Update on new regulations in September 2025

Our Newsletter #38 would lead you on the following:

LEGAL UPDATE

I. Compulsory social insurance

On 25 June 2025, the Government issued Decree No. 158/2025/ND-CP, detailing and guiding the implementation of a number of provisions of the Law on Social Insurance regarding compulsory social insurance (“Decree 158”). Decree 158 takes effect from 01 July 2025 and introduces the following notable provisions regarding participation in compulsory social insurance:

1. Decree 158 introduces the following notable provisions regarding participation in compulsory social insurance (“SI”)

With the enactment of the Law on SI 2024 replacing the Law on SI 2014, Decree 158 has clarified the groups of employees subject to compulsory SI under the Law on SI 2024, specifically as follows:

1. The following employees who are sent for study, internship, or work trips in Vietnam or abroad while still receiving salaries in Vietnam shall be subject to compulsory SI:
   1. Vietnamese employees who are:
      • Employees working under indefinite-term labor contracts, definite-term labor contracts with a term of at least 01 month, including cases where the employees and employers agree under other names but with contents showing paid employment and the management, direction, and supervision of one party;
      • Cadres, civil servants, and public employees;
      • National defense workers and officials, etc.;
      • Employees working overseas under contracts as prescribed by the Law on Vietnamese Workers Working Abroad under Contracts, except where otherwise provided by treaties to which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a member;
      • Spouses of members of overseas representative missions of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam who do not receive salaries from the State budget but are sent on duty terms and receive living allowances;
      • Managers of enterprises, controllers, members of the Board of Directors, General Directors, Directors, etc., and other elected managerial positions of cooperatives and unions of cooperatives as prescribed by the Law on Cooperatives who receive salaries;
      • Part-time officers at commune, village, and residential quarter levels;
      • Persons specified at Point (a) of this Clause who work on a part-time basis and receive monthly salaries equal to or higher than the lowest salary used as the basis for compulsory SI contribution;
      • Owners of household businesses that are registered in accordance with the Government’s regulations;
   2. Foreign employees working in Vietnam under definite-term labor contracts with a term of at least 12 months with employers in Vietnam. However, the following cases are excluded:
      • Employees moving within an enterprise as prescribed by the laws on foreign employees working in Vietnam;
      • Employees who have reached the statutory retirement age at the time of entering into the labor contract; and
      • Where otherwise provided by international treaties to which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a member.
2. Owners of household businesses that are registered for business operation, including:
   1. Owners of household businesses that are registered for business operation and pay tax under the declaration method; and
   2. Owners of household businesses that are registered for business operation but not falling under Item (ii).(a) above shall be subject to compulsory SI from 01 July 2029.
3. In addition, Decree 158 also provides regulations on individuals who fall under multiple groups subject to compulsory SI participation.

2. Decree 158 clarifies the groups not required to participate in compulsory SI

In addition to clarifying the groups required to participate in compulsory SI as mentioned above, Decree 158 also specifies the groups not required to participate in compulsory SI as follows:

1. Individuals who are receiving SI allowances or monthly allowances are not subject to compulsory SI, specifically including:
   1. Persons currently receiving monthly loss of working capacity allowances;
   2. Persons currently receiving monthly allowances under Decree No. 09/1998/ND-CP dated 23 January 1998 of the Government amending and supplementing Decree No. 50/CP dated 26 July 1995 of the Government on living allowances for commune-, ward-, and township-level officials;
   3. Persons currently receiving monthly allowances under: Decision No. 91/2000/QD-TTg dated 04 August 2000 of the Prime Minister; and Decision No. 613/QD-TTg dated 06 May 2010 of the Prime Minister.
   4. Persons currently receiving monthly allowances under: Decision No. 142/2008/QD-TTg dated 27 October 2008 of the Prime Minister; Decision No. 38/2010/QD-TTg dated 06 May 2010 of the Prime Minister; Decision No. 53/2010/QD-TTg dated 20 August 2010 of the Prime Minister; and Decision No. 62/2011/QD-TTg dated 09 November 2011 of the Prime Minister.
2. In addition, the following individuals are also not subject to compulsory SI:
   1. Vietnamese employees working on a part-time basis whose monthly salary calculated in accordance with the regulations on salaries as the basis for compulsory SI contribution is lower than the minimum salary used as the basis for compulsory SI contribution;
   2. Employees working under probationary contracts as prescribed by the labor laws.

II. Voluntary SI

On 25 June 2025, the Government issued Decree No. 159/2025/ND-CP detailing and guiding the implementation of a number of provisions of the Law on SI regarding voluntary SI (“Decree 159”). Decree 159 takes effect from 01 July 2025 and introduces important provisions on participation in voluntary SI.

1. Changes to payment methods and income levels

According to Decree 159, if a participant in voluntary SI who has already selected a payment method and an income level as the basis for voluntary SI contributions wishes to change such method or income level, he/she must submit a declaration form to adjust the voluntary SI participation information to the SI authority.

1. Regarding payment methods, participants in voluntary SI may flexibly choose from the following:
   1. Payment monthly, once every 3 months, 6 months, or 12 months;
   2. Lump-sum payment for multiple years in advance (up to 5 years); or
   3. Lump-sum payment for the remaining years if eligible in terms of age.
2. Regarding income levels, participants in voluntary SI may increase or decrease the income level used as the basis for calculating contributions.

Please note that changes to the payment method or income level serving as the basis for voluntary SI contributions may only be made after the participant has completed the previously selected payment method and income level.

2. Survivorship benefits for persons with periods of both compulsory SI and voluntary SI contributions

According to Decree 159, the survivorship benefits for persons who have contributed to both compulsory SI and voluntary SI are regulated as follows:

1. The period used to calculate survivorship benefits is the total period of contributions under both compulsory SI and voluntary SI.
2. In the following cases, if a participant in voluntary SI dies, the organization or individual responsible for the funeral shall be entitled to a one-time funeral allowance:
   1. Having at least 12 months of compulsory SI contributions;
   2. Having less than 12 months of compulsory SI contributions but with a combined total of at least 60 months under compulsory SI and voluntary SI;
   3. Persons receiving or temporarily suspending monthly occupational accident or occupational disease allowances who have left employment;
   4. Persons receiving or temporarily suspending pensions.
3. In the following cases, if a participant in voluntary SI dies, eligible dependents shall be entitled to a monthly survivorship allowance:
   1. Having at least 15 years of compulsory SI contributions;
   2. Receiving or temporarily suspending monthly occupational accident or occupational disease allowances with a work capacity reduction of 61% or more;
   3. Receiving or temporarily suspending pensions, provided that they had at least 15 years of compulsory SI contributions before retirement.
4. Dependents of a participant in voluntary SI shall be entitled to a one-time survivorship allowance in the following cases:
   1. The participant dies but does not fall under any of the cases specified in Item II.2.(iii) above;
   2. The participant dies under one of the cases specified in Item II.2.(iii) above but has no dependents eligible for monthly survivorship allowances;
   3. Dependents who are eligible for monthly survivorship allowances opt to receive a one-time survivorship allowance instead.
5. One-time survivorship allowance:
   1. For participants currently contributing to SI or preserving their contribution period, the one-time survivorship allowance shall be based on the average salary and income used as the basis for SI contributions;
   2. For persons receiving or temporarily suspending pensions who die:
      • If death occurs within the first 02 months, the one-time survivorship allowance shall equal 48 months of the pension of the month being received;
      • If death occurs from the third month onwards, the allowance shall be reduced by 0.5 months of pension for each month after the first 02 months, but shall not be lower than 03 months of the pension of the month being received.
   3. For persons receiving or temporarily suspending monthly occupational accident or occupational disease allowances who are still contributing to SI or preserving their contribution period at the time of death, the one-time survivorship allowance shall be settled as for participants who die while contributing to or preserving SI contribution periods;
   4. For persons receiving or temporarily suspending monthly occupational accident or occupational disease allowances who have already received a lump-sum SI settlement and have no preserved SI contribution period, the one-time survivorship allowance shall equal 03 months of the occupational accident or occupational disease allowance being received at the time of death.

III. Corporate income tax

On 14 June 2025, the National Assembly promulgated Law No. 67/2025/QH15 on corporate income tax (“Law on CIT 2025”), which takes effect from 01 October 2025 and introduces notable provisions on the administration of corporate income tax.

1. Taxable income

According to the Law on CIT 2025, taxable income includes income from the production and trading of goods and services, as well as other income as prescribed in the Law on CIT. In particular, the Law on CIT 2025 provides the following notes on taxable income:

1. Taxable income arising in Vietnam for foreign enterprises includes income received from Vietnam, regardless of the location where business activities are conducted;
2. A Vietnamese enterprise investing abroad that earns income from overseas production or business activities during the tax period may credit the corporate income tax paid under the laws of the host country against the CIT payable in Vietnam. However, the credited amount must not exceed the CIT calculated under Vietnamese law; and
3. Where an enterprise is subject to supplementary CIT under the global minimum tax regime (IIR) in accordance with the law, the supplementary CIT payable shall be credited against the CIT payable in Vietnam in accordance with the Law on CIT.

2. Tax-exempt income

The Law on CIT 2025 introduces additional categories of tax-exempt income, including:

1. Income from fishing activities; income of enterprises derived from the production of crops, planted forests, livestock, aquaculture, and the processing of agricultural or aquatic products (including cases where agricultural or aquatic products are purchased for processing) in areas with exceptionally difficult socio-economic conditions;
2. Income distributed from capital contributions, share purchases, joint ventures, or associations with domestic enterprises, after corporate income tax has been paid in accordance with the Law on CIT 2025, including cases where the capital recipient, share issuer, or joint venture/association enjoys corporate income tax incentives;
3. Gains arising from asset revaluation in accordance with the law for the purposes of equitization or restructuring of enterprises wholly owned by the State;
4. Income from the transfer of emission reduction certificates or carbon credits upon their first issuance by the enterprise to which such certificates or credits are granted; income from interest on green bonds; and income from the first transfer of green bonds after issuance; and
5. Income of public non-business units derived from the provision of public services, including:
   1. Basic and essential public services included in the list of public services funded by the state budget as promulgated by competent authorities;
   2. Public services for which the State must provide funding support due to service prices not yet fully reflecting the cost of service provision;
   3. Public services provided in areas with exceptionally difficult socio-economic conditions.

3. Tax rates

The Law on CIT 2025 provides for tax rates applicable to taxable corporate income as follows:

1. The standard corporate income tax rate is 20%, except for the cases below and those eligible for preferential tax rates;
2. A tax rate of 15% applies to enterprises with total annual revenue not exceeding VND 3 billion;
3. A tax rate of 17% applies to enterprises with total annual revenue of more than VND 3 billion but not exceeding VND 50 billion;
   • The revenue used to determine whether an enterprise is eligible for the 15% or 17% rate is the total revenue of the immediately preceding CIT period.
4. The corporate income tax rates for certain other cases are prescribed as follows:
   1. For oil and gas exploration and extraction activities, the rate ranges from 25% to 50%. Based on the location, extraction conditions, and reserves of each mine, the Prime Minister shall decide the specific rate applicable to each petroleum contract;
   2. For the exploration and extraction of precious and rare resources (including platinum, gold, silver, tin, tungsten, antimony, gemstones, rare earths, and other precious and rare resources as prescribed by law), the rate is 50%. Where 70% or more of the allocated mining area is located in areas with exceptionally difficult socio-economic conditions, the applicable rate is 40%.

The above is not official advice from BLawyers Vietnam. If you have any questions or suggestions about the above, please contact us at info@blawyersvn.com. We would love to hear from you.

Date: 25 September 2025

Writer: BLawyers Vietnam

Legal News and Update Team

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