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Ho Chi Minh City Tax Department responds to a query about the scope of Official Letter No. 5680/CT-CS regarding PIT exemption for individuals performing professional services under science and technology contracts funded by the state budget. Under Personal Income Tax Law No. 109/2025/QH15 (effective 1 July 2026), wages and salaries from performing science, technology, and innovation tasks are exempt from PIT. From 2026 onward, taxpayers earning income from science and technology task contracts must comply with Article 4 of the new Law and related regulations.

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.

The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) has issued Circular 83/2025/TT-NHNN (signed 31 December 2025), a comprehensive regulation on the internal control systems that commercial banks and foreign bank branches operating in Vietnam must maintain. It requires every bank to build its internal control system on a "three lines of defense" model: revenue-generating business units that create risk, a bank-wide compliance and risk management function, and an internal audit function. The rules set detailed requirements for managing material risk categories - credit, market, operational, liquidity, concentration, interest rate risk in the banking book, and model risk - along with an internal capital adequacy assessment process (ICAAP), stress testing, and mandatory annual reporting to the SBV on control results, risk management, and internal audit findings, due 60 to 90 days after each fiscal year end. This is an internal banking-sector governance circular that creates obligations directly for commercial banks and foreign bank branches, not for SMEs, household businesses, individuals, or foreign investors generally. Business owners and accountants have no action to take under this circular; any effect on them would only be indirect, through banks applying stricter credit-assessment procedures.

On June 23, 2026, the Prime Minister issued Decision 1119/QD-TTg amending and supplementing the National Financial Strategy to 2030 (originally issued under Decision 368/QD-TTg dated March 21, 2022). The amendment updates national fiscal targets to align with the newly adopted «double-digit growth» goal (GDP growth of 10% per year or more) for 2026-2030, tying the strategy to recent National Assembly and Politburo resolutions on socio-economic development, national finance, and the private sector. The decision revises a wide range of targets: the state budget revenue mobilization ratio rises to about 18% of GDP for 2026-2030 (with tax and fee revenue around 14-15% of GDP); budget spending is restructured to raise the development-investment expenditure share to about 40% while cutting recurrent spending to 51-52%; the budget deficit ceiling is widened to about 5% of GDP by 2030, while the public debt ceiling remains capped at 60% of GDP. The decision also adds a new set of solutions on institutional reform and removing barriers to investment and business, targeting a top-3 ASEAN investment environment ranking by 2028, alongside restructuring state-owned enterprises and reforming the financing mechanism for public service units. For businesses and foreign investors, the notable signal is a shift in FDI attraction policy away from tax-based incentives toward other incentive forms, applying a «post-incentive, results-based incentive» approach, together with a commitment to build a modern, transparent tax system and a ban on local tax incentives that exceed current tax law. This is a macro-level strategic policy document that does not itself create immediate compliance obligations for businesses, but it is an important policy signal that SME owners, accountants, and foreign investors should track, since it will be translated into concrete tax and investment legislation going forward. The decision takes effect from its signing date (June 23, 2026).

Decree 145/2026/ND-CP, effective from 22 June 2026, sets out the financial management mechanism and the enterprise-performance evaluation and classification framework that applies specifically to the Vietnam Stock Exchange (VNX) and the Vietnam Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation (VSDC) - the two state-owned securities market-infrastructure entities for which the Ministry of Finance acts as state-capital owner representative. It replaces Decree 59/2021/ND-CP. The main content covers investment activities (VNX and VSDC must identify and control potential conflicts of interest before investing); a detailed breakdown of each entity's revenue sources (membership fees, market-organization fees, depository fees, clearing and settlement fees, technology infrastructure services, and more); specific expense items that are deductible when determining corporate income tax, such as VSDC's contributions to its operational risk-reserve fund; and objective factors excluded when the two entities' operating performance is evaluated and classified. Because the decree applies only to VNX, VSDC, their wholly-owned subsidiaries, and the Ministry of Finance in its ownership capacity, it does not create new compliance obligations for SMEs, accountants, or foreign investors generally. It reads as internal financial governance for the securities-market infrastructure sector rather than a rule with direct impact on the wider business community.

The State Bank of Vietnam issued Circular 07/2026/TT-NHNN dated 6 May 2026, amending Circular 17/2016/TT-NHNN on monetary brokerage activities of commercial banks and foreign bank branches. The circular takes effect on 20 June 2026. The key amendment is to Clause 1 of Article 4: commercial banks and foreign bank branches must issue internal regulations on monetary brokerage covering at minimum the implementation procedures, scope of responsibilities and authority of persons involved, and risk management. Within 10 days of issuing or amending such internal regulations, banks must send a copy to the SBV (Credit Institution Supervision Department or regional SBV branch). Article 11 on implementation is also amended to clarify supervisory and inspection responsibilities of the SBV Inspectorate and the Credit Institution Supervision Department, and the responsibilities of heads of relevant units.

Decree 144/2026/ND-CP, issued by the Government on May 5, 2026 and effective from June 20, 2026, amends Decree 181/2025/ND-CP, which details the implementation of the VAT Law. The decree expands the list of VAT-exempt goods and services, adding several types of insurance: life insurance, health insurance, student insurance, livestock and crop insurance, insurance for boats and equipment used directly in fishing, reinsurance, and insurance for oil and gas facilities and foreign-flagged tankers leased by foreign petroleum contractors operating in Vietnamese or jointly-exploited overlapping waters. It also clarifies that 'debt sale' (VAT-exempt) covers the sale of both payables and receivables, as well as the sale of deposit certificates. On input VAT credit, the decree clarifies treatment of deferred-payment or installment purchases of VND 5 million or more: businesses may still credit input VAT even without non-cash payment documents if the contractual payment deadline has not yet arrived. Once the deadline passes without non-cash payment proof, however, the business must declare a downward adjustment to the credited input VAT for that portion; if valid non-cash payment documents are obtained later, the credit can be reclaimed. Most significantly for exporters, the decree replaces the entire list of exported raw and processed natural resources and minerals (Appendix I - unprocessed, Appendix II - processed) that determines export tax treatment under the state policy of restricting raw mineral exports. Businesses exporting minerals and metals (iron, copper, aluminum, tin, zinc, gemstones, gold and silver, etc.) should check their HS codes against the new lists to confirm their correct export tax obligations.

On 24 April 2026, the Ministry of Public Security issued Circular 37/2026/TT-BCA amending several circulars on vehicle registration and technical inspection (for road and inland waterway vehicles). The main changes include updated inspection certificate templates, revised change-registration procedures, and adjustments to administrative procedures related to vehicle inspection. The circular takes effect on 8 June 2026. Inspection books issued before the effective date remain valid.

The Ministry of Education and Training issued Circular No. 35/2026/TT-BGDĐT dated April 21, 2026, guiding certain aspects of Public-Private Partnership (PPP) investment activities for general education projects (preschool, primary, and lower-secondary schools). The circular does not apply to vocational or continuing education. It sets out how to calculate a project's socio-economic efficiency indicators (economic net present value ENPV, benefit-cost ratio BCR, economic internal rate of return EIRR); an equity-return framework for investors using the formula i = iv + f (where iv is the borrowing rate referenced from at least three state-owned commercial banks and f is the 10-year average CPI inflation rate); quality-assessment criteria for school facilities delivered by the project enterprise; and the depreciation period for infrastructure under Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) contracts, applied per Circular No. 23/2023/TT-BTC. The circular also guides the methods and criteria for evaluating bids and proposals in investor selection (open bidding, competitive negotiation, direct appointment, or special-case selection), and issues a standard BOT contract template as an appendix. It takes effect on June 6, 2026. The parties affected are mainly investors and project enterprises bidding on PPP school-construction projects, not general tax, accounting, or invoicing rules that apply to typical SMEs.

Circular 20/2026/TT-BCT (issued April 17, 2026, effective June 2, 2026) amends Circular 10/2025/TT-BCT, which sets the avoided-cost tariff methodology applied to power purchase agreements (PPAs) between small renewable energy plants, mainly small hydropower, and Vietnam Electricity (EVN). Key changes include redefining wet-season and dry-season date ranges based on the regional power-dispatch control area rather than administrative borders, so the tariff stays stable through provincial mergers; shifting tariff authority from the general "state electricity management agency at MOIT" to the Electricity Authority under MOIT; updating Article 3 of the standard PPA template; and reissuing the entire tariff calculation methodology (replacing Appendix II) covering avoided energy cost, avoided transmission loss, and avoided capacity cost. This is a sector-specific energy-pricing regulation aimed at small renewable power plant investors, operators, and EVN. It has no direct VAT, corporate income tax, e-invoicing, accounting-standard, labor, or customs content, so it has limited direct relevance to the SME owners and accountants who make up most of RegHub's audience.

The Ministry of Construction issued Circular 11/2026/TT-BXD (dated 31 March 2026, effective 1 June 2026) specifying the list, technical specifications, and quality standards for Group II and Group III construction material minerals permitted for export, pursuant to Clause 38, Article 1 of Decree 21/2026/ND-CP. Exported minerals must have legal provenance evidenced by a valid mining licence or mineral recovery registration certificate. Exporting enterprises are responsible for retaining documentation and submitting annual reports to provincial People's Committees by 15 January each year. The circular replaces Circular 04/2021/TT-BXD dated 30 June 2021. The permitted export list covers silica sand, natural ornamental stone (granite, marble, slate), ordinary construction stone, kaolin, feldspar, and other construction material minerals, each with specific technical quality thresholds.

Decree 127/2026/ND-CP, effective from June 1, 2026, establishes Vietnam's first comprehensive legal framework for quality management and development of Halal products and services. It applies to organizations and individuals that manufacture, import, export, or trade Halal products and services (food, tourism, transport, storage, etc.), as well as Halal testing and certification bodies. Businesses must declare the applicable Halal standard before placing products on the market, ensure raw materials are free of Haram or Najis elements, control cross-contamination during production, packaging, and transport, and clearly mark «HALAL» on labels (unless the product already carries a Halal certification mark). Halal certification is in principle voluntary, becoming mandatory only when a specialized regulation requires it for specific products. Domestic Halal certification bodies must obtain an operating registration certificate from the Ministry of Science and Technology and must employ at least two Muslim lead assessors holding a university degree and relevant professional certificates. Certification results from foreign bodies are recognized in Vietnam if covered by a mutual recognition arrangement (MRA) or unilaterally accepted by the Ministry. The decree also sets out inspection and administrative penalty procedures, and support policies for small and medium enterprises: one-time subsidies for testing and certification costs for key export producers, trade promotion support at international Halal fairs, and a national Halal database. Businesses producing or exporting food, cosmetics, or tourism services aimed at Muslim markets (the Middle East, Malaysia, Indonesia, etc.) should review their production processes and prepare standard-declaration dossiers ahead of the June 1, 2026 effective date.