TAX INCENTIVE RULE IN VIETNAM FOR SOFTWARE PRODUCTION

I. In regulation:

Based on Circular No. 96/2015 / TT-BTC dated June 22, 2015 of the Ministry of Finance providing guidelines on CIT in Decree No. 12/2015 / ND-CP dated February 12, 2015 of the Government detailing the implementation of the Law:

+ In Clause 1, Article 11, amending and supplementing Clause 1, Article 19 of Circular No. 78/2014 / TT-BTC is stipulated as follows:

“1. Amending and supplementing Clause 1 Article 19 of Circular No. 78/2014 / TT-BTC as follows:

“1. 10% tax incentive rate for a period of fifteen years (15 years) applies to:

a) Income of enterprises from the implementation of new investment projects in: areas with particularly difficult socio-economic conditions

b) Income of enterprises from the implementation of new investment projects in the fields of scientific research and technological development … production of software products…

+ In Article 12, amending and supplementing some contents in Article 20 of Circular No. 78/2014 / TT-BTC as follows:

1. Amend and supplement Point a, Clause 1, Article 20 of Circular No. 78/2014 / TT- BTC as follows:

“1. Tax exemption for four years, 50% reduction of payable tax for the next nine years for:

a) Income of enterprises from the implementation of investment projects stipulated in Clause 1 Article 19 of Circular No. 78/2014 / TT-BTC (amended and supplemented in Clause 1 Article 11 of this Circular) ”.

2. Amend and supplement Clause 4 Article 20 of Circular No. 78/2014 / TT-BTC as follows:

“4. The period of tax exemption and reduction stipulated in this Article is calculated continuously from the first year when an enterprise has taxable income from a new investment project entitled to tax incentives. In case the enterprise does not have taxable income for the first three years, from the first year having revenue from a new investment project, the period of tax exemption and reduction shall be calculated from the fourth year of the newly arising investment project revenue.”

Thus, enterprises producing software products are entitled to a tax incentive rate of 10% for a period of 15 years; exemption of CIT for 4 years and 50% reduction of CIT for the next 9 years for income from the implementation of new investment projects in the production of software products.

II. Conditions:

According to the regulations, and basing on the recent update from new Official Letters of Ho Chi Minh City Tax Authority, a business is eligible to be considered a software production enterprise, need to meet the following requirements:

–      Having an Enterprise Registration Certificate or Investment Certificate;

–      Software products produced by enterprises belong to one of the types of software products specified in the List of software products issued under Circular No. 09/2013 / TT- BTTTT;

–      Software production and development process of the enterprise includes one or more steps mentioned in Circular 13/2020/ TT-BTTTT.