Are journalists working in press agencies exempted from licensing fee when starting a business in Vietnam?

Are journalists working in press agencies exempted from licensing fee when starting a business in Vietnam?

Pursuant to Article 3 of Decree 139/2016/ND-CP (as supplemented by Point c, Clause 1, Article 1 of Decree 22/2020/ND-CP) stipulating as follows:

Exemption from licensing fee

Cases exempt from licensing fee include:

1. Individuals, groups of individuals, or households engaged in production and business activities with annual revenue of 100 million dong or less.

2. Individuals, groups of individuals, or households engaged in production and business activities not on a regular basis, without a fixed location as guided by the Ministry of Finance.

3. Individuals, groups of individuals, or households engaged in salt production.

4. Organizations, individuals, groups of individuals, or households engaged in aquaculture and fishing and logistics services.

5. Cultural postal points; press agencies (printed, spoken, television, electronic newspapers).

…

8. Exemption from licensing fee in the first year of establishment or commencement of production and business activities (from January 01 to December 31) for:

a) Newly established organizations (issued with a new tax code or new enterprise code).

b) Households, individuals, or groups of individuals newly engaging in production and business activities.

c) During the exemption period, if organizations, households, individuals, or groups of individuals establish branches, representative offices, or business locations, these branches, representative offices, or business locations are exempt from licensing fee for the duration that the organization, household, individual, or group of individuals are exempt.

Therefore, only press agencies (printed, spoken, television, electronic newspapers) fall under the category exempted from licensing fee, whereas individual journalists do not receive such an exemption under this provision. They may refer to other cases such as the exemption in the first year of establishment or commencement of production and business activities (from January 01 to December 31) for newly established organizations (issued with a new tax code or new enterprise code).

Are journalists working in press agencies exempted from licensing fee when starting a business in Vietnam? (Image from the Internet)

How much is the rate for licensing fee for branches within the same province in Vietnam?

According to Point c, Clause 1, Article 4 of Circular 302/2016/TT-BTC providing guidance on licensing fee issued by the Minister of Finance, the provisions are as follows:

Fee rate for licensing fee

1. The fee rate for licensing fee for organizations engaged in production and business of goods and services is as follows:

a) Organizations with registered capital or investment capital over 10 billion dong: 3,000,000 (three million) dong/year;

b) Organizations with registered capital or investment capital up to 10 billion dong: 2,000,000 (two million) dong/year;

c) Branches, representative offices, business locations, public service providers, other economic organizations: 1,000,000 (one million) dong/year.

The basis for determining the licensing fee rate for the organizations referred to in this point depends on the registered capital recorded in the business registration certificate or the enterprise registration certificate or recorded in the cooperative's charter. In cases where there is no registered capital, it is based on the investment capital recorded in the investment registration certificate or decision on investment policy.

If an organization as mentioned in point a or b has changes in its registered capital or investment capital, the basis for determining the licensing fee rate shall be the registered capital or investment capital of the preceding year.

If the registered capital or investment capital in the business registration certificate or investment registration certificate is denominated in foreign currency, it must be converted into Vietnamese dong to establish the basis for determining the licensing fee rate at the buying exchange rate of the commercial bank or credit institution where the licensing feepayer holds an account at the time of payment to the state budget.

Therefore, whether within the same province or in different provinces, the licensing fee rate for branches, representative offices, business locations, public service providers, and other economic organizations is 1,000,000 (one million) dong/year.

What revenue is the basis for determining the licensing fee rate for individuals, groups of Individuals, households, and new business locations of households in Vietnam?

Based on Clause 3, Article 1 of Circular 65/2020/TT-BTC, which provides regulations on revenue as the basis for determining the licensing fee rate for individuals, groups of individuals, households, and new business locations of households, as follows:

- Revenue as the basis for determining the licensing fee rate for individuals, groups of individuals, households (excluding individuals leasing out properties) is the total personal income tax revenue of the previous year from production and business activities (excluding property leasing activities) of the business locations as prescribed in Circular No. 92/2015/TT-BTC dated June 15, 2015, issued by the Minister of Finance, guiding the implementation of value-added tax and personal income tax for resident individuals conducting business; guiding the implementation of several provisions amended and supplemented in the Law on Amendments and Supplements of several tax provisions under Law No. 71/2014/QH13 and Decree No. 12/2015/ND-CP dated February 12, 2015, of the Government of Vietnam stipulating detailed implementation of the Law on Amendments and Supplements of several tax provisions and amendments and supplements of several decrees on taxes.

For individuals, groups of individuals, households dissolved or temporarily ceased business, then resumed business activities without determining the previous year's revenue, the revenue for determining the licensing fee rate is the revenue of the taxable year of the production, business establishment of similar scale, location, and industry as stipulated in Circular No. 92/2015/TT-BTC dated June 15, 2015, issued by the Minister of Finance.

- Revenue for determining the licensing fee rate for individuals engaging in property leasing activities is the personal income tax revenue from the lease contracts of the taxable year. If individuals engage in multiple lease contracts at one location, the revenue for determining the licensing fee rate for that location is the total revenue from the lease contracts of the taxable year. If individuals engage in property leasing at multiple locations, the revenue used to determine the licensing fee rate for each location is the total revenue from lease contracts across locations of the taxable year, including instances of multiple lease contracts at a single location.

In cases where a property lease contract extends over multiple years, the licensing fee is paid annually corresponding to the number of years the individual, group of individuals, household pays value-added tax, personal income tax. If the individual, group of individuals, household pays value-added tax, personal income tax in a lump sum for a multi-year lease contract, the licensing fee is payable only for one year.

- Individuals, groups of individuals, households, and business locations (not exempt from licensing fee) that commence production and business activities in the first six months of the year pay the annual licensing fee rate, whereas those commencing production and business activities in the last six months of the year pay 50% of the annual licensing fee rate.