Are foreign contractors required to deactivate their TIN upon contract completion in Vietnam?

Are foreign contractors required to deactivate their TIN upon contract completion in Vietnam?

Based on the provisions of Clause 2, Article 39 of the Law on Tax Administration 2019 regarding the TIN deactivation as follows:

TIN deactivation

...

2. Taxpayers who directly register with tax authorities must deactivate their TIN when falling into one of the following cases:

a) deactivation of business activities, no further tax obligations for non-business organizations;

b) Revocation of business registration certificates or equivalent licenses;

c) In cases of division, merger, or consolidation;

d) Receiving a notification from the tax authority that the taxpayer is not operating at the registered address;

đ) The individual is deceased, missing, or lacking civil capacity according to legal regulations;

e) Foreign contractors upon contract completion;

g) Contractors and investors participating in petroleum contracts upon contract completion or transferring all rights to participate in the petroleum contract.

.....

Thus, according to the regulations, foreign contractors upon contract completion must deactivate their TIN if they have directly registered with the tax authorities.

Are foreign contractors required to deactivate their TIN upon contract completion in Vietnam? (Image from the Internet)

What are the principles for the TIN deactivation in Vietnam?

According to Clause 3, Article 39 of the Law on Tax Administration 2019, the principles governing the TIN deactivation are as follows:

- The TIN cannot be used in economic transactions from the date the tax authority announces its deactivation;

- Once a TIN for an organization is deactivated, it cannot be reused, except for cases specified in Article 40 of the Law on Tax Administration 2019;

- When the TIN of a business household or individual business is deactivated, the TIN of the business household representative is not deactivated and can be used to fulfill other tax obligations of that individual;

- When a company, economic organization, other organization, or individual deactivates their TIN, they must simultaneously deactivate the TIN used in substitution;

- Taxpayers being the primary unit that deactivates the TIN must also have their dependent units' TINs deactivated.

Can a TIN be reactivated if the tax authority has not issued a deactivation notice in Vietnam?

Based on Clause 2, Article 40 of the Law on Tax Administration 2019 which stipulates the reactivatement of TINs as follows:

TIN reactivation

1. Taxpayers who register concurrently with enterprise registration, cooperative registration, business registration, if restored to legal status under the laws governing enterprise registration, cooperative registration, business registration, are also allowed to have their TINs reactivated.

2. Taxpayers who directly register with tax authorities submit application dossiers requesting the reactivatement of their TINs to the directly managing tax authority in the following cases:

a) Written cancellation by competent authorities of revoking business registration certificates or equivalent licenses;

b) When intending to resume business operations after having submitted a TIN deactivation dossier to the tax authority, but the tax authority has not yet issued a deactivation notice;

c) When the tax authority notifies that the taxpayer is not operating at the registered address but has not yet revoked the license and has not yet deactivated TIN.

3. The TIN can be reused in economic transactions from the effective date of the legal status reactivatement decision by the business registration authority or from the date the tax authority announces the TIN reactivation.

4. The application dossier requesting TIN reactivatement includes:

a) Written request for TIN reactivation;

b) Other relevant documents.

Thus, according to the regulations, in the case where a TIN deactivation dossier has been submitted to the tax authority but the tax authority has not yet issued a deactivation notice, if there is an intention to resume business operations, the unit may be entitled to have the TIN reactivated.

In this case, the taxpayer needs to submit an application dossier requesting TIN reactivatement to the directly managing tax authority.