Vietnam Extends CIT, VAT, Land Rent Payment to Aid Business Recovery
To aid business recovery, Vietnam issued Decree 34/2022/ND-CP on extending the deadline for corporate income tax (CIT), personal income tax (PIT), value-added tax (VAT), and land rental fees for 2022. Decree 34 applies to business activities that have generated revenue in 2021 or 2022. The Decree took effect on May 28 and is valid until December 31, 2022. Decree 34 is similar to Decree 52 last year, which catered to businesses affected by the pandemic.
Who is eligible?
The Decree applies to companies, individuals, and businesses households (taxpayers). For VAT benefits, the Decree applies to taxpayers who have production activities in agriculture, forestry and fishery, food, textiles, rubber, metal production, electronics, automobiles, construction, and wastewater treatment.
For CIT and land rental fee benefits, the Decree applies to taxpayers in transport, accommodation, food and drink, education, labor, healthcare, computer programming, supporting industry products, credit institutions, and foreign banks.
How are the deadlines for tax payment extended?
Eligible taxpayers are granted a specific extension of tax payments of which details are as follows:
VAT (Except VAT on imports)
A descending deferral of VAT payment to eligible taxpayers for certain VAT-reporting periods, specifically:
- 6-month deferral for VAT payable from March-May 2022;
- 5-month deferral for VAT payable of Jun 2022 and 2nd quarter of 2022;
- 4-month deferral for VAT payable of Jul 2022 and 2nd quarter of 2022; and
- 3-month deferral for VAT payable of Aug 2022 and 2nd quarter of 2022.
VAT and PIT for individuals and business households
The deadline for payment for VAT and PIT for individuals and business households such as SMEs is extended to December 30, 2022.
CIT
CIT payments for Q1 and Q2 will be extended by three months. So, for example, payment of Q1 CIT would be due by July 30, 2022. Of note, taxpayers should still consider the 75 percent rule when making provisional CIT remittances.
Land rental fee
Land rental fees for taxpayers leasing directly from the government has been extended with a six-month duration from May 31 to November 30, 2022.
Procedures for extension of payments
It is important to note that the tax deferral is not applied automatically, rather the eligible taxpayers must prepare and submit an application for tax and land rent deferral (either electronically or other methods) to the managing tax authority for their consideration.
Taxpayers are required to submit the deferral along with relevant forms in Decree 34 to local tax authorities with their monthly or quarterly return no later than September 30, 2022.
Taxpayers will be responsible for doing a self-assessment of their eligibility for deferment of tax payments and tax authorities do not have to inform businesses whether their application is accepted.
If taxpayers are found to be ineligible for deferment of tax and land lease payments in future tax audits, they will be subject to interest penalties for late payments by tax authorities.
Therefore, businesses should maintain enough evidence to justify their eligibility to mitigate the risks of any future tax payments and interest penalties. Firms are advised to seek professional advice to ensure they can take advantage of Decree 34 but also remain compliant.
