VIETNAM: VAT and CIT Reductions Introduced to Spur Growth

The Vietnamese government has reduced the value-added tax (VAT) rate and is allowing taxpayers to file a corporate income tax (CIT) deductions for Covid-19-related expenses. Decree 15/2022/ND-CP, released on 28 January 2022, took effect from 1 February 2022, cutting the VAT rate from the previous 10% to 8% from on goods and services for the rest of the year. The reduction covers all stages of a product’s life including import, manufacturing, processing and trading. Excluded from the reduction, however, are goods and services in finance, banking, telecommunications, insurance, information technology and securities. The reduction is also not applicable to the trading of real estate; mining products, except coal; metal; cokes; precast metal products; chemical products; refined petroleum; and goods and services subject to excise tax. 

The decree also allows donations and sponsorships made by organisations and enterprises for containing the spread of Covid-19 to be included in the deductible expenses when filing corporate income declarations for the 2022 tax period. Taxpayers are required to maintain supporting documents for this, and comply with relevant regulations when filing a claim.