Consolidated Text No. 114/VBHN-VPQH: Law on Value Added Tax (as amended through Law No. 09/2026/QH16)
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Based on:114/VBHN-VPQH - Government Official Gazette
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The National Assembly Office has issued Consolidated Text No. 114/VBHN-VPQH, merging the full Law on Value Added Tax (VAT) No. 48/2024/QH15 (effective July 1, 2025) with three subsequent amendments: Law No. 90/2025/QH15, Law No. 149/2025/QH15 (effective January 1, 2026), and Law No. 09/2026/QH16 (effective April 24, 2026). This is the complete, up-to-date version of the VAT Law that businesses, accountants, and household businesses should use for reference instead of the original 2024 text. Main content covers: the scope of taxable objects and 28 categories of goods and services exempt from VAT (unprocessed farm produce, life insurance, medical services, textbooks, software, land-use-right transfers, and more); three tax rates of 0 percent, 5 percent, and 10 percent; two tax calculation methods (the credit method and the direct-on-revenue method); conditions for input VAT deduction and refund; and prohibited acts related to invoices and documentation. Key points for SME owners and household businesses: the annual revenue threshold below which household and individual businesses are exempt from VAT (Article 5, Clause 25) has been amended twice and is now set by the Government for each period; e-commerce platforms and digital platforms with payment functions must withhold, declare, and pay VAT on behalf of household and individual sellers using the platform; foreign suppliers selling goods or digital services through e-commerce channels to customers in Vietnam are subject to the 10 percent rate. The refund threshold for un-deducted input VAT is 300 million VND for exports and investment projects. Because this is a consolidated text rather than a new law, its provisions took effect on the dates listed above at different times; businesses should match each clause to its corresponding effective date when applying it.
Consolidated text and constituent laws
The Law on Value Added Tax (VAT) No. 48/2024/QH15, effective July 1, 2025, has been consolidated into Text No. 114/VBHN-VPQH, certified by the National Assembly Office on May 20, 2026 and published in Official Gazette No. 305 on June 3, 2026. The consolidation merges three rounds of amendments:
- Law No. 90/2025/QH15 dated June 25, 2025 (amending the Bidding Law, the PPP Law, the Customs Law, the VAT Law, the Import-Export Tax Law, the Investment Law, the Public Investment Law, and the Public Asset Management Law simultaneously), effective July 1, 2025.
- Law No. 149/2025/QH15 dated December 11, 2025, effective January 1, 2026.
- Law No. 09/2026/QH16 dated April 24, 2026 (amending the Personal Income Tax Law, the VAT Law, the Corporate Income Tax Law, and the Special Consumption Tax Law simultaneously), effective April 24, 2026.
The old VAT Law No. 13/2008/QH12 ceased to have effect once Law No. 48/2024/QH15 took effect.
Scope and taxpayers
VAT is levied on the value added to goods and services as they move from production through circulation to consumption in Vietnam. Taxpayers include: domestic production and business establishments; importers; organizations and individuals purchasing services from foreign contractors without a permanent establishment in Vietnam; foreign suppliers conducting e-commerce or digital-platform business with customers in Vietnam (remitted via digital platforms or intermediary organizations); and e-commerce platforms or digital platforms with payment functions, which must withhold, declare, and pay VAT on behalf of household and individual sellers using the platform.
Non-taxable objects (Article 5, 28 categories)
Non-exhaustively: unprocessed or minimally processed agricultural, forestry, and aquaculture products from self-producing sellers; breeding stock, seedlings, and animal/aquatic feed; salt; land-use-right transfers; life, health, and agricultural insurance and reinsurance; credit, securities, capital-transfer, and derivative services; medical and veterinary services; funeral services; education and vocational training; press, textbooks, and legal-text books; public passenger transport; domestically-unavailable machinery and equipment imported for scientific research or oil and gas exploration; national defense and security products; humanitarian aid goods; technology transfer, intellectual property, and software; unwrought imported gold bullion; raw exported natural resources and minerals; prosthetic and disability-aid products; and, notably, Clause 25 - goods and services of household and individual businesses whose annual revenue is at or below a threshold set by the Government (amended twice, by Law 149/2025 and Law 09/2026, effective January 1, 2026).
Businesses dealing only in non-taxable goods and services cannot deduct or claim a refund of input VAT (except where the 0 percent rate applies).
Tax rates
- 0 percent: exported goods and services, international transport, sales in non-tariff zones and duty-free shops, with specific carve-outs (e.g., technology transfer abroad, credit services, capital transfers).
- 5 percent: clean water, fertilizer, medical equipment, medicines, books (except those under Article 5, Clause 15), children's toys, social housing, scientific and technological services, and similar items.
- 10 percent: the default rate for everything else, including digital services sold by foreign suppliers through e-commerce channels or digital platforms to customers in Vietnam.
Tax calculation methods
Two methods apply:
- Credit (deduction) method: tax payable equals output VAT minus deductible input VAT. Applies to businesses with annual revenue of 1 billion VND or more, or those voluntarily registering, provided they maintain full accounting and invoicing records.
- Direct-on-revenue method: rates of 1 percent (distribution and supply of goods), 5 percent (services and construction without materials), 3 percent (manufacturing, transport, and construction with materials), or 2 percent (other business activities) - applied to businesses under the 1 billion VND revenue threshold, household and individual businesses, and foreign organizations without full accounting records. Law 149/2025 abolished the separate direct-on-value-added method for most other groups (gold, silver, and gemstone trading remains under Article 12, Clause 1) effective January 1, 2026.
Input VAT deduction and refund
Deduction conditions: a valid VAT invoice or import-tax payment document; non-cash payment evidence (except in specific cases); exported goods additionally require a contract, customs declaration, and payment evidence. The law prohibits eight categories of conduct related to fake invoices, sham transactions, and bribery aimed at securing deductions or refunds (Article 13).
Refunds apply to: exports (undeducted input VAT of 300 million VND or more per month/quarter, capped at 10 percent of that period's export revenue); investment projects still in the investment phase (300 million VND or more, with the refund application filed within one year of project completion); businesses producing only goods taxed at 5 percent, after 12 consecutive months or 4 consecutive quarters; dissolution or bankruptcy; non-refundable ODA and humanitarian aid projects; diplomatic-exemption entities; and foreigners taking goods purchased in Vietnam upon departure.
Invoices and documents
Businesses under the credit method use VAT invoices; those under the direct method use sales invoices. Pre-printed stamps, tickets, and cards are deemed to already include VAT in their stated price.
Effective dates
The base law (48/2024/QH15) took effect July 1, 2025. The revenue threshold for exempting household and individual businesses (Article 5, Clause 25) and related Personal Income Tax Law provisions took effect January 1, 2026. The amendments under Law 09/2026/QH16 took effect April 24, 2026 (the date of passage). Accountants, SME owners, household businesses, and foreign investors should use this Consolidated Text 114/VBHN-VPQH as the official reference going forward, rather than the outdated original 2024 law text.