Decree No. 30/1998/ND-CP detailing the implementation of the Law on Corporate Income Tax

DECREE OF THE GOVERNMENT
Regulations for Detailed Implementation of the Law on Corporate Income Tax

THE GOVERNMENT

Pursuant to the Law on the Organization of the Government dated September 30, 1992;

Based on the Law on Corporate Income Tax No. 03/1997/QH9 dated May 10, 1997;

At the proposal of the Minister of Finance,

DECREE:

PART I
SCOPE OF APPLICATION FOR CORPORATE INCOME TAX

Article 1. Organizations and individuals engaged in production and business of goods and services with income must pay corporate income tax including:

1. Organizations producing and trading goods and services: State-owned enterprises; Limited liability companies; Joint-stock companies; foreign-invested enterprises and foreign parties participating in joint venture contracts under the Law on Foreign Investment in Vietnam; foreign companies and organizations conducting business in Vietnam not under the Law on Foreign Investment in Vietnam; private enterprises; cooperatives; cooperative groups; economic organizations of political organizations, political-social organizations, social organizations, social-professional organizations, and people's armed forces units; administrative and service agencies having production and business activities of goods and services.

2. Domestic individuals engaged in production and business of goods and services include:

a) Individuals and groups of individuals engaged in business;

b) Individual households;

c) Independent professionals: Doctors, lawyers, accountants, auditors, painters, architects, musicians, and other independent professionals;

d) Individuals leasing assets such as houses, land, means of transportation, machinery and equipment, and other types of assets;

e) Households and individual farmers growing crops, raising livestock, and breeding aquatic products with product value exceeding VND 90 million/year and income exceeding VND 36 million/year, must pay corporate income tax on the portion of income above VND 36 million/year.

3. Foreign companies operating through a permanent establishment in Vietnam.

A permanent establishment of a foreign company in Vietnam is a business entity through which the foreign company carries out part or all of its business activities in Vietnam generating income. The forms of permanent establishments of foreign companies include:

a) Branches, management offices, factories, production workshops, warehouses, means of transportation, mines, oil wells, gas fields, exploration sites, or natural resource extraction sites, and equipment serving natural resource exploration;

b) Construction sites; construction projects, installation, assembly projects; construction supervision activities, construction projects, installation, and assembly;

c) Service-providing entities, including consulting services provided through employees or another entity;

d) Agents for foreign companies;

d) Representatives in Vietnam in the following cases:

Having authority to sign contracts in the name of the foreign company.

Not having authority to sign contracts in the name of the foreign company but regularly delivering goods or providing services in Vietnam.

In cases where a Double Taxation Agreement signed by the Socialist Republic of Vietnam provides different provisions regarding permanent establishments, those provisions shall be followed.

4. Foreign individuals engaged in business with income generated in Vietnam.

Article 2. Exempt from corporate income tax are household, individual, cooperative group, and agricultural cooperative organizations with income from crop cultivation, animal husbandry, and aquaculture, except for households and individual farmers specified in Clause 2 of Article 1 of this Decree.

PART II
BASIS FOR TAXATION AND TAX RATE

Article 3. Revenue for calculating taxable income under Article 8 of the Law on Corporate Income Tax is specifically defined as follows:

1. For goods and services sold by production and business establishments, it includes the total sales revenue, service provision fees, subsidies, surcharges, and premiums that the production and business establishments enjoy. If the production and business establishments pay VAT directly based on added value, the revenue for calculating taxable income includes VAT.

2. For goods sold on installment basis, the revenue is calculated based on the price of goods sold at once, excluding deferred interest.

3. For goods and services exchanged, given away, or gifted, the revenue for taxation is calculated based on the selling price of similar goods, services, or products at the time of exchange, gift, or donation.

4. For self-used products, the revenue for calculating taxable income is the cost incurred to produce such products.

5. For processing activities, the revenue includes the processing fee, labor costs, fuel, power, auxiliary materials, and other expenses related to processing.

6. For asset leasing activities, the revenue is the lease payment received each period according to the lease agreement. If the lessee pays rent in advance for several months or years, the revenue is the total amount received.

7. For lending activities, the revenue is the actual interest income received during the tax period.

8. For other activities as prescribed by the Ministry of Finance.

Article 4. Reasonable deductible expenses for calculating taxable income from production, business, and service activities include:

1. Depreciation of fixed assets used for production and business. The rate of depreciation of fixed assets is prescribed by the Ministry of Finance.

2. Costs of raw materials, materials, fuels, energy, and goods actually used in production, business, and service activities related to revenue and taxable income in the period, calculated based on reasonable consumption rates and actual warehouse prices.

3. Wages, salaries, and other amounts of a wage or salary nature payable to employees, meal allowances during work shifts:

a) Wages, salaries, and other amounts of a wage or salary nature payable to employees in state-owned enterprises according to current regulations.

b) Wages, salaries, and other amounts of a wage or salary nature payable to employees in other business establishments according to employment contracts. If employment contracts have not been implemented, wages, salaries, and other amounts of a wage or salary nature payable to employees are included in deductible expenses for calculating taxable income based on the average wage and salary levels in the industry at the locality.

The following items are not included in deductible wages and salaries:

Wages and salaries of private enterprise owners and individual household owners engaged in production, business, and service activities.

Wages and salaries of founders of companies where they do not directly participate in managing production, business, and services.

c) Meal expenses between shifts for workers.

4. Research and development costs; innovation and improvement costs; educational sponsorship; health care; labor training according to prescribed regulations.

5. Service purchase costs from outside: electricity, water, telephone, fixed asset repair, rent for fixed assets, auditing, property insurance, payment for technical materials, patents, technology licenses not included in fixed assets, technical services.

6. Expenses for female workers as prescribed by law; labor protection expenses; business premises protection expenses; contributions to social insurance funds; medical insurance under the responsibility of businesses using labor; trade union fees; amounts set aside to form management cost sources for higher levels according to prescribed regulations.

7. Interest payments on loans for production, business, and service activities from banks and credit organizations at actual interest rates; interest payments on loans from other entities at actual interest rates, but not exceeding the maximum ceiling interest rate prescribed by the State Bank of Vietnam for credit organizations.

8. Setting aside provisions: inventory write-downs, financial activity securities write-downs, and provisions for difficult-to-collect receivables.

9. Severance pay for workers as prescribed by law.

10. Consumption expenses for goods and services including: packaging, transportation, loading and unloading, warehouse rental, product warranty.

11. Advertising, marketing, promotional expenses directly related to production, business, and service activities, and other expenses subject to a maximum limit of no more than 7% of total expenses. For commercial activities, the total expenses for determining the limit do not include the purchase price of sold goods.

The Ministry of Finance shall guide the maximum limits for these expense items in accordance with each industry.

12. Taxes, fees, and land lease payments required to be paid in relation to production, business, and service activities (excluding corporate income tax), including:

Export taxes; special consumption taxes; value-added tax (for businesses paying VAT based on direct calculation on added value); business license tax; natural resource tax; agricultural land use tax; real estate tax;

Road fees, bridge tolls, ferry fees, airport fees, certification fees, etc.;

Land lease payments.

13. Business management costs allocated by foreign companies to their permanent establishments in Vietnam based on the revenue ratio of the permanent establishment compared to the total revenue of the foreign company.

Article 5. Reasonable revenues and expenses must be recorded in the accounting books of businesses in Vietnamese Dong. In cases where revenues and expenses are in foreign currency, they must be converted to Vietnamese Dong at the exchange rate published by the State Bank of Vietnam at the time of foreign currency receipts and payments.

Article 6. The following expenses shall not be considered reasonable expenses:

1. Pre-deducted expenses that were not actually incurred such as pre-deducted major repairs, product warranty fees, construction project fees, and other pre-deducted expenses;

2. Expenses without valid documentation or with invalid documentation;

3. Penalties such as contract breach penalties, traffic violation fines, business registration violation fines, accounting and statistics violation fines, administrative tax violation fines, and other penalties;

4. Expenses unrelated to revenue and taxable income such as basic construction investment expenses; support expenses for localities, associations, and social organizations; charitable expenses, and other expenses unrelated to revenue and taxable income;

5. Expenses covered by other funding sources such as public service expenses; regular and emergency hardship assistance expenses, etc.

Article 7. Other taxable income includes:

1. Securities trading gains;

2. Income from ownership and use rights of assets:

a) Income from leasing assets.

b) Income from the use or ownership of intellectual property rights.

c) Other income from ownership and use rights of assets.

3. Gains from transferring or liquidating assets;

4. Interest income from deposits and lending;

5. Foreign exchange trading gains;

6. Year-end balances of provisions for inventory write-downs, securities write-downs, and provisions for difficult-to-collect receivables;

7. Recovery of previously written-off bad debts;

8. Recovery of unknown creditors' debts;

9. Income from production, business, and service activities in previous years that were overlooked and later discovered;

10. Income received from production, business, and service activities abroad.

If the income has already been taxed in another country, the business must determine the income before it was taxed abroad to calculate the corporate income tax. When determining the annual tax, the amount of tax paid abroad will be deducted, but the deduction cannot exceed the tax calculated according to the corporate income tax law for that income;

11. Income from the sale of goods and provision of services not included in revenue, after deducting expenses as prescribed by the Ministry of Finance to generate that income;

12. Other income.

Article 8. Businesses receiving income from joint stock contributions, economic joint ventures, and associations (after tax payment) do not need to pay corporate income tax on that income but must include it in post-tax income to determine additional tax.

Income from oil and gas business operations as prescribed by the Government.

Article 9. Corporate income tax rates applicable to domestic businesses and foreign organizations and individuals operating in Vietnam not under the Law on Investment in Vietnam are as follows:

1. General rate is 32%;

2. Rate of 25% applies to the following businesses within three years from the effective date of the Corporate Income Tax Law:

Mining, minerals, forestry, and fisheries;

Metallurgy; mechanical product manufacturing;

Basic chemical production, fertilizers, pesticides;

Production of construction materials (except cement production);

Construction (except surveying, design, consulting, supervision);

Transportation (except air transportation, taxi transportation);

3. Business establishments with advantageous business locations, industries with low competition that generate high income shall, after paying corporate income tax at a rate of 32%, also pay additional corporate income tax at a rate of 25% on the remaining income exceeding 12% of the current capital (excluding borrowed capital).

The additional corporate income tax will not be temporarily collected in the following cases:

For business establishments applying a corporate income tax rate of 25% for a period of three years from the date the Corporate Income Tax Law comes into effect according to Clause 2 of this Article.

Investment projects in fields, industries, and areas encouraged for investment shall apply corporate income tax rates of 25%, 20%, or 15% as stipulated in Clauses 4 and 5 of this Article.

Production facilities exporting more than 50% of their products produced or having export revenue accounting for over 50% of total revenue;

4. New investment projects in fields and industries eligible for preferential investment incentives as prescribed by the Government shall apply a tax rate of 25%;

5. Investment projects in fields and industries eligible for preferential investment incentives, if invested in districts in ethnic minority regions, mountainous areas, and islands, or areas with difficulties as prescribed by the Government, shall apply a tax rate of 20%; if invested in districts in highland ethnic minority regions as prescribed by the Government, shall apply a tax rate of 15%.

Article 10. The corporate income tax rate applicable to foreign-invested enterprises and foreign parties participating in joint venture contracts under the Foreign Investment Law in Vietnam is as follows:

1. The general tax rate is 25%.

2. AApply a tax rate of 20% for a period of ten years from the start of production and business operations for investment projects meeting one of the following criteria:

a) Exporting at least 50% of the products.

b) Employing at least 500 workers.

c) Cultivating, processing agricultural, forestry, and marine products.

d) Using advanced technology and investing in research and development.

đ) Utilizing many raw materials and supplies available in Vietnam; effectively exploiting natural resources in Vietnam; producing products with a high domestic content ratio...

3. AApply a tax rate of 15% for a period of twelve years from the start of production and business operations for investment projects meeting one of the following criteria:

a) Exporting at least 80% of the products.

b) Investing in the metallurgy, basic chemicals, machinery manufacturing, petrochemicals, fertilizer, electronic component, automobile parts, and motorcycle parts industries.

c) Constructing and operating infrastructure projects (bridges, roads, water supply and drainage, electricity, port construction...).

d) Planting perennial industrial crops.

đ) Investing in difficult areas (including hotel projects).

e) Transferring non-reimbursable assets to the Vietnamese State after the end of the operation period (including hotel projects).

g) Projects meeting two criteria in Clause 2 of this Article.

4. AApply a tax rate of 10% for a period of fifteen years from the start of production and business operations for projects:

a) Constructing infrastructure in difficult areas.

b) Investing in mountainous, island, remote, and far-flung areas.

c) Reforestation.

d) Projects included in the list of specially encouraged investment projects.

5. For projects implemented under BOT, BTO, BT contracts, and industrial zone and export processing zone infrastructure construction projects, the preferential tax rates of 20%, 15%, and 10% shall apply throughout the project implementation period.

6. The tax rates specified in Clauses 2, 3, 4, and 5 of this Article shall not apply to hotel projects (except those in difficult areas, mountainous regions, islands, and those transferring non-reimbursable assets to the Vietnamese State), financial, banking, insurance, service provision, and trade projects.

Article 11. The corporate income tax rate applicable to organizations and individuals, both domestic and foreign, engaged in oil and gas exploration, development, and exploitation is 50%; for the exploitation of rare mineral resources, a tax rate ranging from 32% to 50% may be applied depending on each project and business establishment. The Ministry of Finance shall decide specifically for domestic organizations and individuals' investment projects; the competent authority issuing investment licenses shall decide specifically for foreign-invested projects, but must obtain the approval of the Ministry of Finance.

Article 12. Foreign investors' income derived from investments in Vietnam (including refunded corporate income taxes and income from capital transfers) if transferred abroad or retained outside Vietnam shall be subject to withholding tax on income repatriation.

The withholding tax rate on income repatriation is as follows:

a) A rate of 5% applies to foreign investors contributing statutory capital or capital for joint ventures of $10 million or more and overseas Vietnamese investing back home;

b) A rate of 7% applies to foreign investors contributing statutory capital or capital for joint ventures between $5 million and less than $10 million;

c) A rate of 10% applies to foreign investors contributing statutory capital or capital for joint ventures below $5 million.

CHAPTER III
REGISTRATION, DECLARATION, PAYMENT, AND SETTLEMENT OF TAXES

Article 13. Business establishments have the responsibility to register corporate income tax together with value-added tax registration. The registration procedures follow Decree No. 28/1998/NĐ-CP dated May 11, 1998, guiding detailed implementation of the Value-Added Tax Law.

Article 14. Business establishments are responsible for declaring and submitting annual provisional tax returns to the tax authorities no later than the 25th day of January each year. The tax return form is prescribed by the Ministry of Finance. If the annual provisional tax declaration of a business establishment lacks basis, the tax authority has the right to determine quarterly and annual provisional tax amounts.

Article 15. Adjustments to quarterly and annual provisional tax payments can only occur in cases of significant changes in production and business activities. Upon receiving requests for adjustments to quarterly and annual provisional tax payments from business establishments, the tax authority must review and, if there is indeed a significant change in production and business activities or provisional tax amounts, notify adjustments to align with actual conditions.

Article 16. The General Department of Tax shall guide the declaration of revenue quotas and the tax income rate applicable to revenue for business establishments that have not complied with accounting regulations, invoices, and documents as stipulated in Clause 2, Article 12 of the Law on Corporate Income Tax, in accordance with each type of business activity, among counties within the same province or city, and between bordering counties of two provinces or cities.

Article 17. The payment of corporate income tax is regulated as follows:

1. Business establishments temporarily pay the full quarterly tax amount timely into the state budget according to the tax payment notice issued by the tax authority. The tax payment deadline recorded in the notice must not exceed the last day of the quarter.

2. Business establishments that have not complied with accounting regulations, invoices, and documents shall calculate taxes based on the tax income rate on revenue and must pay taxes monthly according to the notice from the tax authority. The tax payment deadline for the month recorded in the notice must not exceed the 25th day of the following month.

3. Business entities engaged in occasional trading shall declare and pay taxes for each transaction to the tax authority at the place of purchase before transporting the goods.

4. Foreign organizations and individuals conducting business without a permanent establishment in Vietnam but generating income in Vietnam shall be responsible for withholding tax according to the guidelines of the Ministry of Finance and paying it into the state budget simultaneously with the transfer of funds to foreign organizations and individuals.

Article 18. Corporate income tax is calculated and paid in Vietnamese dong.

Article 19. Business establishments must settle their annual corporate income tax with the tax authority according to the form prescribed by the Ministry of Finance.

The tax settlement year is calculated according to the Gregorian calendar. In cases where business establishments are permitted to apply a fiscal year different from the Gregorian calendar, they may settle taxes according to their fiscal year.

The tax settlement must accurately and fully reflect the following items:

1. Revenue.

2. Reasonable expenses.

3. Taxable income.

4. Corporate income tax payable.

5. Corporate income tax temporarily paid during the year.

6. Corporate income tax paid abroad for income received from abroad.

7. Underpayment or overpayment of corporate income tax.

Article 20. Business establishments must submit the tax settlement report to the tax authority within sixty days from the end of the Gregorian calendar year or fiscal year; pay any outstanding tax amount according to the tax settlement report within ten days from submitting the report; if there is an overpayment, it can be deducted from the tax due for the next period.

Article 21. In cases of merger, consolidation, division, dissolution, or bankruptcy, business establishments still must complete tax settlements with the tax authority and submit the tax settlement report within forty-five days from the date of the decision on merger, consolidation, division, dissolution, or bankruptcy.

Article 22. Upon receiving the tax settlement report, the tax authority must review and examine it. If necessary, they may conduct an inspection at the business establishment. The inspection must conclude with a record and recommendations for handling measures.

Business establishments are responsible for implementing the inspection records of the tax authority.

Article 23. During the tax settlement inspection process, if unreasonable purchase prices, sale prices, or business expenses of the business establishment are discovered, the tax authority has the right to reassess them based on domestic and international market prices to ensure the correct and full collection of corporate income tax.

Article 24. The tax authority has the following duties, powers, and responsibilities:

1. Guide business establishments to declare and pay taxes in accordance with the provisions of the Law on Corporate Income Tax.

2. Notify business establishments about the tax amount due and the tax payment deadline as stipulated. If the business establishment fails to pay the tax within the deadline stated in the notice, the tax authority will issue another notice regarding the tax amount and late payment penalties; if the business establishment still does not pay the full tax and penalties as stated in the notice, the tax authority has the right to apply or propose the competent authority to apply the measures specified in Clause 4, Article 24 of the Law on Corporate Income Tax to ensure the full collection of taxes and penalties; if these measures have been implemented and the business establishment still does not pay the full tax and penalties, the case file will be transferred to the competent state agency for handling according to the law.

3. Inspect and audit the declaration, payment, and settlement of taxes by business establishments.

4. Handling administrative violations related to taxes and resolving tax complaints.

5. Require business establishments to provide accounting books, invoices, documents, and other relevant materials for tax calculation and payment; require financial institutions, banks, and other organizations and individuals to provide relevant materials for tax calculation and payment.

6. Retain and use data and documents provided by businesses and other entities in accordance with the prescribed system.

Article 25. The tax authority has the power to determine taxable income for tax calculation for business establishments in the following situations:

1. Not complying with or improperly complying with accounting regulations, invoices, and documents.

2. Not declaring or incorrectly declaring the bases for tax calculation or failing to prove the bases recorded in the declaration as required by the tax authority.

3. Refusing to present accounting books, invoices, documents, and other necessary materials related to tax calculation.

4. Conducting business without registration and being discovered.

The tax authority bases its determination of taxable income on investigation materials regarding the business activities of the business establishment or on the taxable income of similar-sized business establishments in the same industry.

If a business establishment disagrees with the determined taxable income, it has the right to appeal to the higher-level tax authority; meanwhile, the business establishment must still pay taxes according to the determined tax rate.

PART IV
EXEMPTION FROM AND REDUCTION OF CORPORATE INCOME TAX

Article 26. Newly established domestic production facilities are exempt from corporate income tax for the first two years from the date of generating taxable income and are granted a 50% reduction in corporate income tax payable for the subsequent two years. For production facilities established in mountainous areas, islands, and other difficult regions, the tax reduction period is extended by an additional two years.

Article 27. Newly established production facilities in sectors and industries eligible for investment incentives as prescribed by the Government are exempted or granted tax reductions as follows:

1. Investing in counties outside mountainous areas, islands, and other difficult regions, they are exempt from corporate income tax for the first two years from the date of generating taxable income and are granted a 50% reduction in corporate income tax payable for the subsequent three years.

2. Investments in counties located in high mountainous areas belonging to ethnic minority regions shall be exempt from income tax for the first four years from the date of taxable income, and shall have their income tax reduced by 50% for the next nine years.

3. Investments in counties located in ethnic minority regions, mountainous areas, and islands shall be exempt from income tax for the first four years from the date of taxable income, and shall have their income tax reduced by 50% for the next seven years.

4. Investments in difficult regions shall be exempt from income tax for the first three years from the date of taxable income, and shall have their income tax reduced by 50% for the next five years.

Article 28. Business establishments and service providers newly established in industries eligible for investment incentives as prescribed by the Government shall be exempt from and have their taxes reduced as follows:

1. Investments in counties outside ethnic minority regions, mountainous areas, islands, and other difficult regions shall have their income tax reduced by 50% for the first two years from the date of taxable income.

2. Investments in counties located in high mountainous areas belonging to ethnic minority regions shall be exempt from income tax for the first two years from the date of taxable income, and shall have their income tax reduced by 50% for the next five years.

3. Investments in counties located in ethnic minority regions, mountainous areas, and islands shall be exempt from income tax for the first two years from the date of taxable income, and shall have their income tax reduced by 50% for the next four years.

4. Investments in difficult regions shall be exempt from income tax for the first year from the date of taxable income, and shall have their income tax reduced by 50% for the next three years.

Article 29. Domestic production enterprises investing in new production lines, expanding scale, updating technology, improving ecological environment, and enhancing production capacity shall be exempt from corporate income tax on additional income in the first year and have their income tax reduced by 50% for the next two years due to new investments.

The Ministry of Finance shall provide guidance on how to determine the additional income subject to tax exemption and reduction due to new investments.

Article 30. Domestic business establishments relocating to mountainous areas, islands, and other difficult regions shall be exempt from corporate income tax for the first three years from the date of taxable income.

Article 31. Corporate income tax exemptions for the following portions of income of domestic business establishments are provided as follows:

1. Income from contracts for scientific research.

2. Income from technical service contracts directly serving agriculture.

3. Income from production, business, and service activities of business establishments exclusively for disabled workers.

4. Income from vocational training activities exclusively for disabled persons, ethnic minorities, children with special difficulties, and social delinquents.

5. Individual households engaged in production, business, and service activities with average monthly income below the minimum wage stipulated by the State for civil servants.

Article 32. Tax exemptions and reductions for foreign-invested enterprises and foreign parties participating in joint venture contracts under the Law on Foreign Investment in Vietnam shall be applied as follows:

1. Projects listed in Clause 2, Article 10 of this Decree shall be exempt from income tax for the first year from the date of taxable income and have their income tax reduced by 50% for the next two years.

2. Projects listed in Clause 3, Article 10 of this Decree shall be exempt from income tax for the first two years from the date of taxable income and have their income tax reduced by 50% for the next three years.

3. Projects listed in Clause 4, Article 10 of this Decree shall be exempt from income tax for the first four years from the date of taxable income and have their income tax reduced by 50% for the next four years.

4. Forest planting projects and infrastructure construction projects in mountainous areas, islands, and other specially encouraged investment projects shall be exempt from income tax for eight years from the date of taxable income.

The above tax exemptions and reductions shall not apply to hotel projects (except those invested in mountainous areas, islands, and difficult regions or transferred without compensation to the Vietnamese State after the end of operations), financial, banking, insurance, service provision, and trade projects.

Article 33. Tax exemptions and reductions for foreign investors shall apply in the following cases:

1. Overseas Vietnamese individuals investing in Vietnam under the Law on Foreign Investment in Vietnam shall have their income tax reduced by 20%, except where they are entitled to a tax rate of 10%.

2. Patents, technical secrets, technological processes, and technical services used for statutory capital contribution.

3. Foreign investors transferring their equity contributions to state-owned enterprises or enterprises in which the state holds controlling shares shall be exempt from corporate income tax. Foreign investors transferring their equity contributions to other Vietnamese enterprises shall have their corporate income tax reduced by 50%.

Article 34.

1. Foreign investors using distributed profits for reinvestment shall be refunded the corporate income tax paid on the reinvested profits if they meet the following conditions:

Reinvestment in projects encouraged for investment as specified in Article 10 of this Decree;

The reinvestment capital is used for at least three years.

They have fully contributed the statutory capital recorded in the investment permit.

2. The refund rate of corporate income tax for reinvestment is as follows:

100% for projects specified in Clause 4, Article 10 of this Decree.

75% for projects specified in Clause 3, Article 10 of this Decree.

50% for projects specified in Clause 2, Article 10 of this Decree.

3. The Ministry of Finance shall specify the procedures and documents required to examine and decide on the refund of corporate income tax.

Article 35. Domestic business establishments and foreign-invested enterprises operating in manufacturing, construction, and transportation sectors employing between 10 to 100 female workers, where female workers account for more than 50% of the total number of regularly present or frequently employed workers, or employing over 100 female workers accounting for more than 30% of the total number of regularly employed workers shall be granted a reduction in corporate income tax equivalent to the additional costs incurred for female workers.

The Ministry of Finance shall provide detailed regulations on the additional costs for female workers as stipulated herein.

Article 36. Exemption from and reduction of tax shall only apply to business establishments that have accurately maintained accounting records and filed taxes accordingly.

The Ministry of Finance shall guide procedures for considering tax exemptions and reductions and decide on such exemptions and reductions for domestic business establishments.

For foreign-invested enterprises and foreign parties participating in joint venture contracts under the Law on Investment by Foreign Organizations and Individuals in Vietnam, tax exemptions and reductions shall be recorded in the investment permit issued by the competent authority after obtaining the agreement of the Ministry of Finance.

Article 37. Domestic business establishments and foreign-invested enterprises, after settling accounts with the tax authority and experiencing losses, may carry forward those losses to subsequent years, with such losses being deducted from taxable income. The period for carrying forward losses shall not exceed five years.

CHAPTER V
HANDLING VIOLATIONS

Article 38. Taxpayers, tax officials, and other individuals who violate the Law on Corporate Income Tax shall be subject to penalties as provided in Article 24 and Article 26 of the Law on Corporate Income Tax and other administrative penalty laws and regulations concerning tax violations, depending on the nature and degree of the violation.

Article 39. Tax authorities and tax officials who successfully complete their assigned tasks; organizations and individuals who achieve notable results in implementing the Law on Corporate Income Tax; taxpayers who fulfill their tax obligations well shall be rewarded according to the provisions of the Government.

Chapter VI
IMPLEMENTATION

Article 40. This Decree shall take effect from January 1, 1999.

Matters related to pre-existing tax issues prior to January 1, 1999, shall be handled in accordance with the provisions of the Law on Corporate Income Tax, the Law Amending and Supplementing Certain Articles of the Law on Corporate Income Tax, and other tax provisions in relevant legal documents.

Article 41. The Minister of Finance shall guide the implementation of this Decree.

Ministers, Heads of ministerial-level agencies, heads of agencies directly under the Government, Chairpersons of Provincial People's Committees, and Chairpersons of Municipal People's Committees directly under the Central Government are responsible for enforcing this Decree./.