Knowledge base

Decree 155/2026/ND-CP, dated May 15, 2026, amends and supplements Decree 124/2020/ND-CP, the decree that details how the Law on Complaints is implemented. The new decree introduces a formal definition of a «complex complaint case», tightens the rules for authorizing someone else to file a complaint (an individual's power-of-attorney document must now be notarized or certified), and adds a procedure for withdrawing a complaint when multiple people jointly complain about the same issue. The most notable addition is a new mechanism for temporarily or permanently suspending complaint resolution in cases of force majeure or objective obstacles (natural disasters, epidemics, accidents, seized case files, etc.), together with new provisions on applying information technology and digital transformation to complaint-handling data. The decree also tightens disciplinary responsibility for civil servants who commit violations during complaint verification or resolution, or who unlawfully interfere with a case. This is a general administrative-procedure decree that applies to any individual or organization filing a complaint against a state agency's administrative decision or act - it does not set out any tax, invoicing, customs, or labor-specific obligations for businesses. A business could use this procedure when disputing an administrative decision, but the decree itself creates no new compliance obligation for SMEs. It takes effect on July 1, 2026; the mandatory notarization requirement for individual authorization documents will itself expire on January 1, 2027.

Decree 161/2026/ND-CP dated 15 May 2026 sets the new base salary for civil servants, public employees, and the armed forces at VND 2,530,000/month effective from 1 July 2026. The base salary is the reference point for salary tables, allowances, mandatory social contributions, activity fees, and subsistence allowances. The decree also establishes a bonus regime: the annual bonus fund equals 10% of total wage fund (excluding allowances) based on position, grade, and rank. Bonuses are awarded for exceptional performance and annual performance ratings, governed by each agency's internally issued bonus regulations. This is important information for understanding the social insurance contribution base that flows from changes to the government-sector wage structure, relevant to public service units and labour cost planning.

Decree 162/2026/ND-CP dated 15 May 2026 mandates an 8% increase in pensions, social insurance benefits, and monthly allowances for all recipients as of before 1 July 2026. This applies to civil servants, workers, military personnel, police, and various other categories currently receiving monthly pensions or allowances. For those who retired before 1 January 1995 whose pension, after the 8% increase, remains below VND 3,800,000/month, additional adjustments apply: a top-up of VND 300,000/person/month (if their amount is at or below VND 3,500,000) or an adjustment up to VND 3,800,000/person/month (if their amount falls between VND 3,500,000 and VND 3,800,000). This is relevant to SMEs as changes to pension benefit levels inform the social insurance contribution base adjustments that ripple through to active employees in subsequent adjustment cycles.

Decree 152/2026/ND-CP, issued on 13 May 2026, provides detailed guidance for the new Civil Judgment Enforcement Law No. 106/2025/QH15. It sets out core enforcement procedures: representation of litigants, how to determine an emergency, an objective obstacle, or a force majeure event that excuses a late enforcement request, the national civil-enforcement database and digital platform linked to VNeID and the National Public Service Portal, how enforcement decisions are issued both ex officio and on request, limitation periods for filing requests, replacement of enforcement officers, settlement agreements between parties, the various notification methods covering digital, in person, public posting, mass media, and notice to persons abroad, and verification of a debtor's ability to pay. For businesses and SME owners there are four practical points. First, notifications are shifting heavily to the digital environment via the VNeID app, so companies and individuals involved in enforcement cases need to monitor VNeID closely to avoid missing deadlines. Second, the decree spells out the documentation needed to enforce arbitral awards, including foreign arbitral awards, which matters for businesses and foreign investors seeking to collect on commercial awards. Third, interim measures tied to labor disputes, such as suspending a dismissal decision or ordering an employer to advance wages, compensation, or workplace-accident benefits to an employee, are addressed in the rules on inter-province delegation of enforcement. Fourth, certain state-budget receivables, such as recovered tax arrears or compensation owed to state-owned enterprises, fall into the category the enforcement agency initiates on its own without waiting for a request. Overall this is a procedural decree aimed at enforcement agencies and enforcement officers. Its effect on businesses is mostly indirect, arising when a company is a judgment debtor, a judgment creditor, or a party to a dispute resolved through arbitration or the courts.

This is the official consolidated text of Vietnam's Health Insurance Law (Law No. 25/2008/QH12), merging every amendment enacted since 2008 into one document. The most recent updates folded in are Law No. 51/2024/QH15 (effective July 1, 2025) and the Prevention Law No. 114/2025/QH15 (effective July 1, 2026). The consolidation does not create new obligations on its own - it gives businesses and employees a single authoritative reference instead of having to cross-check multiple amending laws. For employers, the operative provisions are Article 12 (who must participate) and Article 13 (contribution rates). Participants in the employer-employee funded group include staff on labor contracts of one month or longer, foreign employees under contracts of 12 months or more, registered household business owners, and unpaid company managers. The monthly contribution is capped at 6 percent of the salary used as the social insurance base. For contract employees, the employer pays two-thirds and the employee pays one-third; household business owners and unpaid company managers pay the full amount themselves. The law also sets out state management roles across the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Labor - Invalids and Social Affairs, Ministry of Education and Training, and the Ministry of National Defense and Ministry of Public Security, plus prohibited acts such as late payment, contribution evasion, and falsifying health insurance records. Because this is a consolidated version, SMEs and accountants should treat it as the current reference document rather than tracking the underlying amending laws separately. Key effective-date markers worth noting: rules on technical-tier classification and initial healthcare registration took effect January 1, 2025; most changes from Law No. 51/2024/QH15 took effect July 1, 2025; and the latest adjustments tied to the Prevention Law took effect July 1, 2026 - right at the present time.

Decree No. 105/2026/ND-CP dated 31 March 2026 details and guides the implementation of certain articles of Trade Union Law No. 50/2024/QH15 on trade union finance, covering the method and deadline for paying trade union fees, cases of exemption, reduction or temporary suspension of payments, and management of trade union funds for worker organisations at enterprises. Entities required to pay trade union fees include enterprises, self-financing public service units, cooperatives, cooperative unions, and other organisations employing workers. Most entities must pay monthly, concurrent with mandatory social insurance contributions; agricultural, forestry, fishery, and salt-production enterprises that pay wages on a production-cycle basis may register to pay quarterly instead. Failing to pay in full within 60 days after the deadline constitutes non-payment. Enterprises that have exhausted the temporary-suspension period and must continue reducing headcount above the statutory threshold may apply for a reduction of up to 20% of the standard contribution rate for a maximum of six months.

On 13 May 2026, the Prime Minister issued Decision No. 844/QD-TTg approving an Action Plan to implement Directive No. 52-CT/TW of the Secretariat on achieving universal health insurance (BHYT) coverage in the new phase. The plan targets health insurance coverage of over 95.5% of the population by 2026, and full universal coverage by 2030, assigning 29 specific tasks to the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Finance, provincial People's Committees, and other agencies. For businesses and payroll or accounting staff, the most relevant point is the plan's direction to gradually increase health insurance premium contribution rates from 2027, in step with an expanded scope of benefits. The Ministry of Health is tasked with drafting a Decree to formalize this rate increase, targeted for completion by March 2027. Because BHYT premiums are a mandatory contribution split between employees and employers, this future Decree will directly affect payroll and benefits costs once issued. The plan also pushes digital transformation of online premium collection and AI-assisted review of health insurance claims, which may eventually affect how businesses handle premium payments and health-cost reconciliation for their workforce. Importantly, this Decision itself does not set any new contribution rate or specific figure - it is a policy roadmap. Concrete rates, benefit levels, and procedures will be issued later through separate Decrees and Circulars under the 2026-2030 roadmap.

Decree 69/2026/ND-CP, issued on March 6, 2026 and effective from April 20, 2026, amends Decree 106/2025/ND-CP on administrative penalties for fire prevention, firefighting and rescue (PCCC) violations. It clarifies which parties can be penalized (including organizations assigned to manage a facility, and tenants or borrowers of housing), adds a rule that repeated violations of the same act at one facility are treated as a single violation with an aggravating factor rather than multiple separate fines, and sets out how violations are handled when processed electronically. For businesses, the decree adjusts several specific fine brackets: 6 to 8 million VND for staff performing fire safety duties without a training certificate; 20 to 25 million VND for failing to maintain required fire-safety distances between buildings; and 30 to 40 million VND for failing to install fire-resistant materials, doors, or partitions as required. It also adds a new remedial measure requiring businesses to purchase mandatory fire and explosion insurance if their coverage is insufficient, and sets suspension periods of 1 to 12 months depending on the severity of the violation. The decree also overhauls penalty authority across police, border guards, forest rangers, fisheries inspectors, coast guard, and inspectorates, and adds enforcement powers for specialized state management agencies (Departments of Construction, Industry and Trade, Agriculture and Environment, the Insurance Supervisory Authority, and the Vietnam Register). Businesses operating fire-risk premises (factories, warehouses, offices, apartment buildings, commercial establishments) should review their fire-safety documentation, mandatory fire insurance coverage, and firefighting equipment ahead of the April 20, 2026 effective date to avoid fines or forced suspension of operations.

This is a consolidated text (No. 20/VBHN-BCT, dated March 30, 2026) of Circular No. 38/2025/TT-BCT on decentralizing administrative procedures across fields managed by the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT), updated through its most recent amendment, Circular No. 15/2026/TT-BCT (effective April 10, 2026). The core change reallocates licensing and certification authority between central MOIT departments (the Industrial Safety and Environment Department, the Chemicals Department, the Innovation, Green Transition and Industrial Promotion Department, and others) and provincial People's Committees, in line with Vietnam's shift to a two-tier local government model that has eliminated the district level. The amendments span many technical fields: industrial explosives and explosive precursors, occupational safety and health, LPG (gas) trading, oil and gas safety, hydropower dam and reservoir safety, chemicals and dangerous goods transport, product and goods quality, commercial inspection, energy-saving labeling, food safety under MOIT's jurisdiction, representative offices and branches of foreign traders, multi-level marketing consumer protection, and e-commerce website registration. The general pattern is that many licensing procedures move from provincial Departments of Industry and Trade or central-level departments to provincial People's Committees. For businesses operating in these regulated sectors, the practical takeaway is that the office receiving applications, renewals, or reissuances of licenses may have changed as of April 10, 2026, so companies should confirm the correct authority before filing. Licenses and certificates already issued before this date remain valid until their stated expiry, and applications submitted before the effective date continue to be processed under the rules in force when they were filed. This is primarily a change in which government office handles a given license, not a new tax, accounting, or invoicing obligation.

Circular 40/2026/TT-BTC issued by the Ministry of Finance on April 6, 2026, effective from April 7, 2026, stipulates the exemption of certain fees to support businesses operating in the transportation sector. This is an important preferential policy aimed at reducing compliance costs and operational expenses for transport enterprises. This document is issued in the context of the Government continuing to implement solutions to support businesses, especially small and medium-sized enterprises in the transportation industry - a sector heavily affected by fuel costs, maintenance expenses, and various administrative fees. The exemption and reduction of fees will help businesses have additional resources to maintain operations, invest in vehicle upgrades, and improve service quality. Businesses operating in passenger transport, freight transport, logistics, and related services need to understand the fees that are exempted under these regulations to legally and effectively take advantage of these incentives. The circular takes effect immediately one day after promulgation, demonstrating the urgency of this support policy.

Circular 28/2026/TT-BTC, issued by the Ministry of Finance and effective April 1, 2026, refreshes the entire fee and charge schedule for entry, exit, transit, and residence procedures in Vietnam, replacing the 2021 circular that previously governed these rates. It covers both charges paid by Vietnamese citizens (passports, border passes, exit permits) and fees paid by foreign nationals (visas, temporary residence cards, permanent residence cards). For foreign-invested businesses and companies employing expatriate staff, this circular matters because it directly sets the cost of visas (USD 25 to USD 165 depending on type and validity), temporary residence cards (USD 145 to USD 165), and permanent residence cards (USD 100) - recurring line items in HR and compliance budgets. It also spells out refund rules when an application does not qualify for the requested document. Accounting and HR teams should update visa and residence-card cost estimates for foreign staff and investors using these new rates starting April 1, 2026.

Circular 31/2026/TT-BTC issued by the Ministry of Finance on March 27, 2026, regulates the decentralization of certain tasks and powers in the field of state management. This document takes effect immediately from its issuance date (March 27, 2026), demonstrating the urgency and importance of these decentralization regulations. This document relates to the reorganization of task assignments and authority among agencies under the Ministry of Finance, which may affect business processes for handling documents and administrative procedures for enterprises. Decentralization can facilitate faster access for businesses to competent local authorities, reducing waiting time and increasing work efficiency. For small and medium-sized enterprises, understanding the competent authorities after decentralization will help optimize compliance processes for tax, customs, accounting, and other financial regulations. Businesses should monitor detailed guidance from local tax and financial authorities to ensure proper procedures are followed with the newly authorized agencies.