September 2026: Vietnam regulatory compliance updates.

This September 2026 publication of our Regulatory Compliance Updates brings several important regulatory updates that may impact your business operations in Vietnam, covering the following key areas:

Staying abreast of these developments will help ensure your business is well-positioned to navigate upcoming regulatory changes.

August 2026 tax filing and payment deadlines

The Ho Chi Minh City Tax Department issued a notice reminding taxpayers of the filing and payment deadlines for taxes declared on a monthly basis for the August 2026 tax period. The notice covers VAT, Special Consumption Tax, Environmental Protection Tax and Natural Resources Tax. Both the tax return filing and tax payment are due on 21 September 2026.

For taxpayers eligible for the tax payment extension under Decree 245/2026/ND-CP, the following key points apply:

• The payment deadline for VAT arising in August 2026 is extended to 21 December 2026.
• For supplementary filings, the payment deadline remains linked to the original tax period in which the under-declaration or error arose.
• Where an eligible taxpayer submits a supplementary declaration before the extended deadline and the adjustment increases tax payable, the additional amount typically also qualifies for the extension.
• Supplementary declarations submitted after the extended deadline do not benefit from the extension for any additional liability.

Taxpayers who need further clarification can contact their managing tax authority for guidance.

Personal and corporate income tax reductions for 2026 and 2027

On 24 August 2026, at its First Extraordinary Session, the 16th National Assembly of Vietnam adopted Resolution 43/2026/QH16, introducing temporary personal income tax (PIT) and corporate income tax (CIT) relief measures for eligible individuals and enterprises. The Resolution took effect on 24 August 2026 and applies to the 2026 and 2027 tax periods. Under Article 1, the reductions apply as follows:

• A 30% reduction of PIT payable is available for resident individuals deriving business income, provided their annual revenue does not exceed VND 10 billion in the relevant tax year.
• A 30% reduction of CIT payable is available for enterprises and organisations established under Vietnamese law, provided their annual revenue does not exceed VND 10 billion in the relevant tax year.
• This CIT reduction does not apply to enterprises formed through division or separation after the Resolution took effect, where the combined annual revenue of the resulting enterprises exceeds VND 10 billion in either 2026 or 2027.

Where a taxpayer is already entitled to CIT incentives under the prevailing tax regulations, the 30% CIT reduction is applied after taking into account any applicable tax incentives, and is calculated based on the remaining CIT payable.

Vietnam sets penalties for personal data protection violations

On 19 August 2026, the Government issued Decree 330/2026/ND-CP, effective immediately, attaching specific fines and remedial measures to existing cybersecurity and personal data protection (PDP) duties under the Personal Data Protection Law and Decree 356/2025/ND-CP. The Decree does not introduce new compliance duties. It defines what happens when existing duties are breached.

• Serious cross-border data transfer violations can attract fines of up to 5% of the organisation’s prior-year revenue in the Vietnam market.
• Unlawful trading of personal data can attract fines of two to ten times the unlawful proceeds, with fixed fines in specified cases.
• Other violations are capped at VND 3 billion, with a detailed schedule of specific fines for issues such as consent defects, unlawful marketing communications and misuse of biometric data.
• Additional sanctions can include suspension of processing or transfer activities, deletion of unlawfully processed data and disgorgement of unlawful gains, which can affect business continuity more than the fine itself.

Almost every business operating in Vietnam falls within scope, since the Decree applies wherever personal data is collected, stored, used or transferred, including through HR, payroll, CRM and group reporting systems, regardless of sector.

For more information on this topic, please read our full article here.

Administrative penalties for labour and social insurance violations

On 15 July 2026, the Government issued Decree 283/2026/ND-CP, introducing a framework for administrative penalties relating to labour, social insurance (SI), and Vietnamese employees working overseas under labour contracts. The Decree takes effect on 10 September 2026 and sets out violations, penalty levels, remedial measures and enforcement powers across employment-related areas, including labour relations, recruitment and workforce management, occupational safety and health, employee representative organisations, SI and overseas employment.

• Employers face penalties of VND 1 million to VND 3 million for violations such as failing to report labour utilisation, charging recruitment fees to employees, or failing to maintain or provide labour management records.
• More serious violations attract penalties of VND 5 million to VND 10 million, including discriminatory employment practices, employing workers without required qualifications or certifications, or failing to report workforce changes.
• Deceptive recruitment practices, including inducing or recruiting workers through false promises or fraud for exploitation or forced labour, can attract fines of VND 50 million to VND 75 million where the conduct does not meet the threshold for criminal liability.

The Decree also introduces remedial measures, including mandatory reimbursement to employees of any unlawful recruitment fees collected by employers.

New rules for foreign-invested goods trading activities

On 3 September 2026, the Government issued Decree 342/2026/ND-CP, providing detailed guidance under the Law on Commerce and the Law on Foreign Trade Management for goods trading and related activities carried out by foreign investors and foreign-invested economic organisations in Vietnam. The Decree takes effect from 18 October 2026 and introduces changes across several areas, described below.

Trading licence requirements

The Decree clarifies the activities for which a Trading Licence is required:

• Retail distribution of goods
• Import and wholesale distribution of certain goods subject to the specific conditions under the Decree (oil and lubricants)
• Logistics services in cases falling outside Vietnam’s relevant international market-opening commitments
• Leasing of goods, subject to specified exclusions
• Trade promotion services, excluding advertising
• Commercial intermediary services
• Operation of intermediary e-commerce platforms, social networks conducting e-commerce activities and integrated e-commerce platforms
• Organisation of bidding for goods and services

A foreign-invested economic organisation does not need a Trading Licence to trade goods where the activity falls outside the licensing requirements and has already been registered in its investment and enterprise registration certificate.

The licensing criteria for investors from countries without market-opening commitments with Vietnam have been simplified and clarified. Licensing authorities will consider specialised laws and the activity’s effect on competitiveness within the domestic sector over the one-year period preceding the application submission date.

Goods without market-opening commitments, such as oil and lubricants, rice, sugar, recorded products, books, newspapers and magazines, are subject to separate conditions rather than one common mechanism.

Retail establishment licensing

The Decree re-regulates licensing for retail establishments belonging to foreign-invested enterprises, covering granting, adjustment, re-granting, extension and continued operation, and clarifies when an Economic Needs Test (ENT) applies. A notable change under Decree 342/2026/ND-CP is the expansion of cases where foreign-invested retailers do not need to undergo the ENT when opening additional retail outlets.

Before Decree 342, certain retail outlets were already exempt from the ENT, including the first retail outlet and an additional retail outlet with a sales area of less than 500 m², located in a shopping mall, provided that it is not a convenience store or mini supermarket.

Under the new Decree, an additional retail outlet will not be subject to the ENT where the foreign investor comes from a country or territory that has an international treaty with Vietnam containing a commitment to abolish the ENT.

This is a meaningful change because the applicability of the ENT is no longer determined solely by whether the outlet is the investor’s first or subsequent retail outlet. The investor’s country of origin and Vietnam’s treaty commitments must also be considered.

Other key points include:

• Enterprises operating a system of large-scale retail establishments (below or above 5,000 m²) are subject to a new consideration mechanism.
• In certain cases, the licensing authority obtains opinions from the Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of National Defence before deciding on approving the Trading Licence or Retail Outlet Licence.
• An enterprise can request simultaneous issuance of its Trading Licence and the Licence for Establishment of its first retail establishment, provided that establishment is located in the same province or centrally governed city as the enterprise’s head office.

Transition and grandfathering

The Decree adds a transitional mechanism for domestic enterprises converting into foreign-invested economic organisations. These enterprises can continue their retail activities while completing licensing procedures, for a maximum of 12 months from the date they are confirmed to meet foreign-investment conditions.

Licences granted before the Decree’s effective date remain valid and can continue to be used. Where an adjustment is needed, the enterprise follows the new Decree’s procedures. No adjustment is required where the only change is an address update resulting from provincial administrative rearrangement. Dossiers received before the effective date continue to be processed under Decree 09/2018/ND-CP.

Fee exemptions for citizens using VNeID

On 14 August 2026, the Ministry of Finance issued Circular 117/2026/TT-BTC, providing exemptions and reductions for certain fees and charges to implement Resolution 66.22/2026/NQ-CP on digital citizen development, dated 9 July 2026. The Circular applies to citizens holding a Level 2 electronic identification account who have completed integration of five types of basic information and documents into the VNeID application. It took effect from 15 August 2026 and runs until 28 February 2027. From 1 March 2027, the original fee rates resume.

Citizens meeting the conditions benefit from reduced registration fees, including:

• A 10% reduction in the registration fee for houses and land received through transfer, when registering ownership and land use rights.
• A 50% reduction in the registration fee for passenger cars with up to nine seats, when paying the fee for the second or subsequent time.
• A 100% reduction in the registration fee for motorcycles, when paying the fee for the second or subsequent time.

These reductions apply where the citizen submits declarations and fee dossiers electronically using a Level 2 account, and where the transferor has integrated the required documents, tax identification number and relevant land or vehicle registration information into VNeID.

Beyond registration fees, the Circular also introduces a broader set of exemptions for eligible citizens:

• Exemption from fees for accessing and using information in the civil status database.
• Exemption from residence registration fees.
• Exemption from fees for replacement and reissuance of identity cards.
• Exemption from fees for providing judicial record information.
• Exemption from licensing fees for road motor vehicle operation, in cases of replacement or reissuance of driving licences.
• Exemption from fees for vehicle registration and licence plate issuance, including replacement of registration certificates and plates, and temporary registration.
• Exemption from passport, travel document and exit permit fees, including ordinary passports, Vietnam-Cambodia border travel documents for officials, entry and exit documents for border areas near Vietnam-China, and APEC Business Travel Card (ABTC) issuance and reissuance.
• A 50% reduction in fees for registering and obtaining information on security interests involving movable property, seagoing ships, annual crops and temporary structures, excluding securities centrally registered at VSDC and aircraft.
• A 50% reduction in the fee for appraisal and approval of fire prevention and firefighting designs, with a minimum fee of VND 250,000 per project and a maximum of VND 75 million per project.

Transition of social insurance number to personal identification number

On 13 August 2026, Vietnam Social Security (VSS) issued Plan 3115/KH-BHXH on the transition from social insurance numbers to personal identification numbers (PINs) or Citizen Identity Card (CCCD) numbers for SI administration, effective from 1 September 2026.

The initiative forms part of the Government’s broader digital transformation strategy, aimed at promoting digital government and public services through the unified use of personal identification numbers. To ensure a smooth and consistent transition across VSS systems, while safeguarding the rights and benefits of participants, VSS has established a two-phase implementation plan.

Phase 1 covers data standardisation and system preparation, running from 15 August 2026 to 31 August 2026. During this phase, VSS will complete the standardisation of participant and employer data, upgrade relevant software systems, prepare technical infrastructure and ensure readiness for the transition to PIN/CCCD-based management.

Phase 2 covers data migration and system operation, from 1 September 2026. VSS will implement the nationwide conversion of SI numbers to PIN/CCCD numbers across all SI administration systems in accordance with the implementation schedule issued by its Information Technology Centre.

This transition is expected to simplify administrative procedures, enhance data consistency across government platforms and support the continued development of Vietnam’s digital public service ecosystem.

Official letters released

Official letters are released showing the competent authorities’ interpretation and application of Vietnamese law. This month’s letters provide guidance on personal income tax withholding, filing obligations for deregistered enterprises and the timing of VAT refunds for investment projects.

PIT withholding for former employees

On 19 August 2026, the Dong Thap Provincial Tax Department issued Official Letter 7161/DTH-QLDN2, clarifying how 10% PIT withholding applies to employees whose labour contracts have already ended. Where an employee’s contract ends on 31 July 2026 but their July salary is paid in August 2026, that income is treated as employment income paid to an individual without a labour contract, or under a contract of less than three months.

• Companies withhold 10% PIT on the employee’s taxable income before payment where the payment is VND 5 million or more.
• For payments below VND 5 million, withholding can still apply if the employee requests it.
• Where an individual expects their annual taxable income, after eligible deductions, will not reach the PIT liability threshold, they can submit a valid commitment to the company, and the company can then temporarily refrain from withholding.

At year end, income-paying organisations remain responsible for reporting the details and income of individuals for whom PIT was not withheld, in line with prescribed tax administration regulations.

Tax filing obligations for deregistered enterprises

On 7 August 2026, the Ninh Binh Provincial Tax Department issued Official Letter 5739/CT-CS, addressing tax filing and licence fee obligations for enterprises that no longer operate at their registered address and have had their Enterprise Registration Certificate revoked. The tax authority clarified that revocation of the certificate, together with an update to tax code status 06, does not automatically terminate the tax code or remove the enterprise’s filing obligations.

Key points in the guidance include:

• From the date of revocation until the enterprise submits its tax code deregistration application, it remains responsible for submitting all outstanding tax returns, unless exempted under Decree 252/2026/ND-CP or other relevant regulations.
• After submitting the deregistration application, the enterprise continues to complete tax finalisation up to the tax code termination date, and to declare any tax obligations arising afterwards.
• From 1 January 2026, enterprises no longer need to submit licence fee declarations or pay licence fees for 2026 and subsequent years.

This guidance is a reminder that tax compliance obligations generally continue throughout the deregistration process and may persist even after business operations have ceased.

VAT refund timing for investment projects

On 25 June 2026, the Lao Cai Provincial Tax Department issued Official Letter 1415/LCA-QLDN2, providing guidance on the timing of VAT refunds for investment projects. A business applying the VAT credit method and undertaking an investment project can be eligible for a refund where uncredited input VAT incurred during the investment phase reaches VND 300 million or more.

Where a project is complete but VAT incurred during the investment phase has not yet been refunded, the taxpayer can submit a refund application within one year of the completion date of the project, phase or component. The completion date is determined as the date the project, phase or component first generates revenue. Revenue unrelated to the investment project, such as management consulting services, is not treated as project revenue, and therefore cannot be used to determine the completion date or the start of the one-year filing period.

For more information on tax updates and other compliance requirements for businesses operating in Vietnam, follow our monthly releases on the website and social media channels at vietnam.acclime.com