1. Law on Excise Tax No. 66/2025/QH15 dated 14 June 2025 (“Law on Excise Tax 2025”)
The Law on Excise Tax 2025 was promulgated by the National Assembly on 14 June 2025 and effective from 01 January 2026, providing for the following new provisions:
The Law supplements taxable objects by including beverages with a sugar content of more than 5g/100mL under the National Technical Standards; and removes air conditioners with a capacity under 24,000 BTU from taxable objects, etc.,[1] in order to limit impacts on legitimate consumer demand. At the same time, the Law revises and supplements the description of a number of goods subject to excise tax, including tobacco, liquor, beer, and motor vehicles, to ensure consistency with relevant laws. In addition, the Law also clearly stipulates that business entities must pay taxes if they exceed the re-export, re-import deadlines, or change the purpose of using goods during the temporary import or re-export period.[2]
The Law also amends the list of non-taxable objects, including exported goods which have been returned but have not yet been used, processed, or manufactured; and vehicles operating within limited areas or serving rescue, salvage, or training purposes.[3] In addition, the Law provides a mechanism for amending the aforesaid list to suit socio-economic conditions in each period.[4]
Regarding tax bases and calculation methods, the Law inherits the current provisions on percentage-based tax calculation method, while also introducing the hybrid tax calculation method for tobacco; accordingly, from 2027 to 2031, tobacco shall be subject to excise tax calculated based on a percentage rate plus an absolute tax amount.[5] This marks the most significant change: instead of calculating the tax solely based on the selling price, the Law adds an absolute tax amount for each unit of tobacco product to more effectively reduce consumption in line with international recommendations.
Notably, the Law on Excise Tax 2025 amends provisions on taxable price, including (i) the taxable price of imported goods must include any additional import duty (such as safeguard duties, anti-dumping duties, etc.); and (ii) for promotional goods and services, the excise taxable price is the taxable price of goods or services of the same type or equivalent at the time such promotional activities occur.[6]
The Law also supplements specific provisions on the time of determining excise tax and certain related matters in order to avoid difficulties in implementation and to ensure consistency and uniformity with relevant laws. Specifically, Article 7 of the Law on Excise Tax 2025 provides that the time of determining excise tax is: (i) for goods, the time when ownership or the right to use the goods is transferred; (ii) for services, the time when the service provision is completed or the service invoice is issued; and (iii) for imported goods, the time of customs declaration registration.
The Law on Excise Tax 2025 reflects a considerable and flexible development in regulating consumption. Accordingly, it is necessary to update implementing regulations to ensure compliance with relevant provisions on dossiers and procedures.[7]
2. Law on Amending and Supplementing certain articles of the Law on Value-Added Tax No. 149/2025/QH15 dated 11 December 2025 (“Amended Law on VAT 2025”)
The Amended Law on VAT 2025 focuses on expanding the scope of entities eligible for VAT deduction, raising the revenue threshold subject to VAT, and simplifying conditions for VAT refunds, which shall take effect from 01 January 2026, with specifics as follows:
Supplementing entities which are not required to conduct VAT declaration and payment but input VAT is still deductible, including enterprises, cooperatives, and unions of cooperatives purchasing products of crops, planted forests, livestock, aquaculture, and captured fisheries which have not yet been processed or have only undergone preliminary processing, and selling them to other enterprises, cooperatives, and unions of cooperatives.[8]
Raising the revenue threshold subject to VAT to VND 500,000,000 per year for business households and individual business persons.[9]
Abolishing the regulation that buyers are only entitled to VAT refunds when sellers have declared and paid VAT.[10] Accordingly, the conditions for an enterprise to be entitled to a VAT refund are: (i) falling under cases eligible for VAT refund, having fully paid input VAT under the credit method, having sufficient invoices and supporting documents; and (ii) not being subject to serious administrative penalties for violations relating to invoices and tax within a period prior to the time of the refund claim. Accordingly, purchasing enterprises shall be entitled to VAT refunds independently, avoiding dependence on the declaration and payment of tax by selling enterprises.
3. Decree No. 292/2025/ND-CP dated 06 November 2025 of the Government detailing and guiding the implementation of Resolution No. 216/2025/QH15 of the National Assembly on the extension of the exemption from agricultural land use tax (“Decree 292”)
Decree 292, effective from 01 January 2026, extends the exemption from agricultural land use tax until 31 December 2030,[11] while also expands and specifies the categories of entities eligible for exemption from agricultural land use tax for the entire area of agricultural land, including the supplementation of unions of cooperatives, residential communities, and entities receiving land under stable contractual allocation.[12]
In particular, Decree 292, for the first time, provides for a tax exemption mechanism applicable to economic organizations, political organizations, socio-professional organizations, public service units, and other organizations that are allocated agricultural land by the State for the purpose of direct production.[13]
It can be seen that Decree 292 continues to affirm the State’s attention to supporting individuals, cooperatives, and enterprises engaged in agricultural production, contributing to the stabilization of pastoral livelihoods and the sustainable development of the agricultural economy.
4. Decree No. 293/2025/ND-CP dated 10 November 2025 of the Government on minimum wages for employees working under labor contracts (“Decree 293”)
Decree 293, effective from 01 January 2026, adjusts the minimum wages applicable to employees as follows:[14]
In addition, the Decree provides for the determination of regions based on commune-level administrative boundaries instead of district-level as previously applied;[15] the application of the highest minimum wage where employees work in industrial parks, export processing zones, etc. located across areas with different minimum wage levels;[16] and provides that where any adjustment of applicable areas results in a minimum wage lower than the minimum wage prescribed by the Government as at 31 December 2025, the minimum wage at that time shall continue to apply to employees recruited prior to such time.[17] Accordingly, employers should take note in reviewing and adjusting wages for employees in order to comply with the new regulations
5. Decree No. 337/2025/ND-CP dated 24 December 2025 of the Government on electronic labor contracts (“Decree 337”)
Decree 337, effective from 01 January 2026, specifies the method of entering into electronic labor contracts, acting as a key legal framework for the wide implementation of this form of labor contracts, with the following main provisions:
- With respect to legal validity and value, an electronic labor contract has the same legal validity as a labor contract in paper form, which is established in the form of a data message,[18] and takes effect from the time the last party affixes its digital signature, together with a timestamp and certification by the provider of the Information System serving electronic transactions in the conclusion and performance of electronic labor contracts (the “eContract” system), unless otherwise agreed by the parties.[19]
- Conditions applicable to parties to an electronic labor contract include: (i) employees and employers must possess valid legal documents or a level-2 electronic identification account and must use digital signatures, timestamp services in accordance with the law on electronic transactions;[20] and (ii) the eContract service provider must be an organization or enterprise selected by the parties, having an eContract system that satisfies technical requirements, ensures the capability to collect, verify, and reconcile data, and possesses a license for trust services, including data message authentication services in accordance with applicable laws.[21]
At the same time, the parties may convert the labor contract from the written paper form into the electronic form when meeting certain conditions relating to electronic transactions, identification, and authentication.[22]
It can be seen that, in the digital era, the State has been encouraging the use of electronic labor contracts to replace the written paper form in human resource management and in handling administrative procedures relating to labor contracts.[23]
[1] Point e, l Clause 1 Article 2 of the Law on Excise Tax 2025
[2] Point b3 Clause 1 Article 3 of the Law on Excise Tax 2025
[3] Point a, b5, c, d Clause 1 Article 3 of the Law on Excise Tax 2025
[4] Point b Clause 1 and Clause 2 Article 3 of the Law on Excise Tax 2025
[5] Article 5, Article 8 of the Law on Excise Tax 2025
[6] Clause 2 Article 6 of the Law on Excise Tax 2025
[7] Review Decree No. 360/2025/ND-CP dated 31 December 2025 and Circular No. 158/2025/TT-BTC dated 31 December 2025
[8] Point a Clause 1 Article 1 of the Amended Law on VAT 2025
[9] Point b Clause 1 Article 1 of the Amended Law on VAT 2025, Clause 25 Article 5 of the 2024 Law on VAT
[10] Clause 3 Article 1 of the Amended Law on VAT 2025
[11] Article 4 of Decree 292
[12] Clause 3 Article 2 of Decree 292
[13] Clause 4 Article 2 of Decree 292
[14] Clause 1 Article 3 of Decree 293
[15] List of areas for the application of minimum wages attached to Decree 293
[16] Point c Clause 3 Article 3 of Decree 293
[17] Clause 5 Article 5 of Decree 293
[18] Clause 1 Article 3 of Decree 337
[19] Article 7 of Decree 337
[20] Clause 2 Article 6 of Decree 337
[21] Clause 4 Article 3, Clause 3 Article 6 of Decree 337
[22] Clause 1 Article 8 of Decree 337
[23] Clause 3 Article 4 of Decree 337
