Ministry of Finance clarifies wastewater environmental protection fee declarations under Decree 346/2025/ND-CP

The Question

A business asked the Ministry of Finance to clarify how to declare the environmental protection (EP) fee on wastewater under Decree No. 346/2025/ND-CP for three situations:

• A shipbuilding facility: draws surface water and generates industrial wastewater (1.6 m3/day) and domestic wastewater (600 m3/day), with two separate collection and treatment systems and quarterly monitoring under its environmental permit. It asked whether to declare as industrial or domestic wastewater, whether to declare jointly or separately, and which agency should receive the declaration for the portion of water it uses for its own domestic purposes.
• A pig farming facility: since livestock wastewater is not industrial wastewater, the business asked whether it must still pay the EP fee on domestic wastewater.
• A pearl processing and farming export facility: purchases input water from tanker trucks and asked whether it qualifies for the fee exemption under Clause 10, Article 5 of Decree 346/2025/ND-CP.

Answer from the Department of Tax, Fee and Charge Policy Management

1. Determining who owes the fee

Under Article 2 of Decree No. 346/2025/ND-CP dated 29 December 2025, the EP fee on wastewater applies to industrial wastewater and domestic wastewater, except where a drainage service charge has already been paid or an exemption under Article 5 applies:

• Industrial wastewater: all wastewater generated by production, business, and service establishments, or by concentrated production/business/service zones and industrial clusters, discharged to a receiving source under environmental law (excluding the portion classified as domestic wastewater).
• Domestic wastewater: (a) household-type wastewater and wastewater from businesses in the list of trade and service types managed as domestic wastewater under the national technical standard issued by the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, and (b) wastewater from an establishment whose average annual volume is below 20 m3/day (equivalent to 7,300 m3/year) if it uses water from a clean water supply system.

On this basis, the shipbuilding facility, which generates both types of wastewater, must classify and declare each stream separately according to the rules above.

2. Exemption

Clause 10, Article 5 of Decree 346/2025/ND-CP exempts wastewater generated from aquaculture activities (including seafood and pearl farming) from the EP fee, regardless of the source of input water. Wastewater from pearl-mussel farming therefore qualifies for the exemption, even though the facility buys its input water from tanker trucks.

3. Matters under the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment's authority

For the technical classification of wastewater as industrial or domestic under environmental standards, and for determining what counts as wastewater from aquaculture activities, the Ministry of Finance directs the business to contact the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment directly for specialized guidance.

The letter does not give a separate conclusion for the pig farming case; the business must apply Article 2 above itself or consult the specialized agency to determine its status.

Notes for Businesses

• Businesses generating both industrial and domestic wastewater must declare each stream separately, not combined.
• Wastewater under 20 m3/day (when using clean tap water) is classified as domestic wastewater.
• Wastewater from aquaculture activities (including pearl-mussel farming) is exempt from the EP fee regardless of the input water source.
• Technical questions on classifying wastewater should go directly to the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, not the Ministry of Finance.