Notable documents of Vietnam in the previous week (from December 23 to December 29, 2024)

1. Conditions for engagement in goods transport business by automobiles in Vietnam from January 1, 2025

On December 18, 2024, the Government of Vietnam promulgated Decree No. 158/2024/ND-CP on road transport activities. 

According to the Decree, the conditions for engagement in the goods transport business by automobiles are as follows:  

- Automobiles used for the goods transport business shall be under legal ownership or use rights under written contracts for vehicle rental of units engaging in the goods transport business with organizations and individuals or business cooperation contracts according to the law. 

Where the registered vehicles are owned by cooperative members, there must be service contracts between such members and the cooperatives, specifying that cooperatives have rights, responsibilities, and obligations to manage, use, and manage automobiles owned by cooperative members. 

- Automobiles used for goods transport business shall comply with Clause 11 Article 56 of the Law on Roads 2024 and Clauses 1, 2, and 3 Article 40 of the Law on Road Traffic Order and Safety 2024. 

See more details in Decree No. 158/2024/ND-CP, which comes into force as of January 1, 2025 and replaces Decree No. 10/2020/ND-CP.

2. Announcement of high school graduation exam subjects in Vietnam 2025

On December 24, 2024, the Minister of Education and Training of Vietnam promulgated Circular No. 24/2024/TT-BGDDT on the High School Graduation Exam Regulation. 

According to the Circular, in 2025, the exam shall have 3 examination sessions as follows:  

- 1 Literature examination session. 

- 1 Mathematics examination session. 

- 1 optional subject examination session, including 2 of the following subjects: Physics, Chemistry, Biology, History, Geography, Economic and Legal Education, Informatics, Industrial-Oriented Technology (Industrial Technology), Agricultural-Oriented Technology (Agricultural Technology), and Foreign Language (English, Russian, French, Chinese, German, Japanese, and Korean). 

Circular no. 24/2024/TT-BGDDT comes into force as of February 8, 2025.  

3. Sources for salary reform in 2025 of local authorities in Vietnam 

On December 24, 2024, the Minister of Finance of Vietnam promulgated Circular No. 88/2024/TT-BTC on the implementation of state budget estimate for 2025. 

According to the Circular, sources for salary reform in 2025 of local authorities include: 

- 70% of the increased local budget revenues in 2024 compared to the estimate assigned by the Prime Minister of Vietnam (excluding the revenue from collecting land levies, lottery; revenues from equitization and divestment of state-owned enterprises managed by local authorities and amounts excluded under resolutions of the National Assembly of Vietnam and decisions of the Prime Minister of Vietnam). 

- 50% of the increased local budget revenues in 2024 compared to the estimate in 2023 assigned by the Prime Minister of Vietnam (excluding the revenue from collecting land levies, lottery; revenues from equitization and divestment of state-owned enterprises managed by local authorities and amounts excluded under resolutions of the National Assembly of Vietnam and decisions of the Prime Minister of Vietnam).

- 50% of the increased local budget revenues in 2025 compared to the estimate in 2024 assigned by the Prime Minister of Vietnam (excluding the revenue from collecting land levies, lottery; revenues from equitization and divestment of state-owned enterprises managed by local authorities and amounts excluded under resolutions of the National Assembly of Vietnam and decisions of the Prime Minister of Vietnam).

- 50% of the local budget funding saved from the reduced expenditures on support for recurrent operations concerning expenditures on state administrative management (due to improvement of capacity and operational efficiency; review, arrangement, and consolidation of the operational apparatus and payroll downsizing) and from the reduced expenditures on support for recurrent operations of public service providers (due to continuous innovation of the organization and management and improvement of the quality and operational efficiency of public service providers) according to Clause 7 Article 4 of Resolution No. 160/2024/QH15 on central budget distribution in 2025. 

- The remainder of the 2024’s salary reform funds (carried forward to 2025).

- 10% of the savings of recurrent expenditure estimates in 2025 (excluding salaries, allowances, salary-based contributions, salary amounts, and expenditures on people as per regulation) assigned by competent authorities, including 10% of the recurrent expenditure estimate of 2023, 10% of the increased recurrent expenditure estimate of 2024 compared to 2023, 10% of the increased recurrent expenditure estimate of 2025 compared to 2024, etc. 

See more details in Circular No. 88/2024/TT-BTC, effective as of February 7, 2025. 

4. Personal identification numbers to replace personal tax identification numbers in Vietnam from July 1, 2025 

On December 25, 2024, the Minister of Finance of Vietnam promulgated Circular No. 86/2024/TT-BTC on tax registration.  

Most notably, tax identification numbers for households, household businesses, and individuals are tax identification numbers issued by tax authorities regarding cases prescribed in Points a, dd, e, and h Clause 4 Article 5 of Circular No. 86/2024/TT-BTC or are personal identification numbers issued by the Ministry of Public Security of Vietnam under the law on identity regarding cases of using personal identification numbers as the replacement for tax identification numbers under the following regulations:  

A personal identification number of a Vietnamese citizen issued by the Ministry of Public Security of Vietnam under the law on identity refers to a natural number sequence of 12 digits used in place of the tax identification number of a taxpayer who is an individual or a dependent according to Points k, l, and n Clause 2 Article 4 of Circular No. 86/2024/TT-BTC; 

At the same time, the personal identification number of a representative of a household, household business, or individual business shall be used in place of such entities' tax identification numbers. 

Entry into force:  

Tax identification numbers issued by tax authorities to individuals, households, and household businesses shall be effective until the end of June 30, 2025. From July 1, 2025, taxpayers, tax authorities, and other agencies, organizations, and individuals relevant to the use of tax identification numbers under Article 35 of the Law on Tax Administration 2019 shall use personal identification numbers instead of tax identification numbers. 

See more details in Circular No. 86/2024/TT-BTC, which comes into force as of February 6, 2025, excluding Clause 2 Article 38, and replaces Circular No. 105/2020/TT-BTC.

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