Labor, Education, and Tax Policies Effective Early February 2018

1. Registering for Labor Export License through Software

This is a notable new regulation mentioned in Circular 35/2017/TT-BLDTBXH which prescribes the management, operation, and exploitation of the database for Vietnamese laborers working abroad under contract. Accordingly:

- From February 12, 2018, the issuance, renewal, reissuance of licenses, or registration of labor supply contracts for enterprises providing labor export services will be conducted through the data collection software (referred to as the database);- To be granted a license, enterprises must log into the database with the provided account, access the "New License Issuance" section to fully update the information in the declaration form, and upload the application dossier for the license on the database;- Based on the database, the licensing authority will respond on whether the enterprise's dossier is suitable or not and will make a decision to issue the license to the enterprise.

Detailed procedures and steps can be found at Circular 35/2017/TT-BLDTBXH which takes effect from February 12, 2018.

1. Update New List of Heavy, Hazardous, Harmful Occupations

On December 29, 2017, the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs issued Circular 36/2017/TT-BLDTBXH updating the new List of heavy, hazardous, harmful, and dangerous occupations at intermediate and college levels.

The new list adds several heavy, hazardous, and dangerous occupations, for example:

- Waste treatment (Intermediate level - Code: 5850110; College level - Code: 6850110);- Production of cleaning products (Intermediate: 5510510; College: 6510510);- Processing and designing wooden products (Intermediate: 5210422; College: 6210422);- Fertilizer production (Intermediate: 5510511; College: 6510511);- Construction ceramics production (Intermediate: 5510536; College: 6510536);- Sea salt production (Intermediate: 5540114).

Compared to the current list (45 occupations), the new list adds 72 new occupations.

Circular 36/2017/TT-BLDTBXH takes effect from February 12, 2018, replacing Circular 20/2014/TT-BLDTBXH.

1. Including Life Insurance into Non-deductible Expense when Calculating CIT

This is a notable new regulation in Decree 146/2017/ND-CP amending and supplementing several provisions of the Decrees guiding VAT and CIT. Accordingly:

- From February 1, 2018, expenses for purchasing life insurance for employees if exceeding 3 million VND/month/person will be included as non-deductible expenses when calculating CIT.- For life insurance expenses to be deductible, in addition to not exceeding the prescribed limit (3 million VND), they must also be clearly stated in the following documents:

- Labor contract;- Collective labor agreement;- Financial regulations of the Company, Corporation, Group;- Bonus regulations stipulated by the Chairman of the Board of Directors, General Director, Director according to the financial regulations of the Company, Corporation.

(Clause 7 Article 1 of Decree 12/2015/ND-CP does not mention this expense).

See more Decree 146/2017/ND-CP amending and supplementing several provisions of Decree 100/2016/ND-CP and Decree 12/2015/ND-CP.

1. Tax Authorities Manage Casino Business Points via Camera

The Ministry of Finance issued Circular 146/2017/TT-BTC regulating the management and supervision of tax collection for casino business activities. Accordingly:

- At the casino business point, the casino business enterprise must equip necessary means and equipment for the tax authorities to manage and supervise directly or through electronic devices and camera systems;- The installation of electronic devices and camera systems at the business point and storing images monitored through electronic devices and camera systems must comply with Decree 03/2017/ND-CP;- Enterprises shall declare and pay taxes in accordance with the Law on Tax Administration, the Law on Value Added Tax, the Law on Special Consumption Tax, the Law on Corporate Income Tax, and guiding documents;- Enterprises shall register and notify the tax authorities of the sample documents and are responsible for submitting the Invoice Usage Report as per the regulations on invoice management.

Circular 146/2017/TT-BTC takes effect from February 12, 2018.

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