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Vietnam insolvency guide for directors

Governments around the world have introduced timely measures to ease the financial strain on businesses due to Covid19, however, the insolvency regulations in Vietnam remain unchanged. This results in management personnel of Vietnamese companies facing greater risks. To help management safely navigate their companies through this challenging time, this Insight explores the insolvency and bankruptcy regulations in Vietnam, as well as the obligations and potential liabilities of management personnel of Vietnamese companies if their companies become financially distressed.

COVID-19 Impact Assessment: Analysis of the Potential Impacts of COVID-19 on Vietnamese Economy

We have analysed the pandemic’s potential impact on the Vietnamese economy. Such an exercise is accompanied by a considerable level of uncertainty. Specifically, in the case of COVID-19, projections have been reviewed and re-adjusted every week since the start of the outbreak. Additionally, Vietnam’s economy is highly dependent upon other economies. As such, the scenarios and projections relating to the effects on the Vietnamese economy are also strongly correlated with the effects on other countries resulting from the COVID-19 outbreak.

Value-Added Tax Refunds in Vietnam

The coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreak has created major economic disruptions and the economic impact has intensified in Vietnam. Getting a value-added tax (VAT) refund is necessary under a business continuity plan to refresh cash flow, particularly for investment projects located in Vietnam where the establishment enterprise is under the investment/construction phase and has yet reach to operation phase from the end of 2019 to 2020.

Vietnam offshore wind: where to from here?

Asia’s fast-growing offshore wind market has been drawing significant interest amongst developers, investors and financiers from across the world. At the centre of this dynamic region, Vietnam, with more than 3,000 kilometres of coast line and huge unexploited wind power potential, is emerging as a prospective new hot spot for the global offshore wind industry. This report, co-authored with our integrated alliance firm Linklaters, sets out a brief overview of the Vietnam wind market, the opportunities and challenges, as well as key legal considerations investors need to be aware of when investing in offshore wind in Vietnam.

EY Vietnam Tax Update - May 2020

The EY Vietnam May 2020 Tax Update highlights the following key points: 1) Claim of CIT deduction for creditable input VAT is denied. 2) Possibility for getting a VAT refund with respect to new and expansion investment projects, 3) Clarifications regarding the extended deadline for CIT payments in accordance with Decree 41/2020/ND-CP, and 4) Draft Resolution regarding family relief amendments for Personal Income Tax, effective from the 2020 tax assessment year.

New Decision on incentives for the development of solar power projects in Vietnam

On 6 April 2020, the Prime Minister issued a new Decision (Decision 13/2020) to replace Decision 11 dated 11 April 2017 on incentives for the development of solar power projects in Vietnam (Decision 11/2017), which expired 10 months ago. This article summarizes certain key issues of this new Decision. Written by Le Thanh Nhat and Nguyen Thuc Anh.

Vietnam Automotive Industry: Impact of COVID-19 and Navigating the Turbulence

As the pandemic disrupts business as usual and throws the economic outlook into uncertainty, the automotive industry is on the front line. Some of the most affected regions are major production hubs and home to key links in the sector’s global supply chain. Typical contingency plans help enable operational effectiveness following events like natural disasters, cyber incidents and power outages, among others. They don’t generally take into account the widespread quarantines, extended school closures and travel restrictions that are being instituted in countries around the world to help stem the spread of the virus.

Vietnam Sees the Possibilities of Blockchain

Blockchain technology boasts substantial potential in a host of fields in Vietnam. Vietnam’s first live trade Letter-of-Credit transaction using blockchain, recently executed by HSBC, received headlines around the country and the use of blockchain in Vietnam has truly begun, as we will see below.

Filing A Patent Application: A Comparison Between Vietnam and the US

This article provides guidance on how to patent an invention in Vietnam and other countries including in the US, through a system that exists under the Patent Cooperation Treaty. We discuss filing under the Paris Convention, but we discuss it in less detail.

Legal Updates - Fighting Covid-19 Supportive Measures For Employees And Enterprises In Vietnam

In this article, government measures discussed include: Employment relationship, labour restructuring, contributions to compulsory funds, labour and financial liabilities, enterprise financial support, minimum wages, banking liabilities, loans, exemption and reduction of interest rates and fees, banking and securities service fees, petrol prices, essential facility prices, tax liabilities including land tax, personal income tax, and tax deadlines.

EY Vietnam Tax Alert - May 2020: Value Added Tax treatment on the provision of letter of credit services

From 31 July 2019, the Ministry of Finance and the General Department of Taxation have issued a number of official letters advising that the provision of letter of credit services of credit institutions is subject to VAT. However, before these recent letters, the tax authorities had previously issued various official letters in which it is mentioned that the L/C activities, such as the issuance, the confirmation and the notification of L/C are VAT exempt, thus leading to inconsistent guidance.

Ride-hailing business: Tax implications on income of drivers

In the past few years, the ride-hailing market in Vietnam has seen a substantial growth, which was approximately by 57% in the period 2015-2019, being the highest in South East Asia, according to a market research by Google and Temasek. This substantial growth has drawn the attention of the Vietnamese tax authorities, who has been developing their viewpoint on taxation mechanisms in order to implement approaches to collect tax from tech-based drivers for their income generated from the ride-hailing business in Vietnam. This article explores the tax implication for ride-hailing drivers.

The Government’s social insurance and labour concessional measures issued to support individuals and enterprises affected by Covid-19 pandemic

Following the Directive No. 11/CT-TTg dated 4 March 2020, the Government recently issued Resolution 42/2020/NQ-CP on solutions to support individuals and enterprises negatively impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic. The Ministry of Labor - Invalids and Social Affairs (“MOLISA”) and the General Confederation of Labor also issued official guidance on the settlement of compensation and benefits for employees during the work suspension period and the deferral of trade union contribution for enterprises who are affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. Some notable support measures to enterprises and employees are summarised below

Vietnam Covid-19 Outbreak – Legal Guide to Employment Issues

This article provides our guidance on key employment Covid-19 issues including: The responsibility to maintain a safe workplace, how to deal with employees confirmed to be positive for Covid-19, with an employee who is in quarantine due to Government order, with an employee who violates Covid-19 regulations and is later on tested positive, or are suspected to have or be exposed to Covid-19 but are not subject to quarantine requirements, with a foreign employee whose work permit or visa expires or needs to have a new work permit/visa, what kinds of compensation that employer must pay in case of redundancy, and other important issues.

A Comparison Between Vietnam’s Trade In Service Commitments under WTO, CPTPP, and EVFTA

This article provides a table comparing the existing commitments of Vietnam under WTO Agreement, the Comprehensive And Progressive Agreement For Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (CPTPP), and the Free Trade Agreement Between Vietnam And European Union (EVFTA), for certain service sectors.

A Comparison between Vietnam's Commitments in Financial Services under WTO, CPTPP and EVFTA

The full texts of The Comprehensive And Progressive Agreement For Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (CPTPP) and The Free Trade Agreement Between Vietnam And European Union (EVFTA) have been made available for public information. The table constructed here tries to compare the existing commitments of Vietnam under WTO Agreement, CPTPP and EVFTA Agreement in Financial Services.

Decree 41 on tax payment concessions to support taxpayers due to Covid-19 pandemic

Following KPMG’s Tax Alert dated 17/3/2020 on the above subject matter, the Government officially issued Decree 41/2020/ND-CP on 8/4/2020 to extend the timeline for the payment of Corporate Income Tax (“CIT”), Value Added Tax (“VAT”), Personal Income Tax (“PIT”) and land rental for specified months for eligible taxpayers who are economically impacted by the pandemic. Compared to the original draft decree circulated for consideration, Decree 41 has significantly broadened the categories of eligible taxpayers for these tax concessions.

Legal Updates - Fighting Covid-19: Supportive Measures for Employees and Enterprises in Vietnam

The Vietnam Government has declared Covid-19 a nationwide epidemic and has unveiled measures for employees and enterprises, addressing concerns essentially about economic implications as well as ensuring business continuity. In these Legal Updates, we address frequently asked questions from employers across industries in light of the continuing Covid-19 crisis.

Update On Certain Important Policies on Taxes, Insurance and Labor during the Covid19 Outbreak - April 2020

In this newsletter: 1) Decree 41/2020/ND-CP on tax and land rent deferral, 2) Suspension of contribution to the pension fund and death benefit fund for entities affected by covid-19, 3) Deferral for payment of union fee for enterprises affected by covid-19, 4) Others regulation on labor in response to covid-19 pandemic.

Vietnam — Tax Liabilities of Foreign Income