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In this newsletter, Grant Thornton Vietnam would like to update some tax policies and new significant guidance

The majority of Vietnamese taxpayers end their financial years on December 31 and thus will be subject to the deadline for 2017 corporate income tax (“CIT”) returns on March 31, 2018.

The Government continues to assert its intention to improve the business environment with the reduction in the requirements for inspections licenses and sub-licenses.

The year 2017 certainly ended with a bang, with an amount of US$ 5 billion going straight into the foreign exchange reserves as a result of the sale of 53% of the Governments holding in brewing company SABECO, to Thai Beverage.

Whilst the Government continues with its policy of enabling the business environment with a reduction in bureaucracy and the number of licenses and approvals the economy has overall shown some really great results.

In this newsletter, Grant Thornton Vietnam would like to update some tax policies and new significant guidance

The meeting which was attended by Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, MPI Minister Nguyen Chi Dung, Head of the World Bank In Vietnam, Head of the IFC in Vietnam, Dr Vu Tien Loc-President of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry, other Ministers and deputy ministers and members fot eh various Business Chambers in Vietnam, marked the 20th anniversary of the VBF in Vietnam, a platform for dialogue between the Private sector and the Vietnamese Government supported by the World Bank, IFC and other Bi-lateral and multi-lateral donors.

Asia Pacific is a vast and diverse region, and one of the strongest performing parts of the global economy.

The first project, I was involved in as project director, to assist the Vietnamese Government to speed up equitisation or privatization as we know it in the west, was funded by the Asian Development Bank in the year 2000. At that time there were over 12,000 SOE’s and whist the number has much reduced very few of the enterprises, which have been sought after by foreign investors in particular, have come to market through IPO’s.

In this newsletter, Grant Thornton Vietnam would like to update certain significant points in a new decree and some tax guidelines

Ho Chi Minh City (“HCMC”) has long been regarded as the commercial “capital” of Vietnam and the largest contributor to the state budget. It has been the economic spearhead for the whole Mekong Delta region since “Doi Moi”. However in recent years the growth rate in HCMC has been seen to be slowing. In 2010 GDP growth was 11.8% and between 2010 and 2015 ranged from 9.2 to 11.8% whilst in 2016 and forecast 2017 the rate will be in the range of 8%.

In this newsletter, Grant Thornton Vietnam would like to update some significant points relating to the recent guidelines issued by the tax authorities

After months and years of discussion and deliberation Vietnam has finally published circular 102/2017/TT-BC, which will help guide the implementation of Decree 3/2017/ND-CP which was passed earlier in 2017. The big game changer is the fact that Vietnamese citizens will be able to enter casinos from December 2017, which up until now have been restricted to foreigners. The debate has really between balancing the communist ideals and the pragmatism of recognizing the significant tax revenue lost every year to neighboring countries and in particular Cambodia.

Whilst corporate tax avoidance continues to grab headlines, some of the biggest reforms are in fact occurring within indirect tax.

With all the news and high profile visits last week for the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (“APEC”) Summit, it would be remiss of me not to remind my readers of the goals of APEC and importance to Vietnam.

An efficient transport system in critical for Vietnam’s development, both in boosting urban area prosperity and reducing rural inequalities. Transport is high on the Government’s priority list because it is critical to the two biggest sectors Services and Tourism and manufacturing.