As required by Notification 510/2021 issued by the Ministry of Planning, Finance and Industry, when calculating Personal Income Tax (“PIT”) for the six-month interim budget year (1 October 2021 to 31 March 2022), employees’ monthly fixed income items, such as their monthly salary and monthly fixed allowances must be annualized (i.e. multiplied by two) to […]

Recently, the Trade Department of the Ministry of Commerce issued Newsletter No. 2/2022 for additional items requiring an import license. This follows previous action by the department of adding commodity lines 3070 (Newsletter No. 18/2021) and 826 (Newsletter No. 1/2022) to the list of those requiring an import license. Effective from 2 March 2022, the […]

General regulations The Vietnam tax authorities have been enhancing the tax management mechanism to collect tax from non-residents who generate income from Vietnam through cross-border ecommerce and digital-based business activities. One of the most common methods is via the withholding mechanism, whereby the resident buyer is required to withhold, declare, and file the tax on […]

Three years on from the issuance of the Law on Trusts (dated 2 January 2019), the Non-Banking Financial Services Authority (“NBFSA”) issued Prakas No. 003 F.S.A.PrK on 26 January 2022 on Rules for the Management, Establishment, and Functioning of Trusts (“Prakas”) to set out the rules, conditions, and procedures on the establishment of trusts, their […]

With a lack of thin capitalization rules in Cambodia, interest free loans have been the norm for many Multinational Enterprises funding their investment and ongoing operations in Cambodia. However, loss making or small profit margin Cambodian Taxpayers with interest free loans have found themselves facing large tax reassessments over the past three and a half […]

Cryptocurrency trading is not new and attracts a lot of participants. However, there is currently lacking of a full legal framework to recognize the cryptocurrency whether as an asset or goods and thus can be traded under Vietnam regulations. According to the Article 105 of the 2015 Civil Code: “1. Property is objects, money, valuable […]

The State Administration Council enacted Law No. 1/2022 on Amending the Union Tax Law 2021 (“Amended UTL 2021”) on 6 January 2022 to increase the commercial tax rate over internet services and expand the income layers of undisclosed sources of income for the financial year 2021-2022. The Amended UTL 2021 took effect on 8 January […]

Over the last few months, the Accounting and Auditing Regulator (“ACAR”) has issued several notifications with regard to accounting report compliance requirements. We summarize the main points below. ACAR issued Notification No. 022 AAR.SCN on 22 November 2021 as a reminder that the following types of companies must submit to ACAR an audit report for […]

Credit notes and debit notes are used when there is an over- or under-charge on a customer’s invoice. Article 49 of the VAT Sub-Decree dated 24 December 1999 outlines the circumstances when a credit or debit note should be issued: The supply has been cancelled. The nature of the supply has been fundamentally varied or […]

In an otherwise complex context, the Public-Private Partnership (“PPP”) experience in Bangladesh demonstrates a high level of transparency from which neighboring countries in the region can learn. Highlights of this note PPP framework Procurement Government budgeting Investment and corporate laws Environment law and social impact Secured transactions law Land ownership restriction Land acquisition Procurement process […]

The Union Tax Law 2021 (“UTL 2021”) was enacted on 30 September 2021 by the State Administration Council (“SAC”). It is applicable for the financial year (“FY”) 2021-2022 (1 October 2021 to 31 March 2022). Some notable changes under the UTL 2021 for taxpayers are the reductions in tax rates on the taxable profits of […]

In order to shore up the economy and investments affected by the COVID-19 pandemic; the state administration council has increased the income ranges at each rate level applicable for Personal Income Tax (“PIT”) in Union Tax Law (“UTL”) 2021 dated 30 September 2021. The changes under UTL 2021 are more favorable for taxpayers, since more […]

The amendment of the tax laws No. 01/NA dated 7 August 2021 (“Tax Law Amendment 2021”) was adopted by Presidential Decree No. 231/P dated 21 December 2021 and became effective from 1 January 2022. We provide below a brief summary of the key changes to the existing tax laws (including the Taxation Administration Law No. […]

In recent tax audits performed by tax authorities national wide, especially in big cities and provinces where the tax contribution accounting for large part of the state budget like Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Hai Phong or Binh Duong, Ba ria-Vung Tau…, one of a typical issue of tax challenge is the deductibility of interest […]

Tax refunds for Commercial Tax (“CT”), Corporate Income Tax (“CIT”), and Specific Goods Tax (“SGT”) can arise if the total tax paid during the year exceeds the actual tax due for the year. Taxpayers can request a refund from the Internal Revenue Department (“IRD”) within a year from the date the notification of the tax […]

Part One of our articles focusing on intra-group services in Cambodia highlighted the importance of Cambodian taxpayers being able to fundamentally prove that intragroup services were actually rendered by its related party and that these services justified a charge being made by its related party. Highlights of this note Risk created by Head Office approach […]

The Internal Revenue Department (“IRD”) has launched an e-filing management system aimed at increasing the convenience of quarterly and annual return filings. As taxpayers will no longer be required to go to their relevant tax offices to lodge the returns in person, this will lead to reduced costs and time spent on filing the returns.  […]

On 7 September 2021, the Central Bank of Myanmar (“CBM”) issued a letter notifying all banks, financial service companies, and mobile financial service providers about a change to their financial year that will take effect from the 2022-2023 financial year onward. According to the CBM’s letter, the financial year (previously from 1 September to 30 […]

Overview Vietnam’s duty-free retail is emerging as a new attractive investment channel for both local and foreign investors. With the issuance of new regulations recently, Decree No.100/2020/NĐ-CP of the Government, selling duty-free goods online is acceptable. In addition, less complicated procedures are provided for downtown duty free set up. Compared to airport duty-free shops, downtown […]

Overview According to a report by Vietnam e-Commerce and Digital Economy Agency (governed by Ministry of Industry and Trade), with 53% of the population shopping online, the e-commerce market in Vietnam grew by 18% in 2020, reaching 11.8 billion USD, which accounted for 5.5% of total retail sales of consumer goods and services. According to […]