Vietnam Investment Incentives and Tax Holidays: FAQs
Vietnam offers incentives through the Law on Investment 2025 and the Corporate Income Tax Law 2025: preferential tax rates, tax holidays, import duty exemptions and land rent relief. They apply to foreign and Vietnamese investors alike, carry conditions, and are increasingly shaped by the global minimum tax, so the detail matters as much as the headline rate.
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What investment incentives does the Law on Investment 2025 offer?
Law No. 143/2025/QH15 on Investment, effective 1 March 2026, grants incentives to projects in incentivised sectors or locations and to large-capital, labour-intensive or nationally important projects. Forms include CIT incentives (lower rates and tax holidays), import duty exemptions for fixed assets and certain production inputs, exemption or reduction of land use levy, land rent and land use tax, and accelerated depreciation or higher deductible expenses. Incentives apply to new and expansion projects, are time-bound and performance-based, and the most favourable level applies. Mineral extraction, goods subject to special consumption tax (other than cars, aircraft and yachts) and commercial housing are excluded from certain incentives. Domestic and foreign investors qualify alike.
What preferential corporate income tax rates are available?
Under Law No. 67/2025/QH15, qualifying new projects in high technology, software, semiconductors, AI data centres, renewable and clean energy, key infrastructure and priority supporting industries, and projects in especially disadvantaged areas, economic zones and high-tech parks, can pay 10% for 15 years. Income from certain socialised education, health and culture activities and some agriculture and forestry activities can be taxed at 10% for the life of the activity. A 15% rate applies to certain agricultural activities outside incentivised areas, and 17% for 10 years to qualifying projects such as some manufacturing projects and projects in disadvantaged areas. Rate periods generally run from the first year of revenue, and can be extended for certain large or strategic projects.
Is there a corporate income tax holiday in Vietnam?
Yes. Projects qualifying for the 10% rate on high-technology, priority-sector or especially disadvantaged-area grounds, and certain socialised activities in disadvantaged areas, can generally obtain four years of CIT exemption followed by a 50% reduction for up to nine years. Other qualifying projects, such as certain manufacturing projects or projects in disadvantaged areas, typically receive two years of exemption and four years at 50%. The holiday starts in the first year of taxable income, or in the fourth year of revenue if there is no taxable income in the first three years. Qualifying expansion projects can receive incentives for the remaining period or new periods. New projects in industrial parks no longer qualify on location alone.
Which sectors and locations qualify for incentives?
The Law on Investment 2025 prioritises science, innovation, digital technology and semiconductors; the green, circular and digital economy; value chains and supporting industries; renewable and clean energy; agriculture, forestry and the environment; infrastructure; education, health, sport and culture; and key chemical, mechanical and pharmaceutical industries. Incentivised locations include disadvantaged areas, industrial parks and clusters, export processing zones, economic zones, high-tech parks, digital technology zones, free trade zones and the international financial centre. For CIT, however, the Ministry of Finance confirms that new industrial-park projects from 1 October 2025 get no location incentive unless the park is in a disadvantaged area or the project qualifies by sector.
Are there special incentives for large or strategic projects?
Yes. Article 17 of the Law on Investment 2025 provides special incentives and support for high-impact projects, and Decree No. 96/2026/ND-CP sets the thresholds: innovation and R&D centres and major digital infrastructure with capital of at least VND 3,000 billion (VND 1,000 billion disbursed within three years); semiconductor chip, key digital technology product and AI data centre projects with VND 6,000 billion disbursed within five years; and other projects in specially incentivised sectors with VND 30,000 billion (VND 10,000 billion within three years). The levels follow the CIT and land laws, and the Prime Minister can decide further incentives for especially important projects. The former CIT incentive based on capital size alone was not carried into the new CIT Law.
What is the Investment Support Fund, and how does the global minimum tax affect incentives?
The Investment Support Fund, set up by Decree No. 182/2024/ND-CP and applying from the 2024 financial year, pays tax-free cash support to qualifying high-tech enterprises, high-tech product manufacturers and R&D centres, broadly those with capital of at least VND 12,000 billion or revenue of VND 20,000 billion, with lower thresholds for semiconductors and AI data centres and VND 3,000 billion for R&D centres. Eligible costs include training, R&D, fixed assets, high-tech production and social infrastructure, and applications are due by 10 July of the following year. The fund responds to the 15% global minimum tax under Resolution No. 107/2023/QH15, which can impose a top-up tax on large groups and so reduce the value of low CIT rates.
Can I import equipment and materials duty-free for an investment project?
Often, yes. Under Article 16 of Law No. 107/2016/QH13 on Export and Import Duties, goods imported to create the fixed assets of an incentivised project, such as machinery, equipment, components and building materials not produced domestically, are exempt from import duty, for new and expansion projects. Raw materials, supplies and components not available domestically can be exempt for five years from the start of production for projects in specially incentivised sectors or especially disadvantaged areas, but not for mining. Export processing and non-tariff zones have their own exemptions. The exemption is administered by customs, usually on the basis of an exempt-goods list notified before import, and the goods must be used for the stated purpose.
Is there a fast-track licensing route for high-tech or semiconductor projects?
Yes. Article 28 of the Law on Investment 2025 lets investors choose a special investment procedure for projects in industrial parks, export processing zones, high-tech parks, concentrated digital technology zones, free trade zones, the international financial centre and functional areas of economic zones, unless the project needs investment policy approval. These projects skip investment policy approval, technology appraisal, the environmental impact assessment report, detailed planning, construction permits and related fire-safety approvals, relying on the investor's written commitment and later inspection. Decree No. 96/2026/ND-CP provides for the IRC within 15 working days. Before building starts, the investor files a notice with an independently verified feasibility report.
What incentives exist for start-ups, innovation and digital technology?
Resolution No. 198/2025/QH15 on private economic development gives newly established small and medium-sized enterprises a three-year CIT exemption from first registration, and innovative start-ups two years' exemption followed by a 50% reduction for four years, with PIT relief for certain experts and scientists. Law No. 71/2025/QH15 on the Digital Technology Industry, effective 1 January 2026, treats semiconductor chip, key digital technology product, AI data centre and innovative start-up projects as specially incentivised and permits regulatory sandboxes. Decree No. 320/2025/ND-CP allows an enhanced deduction for qualifying R&D spending, and enterprises can set aside up to 20% of pre-tax profit for an R&D fund. Each incentive has conditions, so check eligibility early.
Are incentives automatic, or do I need approval, and can they be lost?
Largely self-assessed, but the conditions matter. Under Decree No. 96/2026/ND-CP, where a project has an IRC or investment policy approval the incentives are recorded in it; otherwise the investor determines its own eligibility against the statutory lists and is responsible for that assessment. CIT incentives are then claimed in tax returns, import duty exemptions through customs and land incentives through the land authorities. Conditions must be met throughout the incentive period, and incentives wrongly claimed are clawed back with late-payment interest. Projects already enjoying incentives under earlier law are generally protected by the grandfathering rule in the new CIT Law. Domestic investors, who often need no IRC, rely on self-assessment in the same way.
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This page gives legal and tax information, not legal advice. Rates, thresholds and procedures change; the answers are re-checked against official sources every month, but you should confirm anything important with the relevant authority or a licensed Vietnamese lawyer before you act.