Vietnam: Changes in new tax administration law, including to APA procedures

The National Assembly in December 2025 passed the Law on Tax Administration No. 108/2025/QH15, introducing several notable changes, effective July 1, 2026.

• Tax declaration and calculation
  • The time limit for supplementing tax declarations and other State budget payables is shortened to five years from the due date of the initial tax return.
  • Taxpayers can submit supplementary tax declarations that result in an increase in tax payable or a decrease in tax exempted, reduced, refunded, credited, or overpaid, subject to tax authority approval. Administrative penalties and late payment interest apply as if violations were detected during a tax audit.
  • The provision exempting late payment interest where overpaid tax was offset against outstanding tax liabilities is eliminated.
• Tax withholding for indirect capital transfer: Entities established under Vietnamese laws are required to withhold, declare, and pay capital gains tax for indirect capital transfer transactions when indirect investment arises.
• Tax audit and inspection
  • Tax inspection provisions are removed from the law's scope.
  • Time limits for tax audits at taxpayers' premises are specified: normal cases are limited to 20 working days, related-party transactions to 40 working days (extendable by another 40 days if necessary), and cases requiring information exchange with foreign tax authorities up to two years.
  • On-site audits are limited to high-risk taxpayers in specific cases.
• Advance pricing agreement (APA) mechanism
  • The requirement to use verified commercial databases for legal validity is removed. APA applications will rely on databases used in tax administration for entities with related-party transactions.
  • Approval authority for bilateral and multilateral APAs involving foreign tax authorities is amended to be decided by the head of the tax authority according to regulations issued by the Minister of Finance.
• Rights and obligations of stakeholders
  • Tax authorities' powers are expanded to apply measures to prevent and secure enforcement of tax penalties, including requesting suspension of business operations and changes to business registration.
  • Credit institutions and foreign bank branches have added responsibilities, such as providing information on taxpayers' payment account numbers and sharing transaction-related information for tax administration purposes.
  • Income payers must provide tax authorities with information on income payments, withheld tax amounts, and other State budget payables declared and paid on behalf of taxpayers.

Read a January 2026 report prepared by the KPMG member firm in Vietnam