THE MINISTRY OF FINANCE
THE GENERAL DEPARTMENT OF TAXATION

Official Dispatch No. 2512/TCT-CS dated June 24, 2015 of the General Department of Taxation on introduction of new contents of the Circular No. 96/2015/TT-BTC
To: Provincial Departments of Taxation
The Ministry of Finance issued Circular No. 96/2015/TT-BTC dated June 22, 2015 on guidelines for enterprise income tax in the Government's Decree No. 12/2015/ND-CP dated February 12, 2015 on guidelines for the law amending laws on taxation and amendments to degrees on taxation; amending some articles of Circular No. 78/2014/TT-BTC dated June 18, 2014, Circular No. 119/2014/TT-BTC dated August 25, 2014, and Circular No. 151/2014/TT-BTC dated October 10, 2014 of the Ministry of Finance . General Department of Taxation hereby requests Provincial Departments of Taxation to notify tax officials and disseminate new contents of the Circular, which takes effect on August 06, 2015 and applies to tax period 2015 onwards, among local taxpayers. Some new contents of Circular No. 96/2015/TT-BTC:
1. Method for calculation of enterprise income tax (EIT) in Article 1, which amends Clause 1 Article 3 of Circular No. 78/2014/TT-BTC)
Amendment to some regulations on declaration, payment of EIT by Vietnamese enterprises making investment overseas:
- In case of a Vietnamese enterprise who makes investment in a foreign country that has signed a Double Taxation Agreement and transfers income to Vietnam after paying EIT overseas, regulations of such Agreement shall apply. If the foreign country has not signed a Double Taxation Agreement with Vietnam and the rate of EIT incurred in the foreign country is lower, the difference in enterprise income tax shall be collected in accordance with the EIT Law of Vietnam.
- Income from the overseas project shall be included in the annual EIT statement of the year in which income in transferred to Vietnam as prescribed by regulations of law on ODI. Income (profit) from or loss on the overseas project must not be deducted from the loss incurred or income (profit) earned in Vietnam by the enterprise when calculating enterprise income tax.
- In case a Vietnamese ODI enterprise transfers its income to Vietnam without declaring, paying tax on such income, the tax authority shall impose tax on overseas business under the Law on Tax Administration.
- Documents for declaration and payment of tax on income from overseas projects of Vietnamese enterprises making investment overseas are simplified to ensure compliance when applying International Agreements, including: (i) A photocopy of the declaration of overseas income tax certified by the taxpayer; (ii) A photocopy of the receipt for overseas tax payment certified by the taxpayer, or the original copy of the foreign tax authority of tax payment, or a photocopy of an equivalent document certified by the taxpayer.