, enterprises carrying out projects that manufacture high-tech products, enterprises carrying out projects that apply high technology, and enterprises carrying out research and development projects. Those enterprises are eligible for support if they meet the criteria set out in Decree 182 (such as investment capital criteria, turnover criteria, the amount disbursed and period of capital disbursement) and have no tax arrears and other debts owning to State budget.

Types of support

The support will be made in Vietnamese Dong (VND) and be divided into the following forms: (a) annual support on expenditures; and (b) support of initial investment cost.

The maximum period that each enterprise/project can receive support is 5 years, except where extension is permitted by the Prime Minister. The support shall not be included in taxable income of enterprises.

The Fund provides annual support on expenditures incurred in a fiscal year for the following items: (i) human resource training and development expenses, (ii) research and development expenses, (iii) expenses on investment in fixed assets, (iv) high-tech product manufacturing expenses, (v) expenses on investment in social infrastructure facilities, and (vi) other cases decided by the Government. The amount of support that an enterprise can receive depends on the type and scale of the project, and the maximum level of support will be as below:

  • 50% of human resource training and development expenses.
  • 30% of research and development expenses.
  • 10% of expenses on investment in fixed assets, subject to a cap of 0.5% of the project’s total investment capital as stated in the investment policy decision or investment registration certificate of the project.
  • 3% of added values of high-tech products.
  • 25% of expenses on investment in social infrastructure facilities.

Enterprises carrying out research and development projects in the fields of semiconductor industry and artificial intelligence can receive support of initial investment cost if they satisfy the conditions to receive that support. The Fund provides support up to 50% of initial investment cost of the project, or other level as decided by the Government.

Procedures

Enterprises shall use the application form and follow procedures provided under Decree 182 to apply for support. Application dossiers must be submitted to the dossier receiving agencies (i.e. the Management Board of economic zones, industrial zones or high-tech zone; the provincial Department of Planning and Investment; or the executive body of the Fund within the Ministry of Planning and Investment, as the case may be) after the end of the fiscal year requesting support and before 10 July of the following year.

The executive body and the management board of the Fund shall review application dossiers, and then report to the Government for final decision. All supports will be disbursed in accordance with the payment process stipulated in Decree 182.

3. Bank guarantee

The State Bank of Vietnam issued Circular 61/2024/TT-NHNN (“Circular 61”) dated 31 December 2024 regulating bank guarantees. Circular 61 takes effect from 1 April 2025 and replaces Circular 11/2022/TT-NHNN dated 30 September 2022, as amended (“Circular 11”).

Circular 61 provides the conditions and procedures for credit institutions and foreign bank branches to issue guarantees for clients. Circular 61 inherits most of the provisions of Circular 11, and introduces certain amendments in order to comply with the Law on Credit Institutions and other relevant laws. The main amendments are as follows:

  • Circular 61 revises the definitions of “bank guarantee”, “cross-guarantee”, “guaranteed party” and “client” to be consistent with the term “bank guarantee” used in the Law on Credit Institutions.
  • A foreign bank branch may not issue a guarantee in foreign currencies for an institutional client which is a non-resident, except where the beneficiary is a resident.
  • If a client has the total balance of credit extension (including the amount for which the client requests for guarantee issuance) at a credit institution/foreign bank branch that is greater than or equal to 0.1% of the equity of that credit institution/foreign bank branch, it must provide information about its related persons in the request for guarantee issuance. This requirement does not apply in case the client is an offshore credit institution. In instances where the credit institution or foreign bank branch has negative equity capital, the 0.1% ratio applies to the charter capital or allocated capital (for foreign bank branches)
  • Credit institutions or foreign bank branches must publicly disclose their guarantee fee.
  • Circular 61 retains the provision of Circular 11 that in case of making on behalf payment in a foreign currency, the party marking on-behalf payment must account the loan amount in such foreign currency. However, Circular 61 additionally provides that the client can repay the debt in the same foreign currency as the on-behalf payment, or convert that amount into VND or another foreign currency at the exchange rate agreed by the parties for repayment of the debt.

4. Value Added Tax

The National Assembly adopted the Law No. 48/2024/QH15 on Value Added Tax (the “new VAT Law”) on 26 November 2024. The new VAT Law takes effect and replaces the Law on Value Added Tax 2008, as amended (the “current VAT Law”) from 1 July 2025 (except certain provisions).

Non-taxable objects

The new VAT Law removes certain goods and services from the list of non-taxable objects. Some notable goods and services which have been removed include, among others: fertilisers, specialised machinery and equipment servicing agricultural production, securities depository, and public postal and telecoms services. Under the new VAT Law, fertilisers, and specialised machinery and equipment servicing agricultural production will be subject to 5% VAT rate; securities depository, public postal and telecoms services will be subject to 10% VAT rate.

There are several goods and services that are newly added to the list of non-taxable objects, some of which include: goods imported by financial leasing companies and transported directly into non-tariff zones for financial lease to enterprises in non-tariff zones; assets sold by non-business organisations and individuals that are not value-added taxpayers.

Tax exempt threshold

The new VAT Law increases the tax exempt threshold for business households and individuals. Specifically, business households and individuals with annual turnover of VND 200 million or less are not subject to the VAT.

Taxable price and time of VAT determination

The new VAT Law supplements the determination of taxable price in cases of goods and services used for promotion, and casino business, electronic games with prizes and betting services. For imported goods, the taxable price is amended to include the value of import tax calculated according to the laws on export tax, import tax, additional import tax (if any), special consumption tax (if any) and environmental protection tax (if any).

The provisions on time of VAT determination already existed in Decree 209/2013/ND-CP, and are now put in the new VAT Law. Nonetheless, the time of VAT determination for exported and imported goods; telecoms services; insurance business services; electricity supply, production of electricity and clean water; real estate business; and petroleum construction, installation and activities will be prescribed by the Government.

Credit of input VAT

The new VAT Law maintains most of the VAT credit provisions of the current VAT Law, but also introduces some notable amendments such as specifying prohibited acts in tax credit and refund, and amending the conditions for entitlement to input VAT credit. In case a business entity detects errors in the declared or credited amount, additional declaration may be conducted before the tax agency announces its decision on tax examination or tax inspection.

VAT refund

The new VAT Law supplements that business entities that only produce goods or provide services subject to 5% VAT rate and have the input VAT of VND 300 million or more that has not been fully credited after 12 consecutive months or 4 consecutive quarters shall be eligible for VAT refund, and leaves the refund ratio for future regulations.

With respect to investment projects, the new VAT Law clarifies that projects eligible for VAT refund are new projects or expanded projects which are still in investing phrase (including projects with multiple phases or multiple components, other than projects not forming fixed assets), or oil and gas field-prospecting, exploring and developing projects which are still in investing phrase. However, there are several circumstances under which business entities are not entitled to VAT refund but permitted to carry forward the amount not yet credited to the next period (for instance, projects fail to contribute charter capital in full as undertaken, projects producing products being exploited natural resources and minerals processed into other products stipulated in Article 5.23 of the new VAT Law).

Further, business entities can claim refunds of VAT if they satisfy certain conditions set out in the new VAT Law.

5. Import of medical devices

The Government issued Decree 04/2025/ND-CP (“Decree 04”) dated 1 January 2025 amending Decree 98/2021/ND-CP dated 8 November 2021 on management of medical devices, as amended (“Decree 98”). Decree 04 takes effect from the date of signing.

Decree 04 extends the validity of import permits for medical devices that were granted from 01 January 2018 to 31 December 2021 to the end of 30 June 2025 (instead of 31 December 2024 provided under Decree 98). With respect to Class C and D medical devices that do not require an import permit and whose classification results were published on the portal of the Ministry of Health (MOH), the importation can continue until 30 June 2025 without the certification of the MOH.

Similarly, circulation registration numbers of in-vitro diagnostic biologicals that were granted from 1 January 2014 to 31 December 2019 are still valid until 30 June 2025.