Airfare for Foreign Experts: Is It Deductible for Corporate Income Tax Calculation?

Based on the provisions in Article 4 of Circular 96/2015/TT-BTC, in order for expenses to be deductible when calculating corporate income tax, three conditions must be met:

- The expenses must actually arise and be related to the business operations of the enterprise.

- The expenses must have legitimate invoices and documentation as required by law.

- If the expenses involve invoices for goods and services for single purchases worth 20 million VND or more (inclusive of VAT), payments must be made with non-cash payment documents.

Regarding the issue of whether the cost of airplane tickets for experts can be deducted when calculating corporate income tax:

Article 4 of this Circular also stipulates:

In cases where an enterprise purchases airplane tickets via an e-commerce website for workers on business trips to support the business operations of the enterprise, the documents serving as the basis for deductible expenses are electronic tickets, boarding passes, and non-cash payment documents of the enterprise with individuals participating in the transportation journey. If the enterprise does not retrieve the boarding passes from the employees, the documents serving as the basis for deductible expenses are electronic tickets, a decision or official document assigning the employees for business trips, and non-cash payment documents of the enterprise with individuals participating in the transportation journey.

Therefore, according to this regulation, your company's expenses for purchasing airplane tickets for experts from the parent company to Vietnam to resolve fire and explosion aftermaths can be considered deductible expenses if the general conditions mentioned above are satisfied.

Note: The documents serving as the basis for deductible expenses are electronic tickets, boarding passes, and non-cash payment documents from your company. If your company cannot retrieve the boarding passes from the experts, the documents serving as the basis for deductible expenses are electronic tickets, a decision or official document assigning the experts for business trips, and non-cash payment documents from your company.

Sincerely!