Decision 315 2025 on the criteria for assessment of foreign investments in Vietnam issued: What are cases for VAT refund for investment projects in Vietnam from July 1, 2025?
Decision 315 2025 on the criteria for assessment of foreign investments in Vietnam issued
On February 18, 2025, the Prime Minister of the Government of Vietnam issued Decision 315/QD-TTg 2025 stipulating the issuance of Criteria for assessment of foreign investments in Vietnam.
The Criteria for assessment of foreign investments in Vietnam applies to direct foreign investment activities in forms such as:
- Investment to establish economic organizations.
- Investment by contributing capital, purchasing shares, acquiring capital contributions.
- Conducting investment projects.
- Investment in the form of BCC contracts.
- New forms of investment, types of economic organizations as prescribed by the Government of Vietnam.
The criteria serve as a basis for evaluating the effectiveness of the foreign-invested sector at the national, local, and individual industry or sector levels.
The Criteria for assessment of foreign investments in Vietnam includes 42 indicators, of which there are 29 economic indicators, 8 social indicators, and 5 environmental indicators. The 29 economic indicators are divided into 6 groups, including:
(1) Group of criteria on scale, contribution to socio-economic development of the foreign-invested sector (8 indicators);
(2) Group of criteria on the operational efficiency of foreign-invested economic organizations (10 indicators);
(3) Group of criteria on contributions to the state budget from the foreign-invested sector (3 indicators);
(4) Group of criteria on the spillover effects of foreign investment (2 indicators);
(5) Group of criteria on technology of the foreign-invested sector (2 indicators);
(6) Group of criteria on the contribution of foreign investment to enhancing Vietnam’s innovation capacity (4 indicators).
Decision 315 2025 on the criteria for assessment of foreign investments in Vietnam issued: What are c ases for VAT refund for investment projects in Vietnam from July 1, 2025? (Image from the Internet)
What are the cases for VAT refund for investment projects in Vietnam from July 1, 2025?
Based on Point a Clause 2 Article 15 of the Law on Value-Added Tax 2024 (effective from July 1, 2025), the cases for VAT refund for investments from July 1, 2025, are stipulated as follows:
- Business establishments registered to pay VAT by the credit method having investment projects (new investment projects, expanded investment projects) according to investment law (including investment projects divided into multiple investment phases or multiple investment categories, excluding projects that do not form fixed assets for the enterprise) during the investment phase or projects for search, exploration, and development of oil and gas fields during the investment phase, having input VAT arising in the investment phase but not yet entitled to a refund, are to offset this against the VAT payable from their ongoing production and business activities (if any). If after offsetting, the unrecovered input VAT of the investment project is from 300 million VND or more, a VAT refund is granted.
+ In the case where the investment project has been completed (including investment projects divided into multiple phases, or categories where some phases, categories have been completed) but the business has not yet processed the VAT refund for the tax arising in the completed phase, that business must submit a VAT refund application within 1 year from the date of project or phase completion.
+ The date of completion of an investment project or phase, category of investment is the date of revenue recognition from the investment project or phase. Revenue specified does not include revenue from trial operations, financial activities, and liquidation of project materials.
- Business establishments are not entitled to refunds but may carry forward unverifiable VAT to subsequent periods in the following cases:
+ Investment projects of businesses do not contribute sufficient charter capital as registered at the time of tax refund application submission; operating business sectors with conditions when not met as prescribed by law or failing to maintain those conditions during operations, except for projects in the investment phase, according to investment laws not requiring authority approval for conditional business sectors, or investment projects which do not require business licenses for conditional sectors as per laws.
+ Investment projects extracting resources, minerals (except projects for search, exploration, and development of oil and gas fields as specified in point a of this clause) and investment projects producing products as resources, minerals processed into other products as stipulated in Clause 23 Article 5 of the Law on Value-Added Tax 2024.
How should enterprises with investment projects eligible for VAT refunds prepare their tax declarations?
According to Point d Clause 2 Article 7 Decree 126/2020/ND-CP, regulations on VAT tax declarations are as follows:
Tax Declaration Files
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- Tax declaration files corresponding to each type of tax required, taxpayer, suitable with the tax calculation method, tax period (monthly, quarterly, annually, per occurrence or finalization). In the case of the same type of tax where the taxpayer has various business activities, a consolidated tax declaration file must be prepared, except for the following cases:
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c) Taxpayers with amounts collected on behalf as assigned by competent state authorities must prepare separate VAT declaration files for this activity.
d) Taxpayers currently operational with investment projects eligible for VAT refunds must prepare separate VAT declaration files for each project; simultaneously, offset the VAT on purchased goods and services used for each investment project against the VAT payable (if any) of the ongoing business activities within the same tax period.
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Therefore, enterprises currently operational with investment projects eligible for VAT refunds must prepare separate VAT declaration files for each investment project.
Simultaneously, they must offset the VAT on purchased goods and services used for each investment project against the VAT payable (if any) from ongoing business activities within the same tax period.
