Vietnam’s Decree 91 Makes Amendments to the Tax Administration Law

Vietnam’s Decree 91 makes amendments to the country’s Tax Administration Law. One of the changes includes reinstating the ’80 percent rule’ regarding provisional corporate income tax.

Another amendment includes the requirement for e-commerce platforms to no longer be responsible for paying taxes on behalf of sellers, and to only report accurate information regarding the sellers and traders on their platforms to the tax authorities.

Vietnam’s government issued Decree No. 91/2022/ND-CP (Decree 91) in late October 2022 to amend Decree No. 126/2020/ND-CP (Decree 126) guiding the implementation of the Tax Administration Law.

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Provisional CIT payments

Under the previous regulation Decree 126, the total provisional CIT payments made for the first three quarters of the year must not be lower than 75 percent of the finalized payable CIT.

Decree 91 makes amendments by reinstating the 80 percent rule. Under this rule, the total provisional quarterly CIT payments for four quarters must not be lower than 80 percent of the finalized payable CIT.

The regulation on provisional CIT payment is retrospectively applied from the 2021 tax period, but, under the following scenarios:

• If the taxpayer’s provisional CIT paid in the first three quarters of 2021 was less than 75 percent of the total liable CIT, then the 80 percent rule under Decree 91 can be applied but it must not result in an increase in late payment interest; and
• If the taxpayer’s provisional CIT paid in the first three quarters of 2021 was not less than 75 percent of the total liable CIT, the 80 percent rule would not apply.

New reporting requirements for owners of e-commerce entities

Owners of e-commerce platforms established and operating under Vietnamese laws are responsible for providing the tax authorities with information about individuals, organizations, and traders that conduct the sales of goods and services on the e-commerce platform. Further, e-commerce platforms must also report the revenue earned by sellers from their online transactions.

The information should include name, tax identification number, identification card or passport number, address, and telephone number. The reporting must be performed on a quarterly basis.

E-commerce platforms do not have to pay taxes on behalf of sellers

Also under Decree 91, e-commerce platforms are no longer responsible for paying taxes on behalf of sellers. E-commerce platforms registered in Vietnam will only need to provide accurate information as mentioned.

This amendment bodes well for e-commerce platforms that are already facing high operating costs. Vietnam’s digital economy was one of the fastest growing in Southeast Asia, with a gross merchandise value of US$23 billion in 2022. This is estimated to grow to US$49 billion by 2025. The e-commerce sector will be the backbone of this growth and is expected to be valued at US$32 billion by the same year.

The country is already home to some of Southeast Asia’s most successful foreign e-commerce platforms such as Lazada and Shopee. However, the industry does face challenges however, from high logistic costs to poor infrastructure to the heavy usage of manual sorting of goods. 

Deadlines for tax payments and declarations

If the deadline for tax payments, declaration, and other tax administration work coincides with a public holiday, the deadline will be extended to the subsequent working day.

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