Corporate income tax (CIT) is one of the important financial obligations of every production and business organization in Vietnam. Understanding the legal regulations on CIT not only helps businesses comply with the law but also optimizes costs and limits tax risks.
In particular, from October 1, 2025, Corporate Income Tax Law No. 67/2025/QH15 will officially take effect with many important changes, directly affecting the way businesses calculate and declare taxes. This article provides a comprehensive guide to current CIT and upcoming adjustments.
I. What is Corporate Income Tax?
Corporate income tax (CIT) is a type of tax. direct tax, enter the section taxable income of enterprises and economic organizations after deducting reasonable deductible expenses arising from production and business activities of goods and services or from other legal sources of income as prescribed by law.
II. Who are the corporate income tax payers?
1. According to the old Corporate Income Tax Law 2008
Base Article 2, Law on Corporate Income Tax 2008, taxpayers include:
- Business & Investment established and operating under Vietnamese law;
- Enterprises established and operating under foreign laws and generating income in Vietnam with or without a permanent establishment in the country;
- Organization established and operating under the Law on Cooperatives;
- Public and non-public service units with production and business activities generating taxable income;
- Other organizations taxable income
2. According to the Corporate Income Tax Law 2025 (effective from October 1, 2025)
Expand further Taxpayers:
- Many foreign enterprises does not have a permanent establishment in Vietnam but has taxable income in Vietnam from activities business through digital platforms (e-commerce platform, digital application, etc.)
- E-commerce platforms and digital platforms through which foreign enterprises provide goods and services in Vietnam are identified as permanent establishments of enterprises when considering determining the subjects subject to corporate income tax.
III. How to calculate Corporate Income Tax
1. Calculation formula
The method of calculating corporate income tax is prescribed as follows:
📜 “The amount of corporate income tax payable in the tax period is calculated by taxable income multiplied by tax rate, except in the case specified in Clause 2 of this Article.”
– Clause 1, Article 11 of the Law on Corporate Income Tax 2025
From there we can derive the formula for calculating corporate income tax:
CIT = Taxable income for the period × Tax
In which:
- Taxable income for the period: Total revenue from production and business activities of goods, services and other legal incomes in the tax period after deducting deductible expenses according to the provisions of the Law on Corporate Income Tax and implementing documents, tax-exempt incomes and losses carried forward from previous years.
- Tax: Is the percentage applied to taxable income to determine the amount of tax payable.
2. Determine Taxable Income
According to the Article 7 Corporate Income Tax Law 2025Taxable income is determined by the following formula:
Taxable income = (Revenue – Deductible expenses) + Other legal income – (Tax-exempt income + Losses carried forward from previous years)
In which:
a) Deductible expenses:
According to the Circular 96 / 2015 / TT-BTC and guidance documents, deductible expenses must ensure the following conditions:
- Not included in the list of prohibited expenses except as provided in the same Article;
- Actual arising to serve the production and business activities of the enterprise;
- Have sufficient valid invoices and documents according to the provisions of law (in case there are no invoices and documents, a list of purchased goods and services must be made);
- Each invoice with a value of 05 million VND or more (including VAT) must have a non-cash payment document.
b) Non-deductible expenses:
Non-deductible expenses include:
- Expenses that do not meet the above deductible conditions;
- Administrative fines;
- Spending beyond the prescribed limit;
- Other expenses.
👉 Refer to the detailed article: Deductible and non-deductible expenses when determining taxable income for corporate income tax
c) Other legitimate income:
Other income Income that does not arise directly from registered main production and business activities but must still be included in taxable income. This is a group of income that is irregular in nature, arises suddenly or originates from financial activities, investments, asset liquidation, etc.
Base Clause 2 Article 3 Corporate Income Tax Law 2025, other income includes:
-
Income from transfer of capital, capital contribution rights, securities;
-
Income from real estate transfer (except real estate business enterprises);
-
Income from transfer of investment projects, project participation rights, mineral exploration, exploitation and processing rights;
-
Income from transfer, lease, liquidation of assets (including valuable papers, excluding real estate);
-
Income from rights to use and ownership of assets (including intellectual property and technology transfer);
-
Income from deposit interest, loan interest, foreign currency sales (except credit activities of credit institutions);
-
Unused or unused expenses; bad debts recovered; debts payable with unidentified creditors; business income from previous years that was omitted;
-
Difference from fines, contract compensation or performance bonuses;
-
Grants, donations in cash or in kind;
-
Differences due to revaluation of assets when contributing capital, transferring, merging, consolidating, dividing, separating, converting ownership or type of enterprise;
-
Income from business cooperation contracts;
-
Income from production and business activities abroad;
-
Income from leasing public assets of public service units;
-
Other income, except income exempted from tax under Article 4 of this Law.
d) Tax-exempt income:
According to the Article 4 Corporate Income Tax Law 2025, some income is exempt from corporate income tax including:
-
Income from fishing; production and processing of agricultural, aquatic and salt products in particularly difficult areas; income of cooperatives and cooperative unions in these fields.
-
Income of cooperatives and cooperative unions in agriculture, forestry, fishery and salt production in difficult or particularly difficult areas.
-
Income from technical services directly serving agriculture.
-
Income from scientific research contracts, technology development, innovation, digital transformation; new technology products applied for the first time; trial production products (exempt for up to 03 years).
-
Income from enterprises with ≥30% of employees being disabled, post-drug rehabilitation, HIV/AIDS infected and having ≥20 employees, except for financial and real estate enterprises.
-
Income from education and vocational training activities for ethnic minorities, people with disabilities, special children, and social evils.
-
Income distributed from capital contributions, share purchases, joint ventures and domestic associations after paying corporate income tax.
-
Funding for education, culture, arts, charity, humanitarian, social; funding for scientific research, innovation, digital transformation; support from the State budget, Government investment funds; State compensation (if used for the wrong purpose, it will be recovered).
-
Difference due to revaluation of assets for equitization and restructuring of 100% state-owned enterprises.
-
Income from the first transfer of emission reduction certificates, carbon credits; interest, first transfer of green bonds.
-
Income (including interest on deposits, government bonds, treasury bills) from tasks assigned by the State.
-
Undivided income of socialized establishments (education, healthcare, other socialized) for reinvestment; undivided income forming common funds, undivided common assets of cooperatives and cooperative unions.
-
Income from technology transfer is prioritized in particularly difficult areas.
-
Income of public service units from public service.
👉 Refer to the detailed article: Latest corporate income tax exemptions 2025
e) Loss carried forward:
According to the Article 16 Corporate Income Tax Law 2025:
- Enterprises with losses may carry forward their losses to the following year; these losses are deducted from taxable income. The period for carrying forward losses shall not exceed 05 years, starting from the year following the year in which the loss arose.
- Enterprises that incur losses from the transfer of mineral exploration and exploitation projects; transfer of rights to participate in mineral exploration, exploitation and processing projects; transfer of rights to explore, exploit and process minerals may transfer losses to the following year into the taxable income of such activities. The time for transferring losses is prescribed in Clause 1 of this Article.
- The Government shall detail this Article.
3. Determine corporate income tax rate
a) According to old regulations:
According to the Article 10 Consolidated Document No. 10/VBHN-BTC, the general corporate income tax rate currently applied for 2025 is 20%.
For oil and gas and rare resource activities, tax rates range from 32% to 50%. Of which:
- For petroleum activities, based on the criteria, the Prime Minister decides on specific tax rates suitable for each project and each business establishment at the proposal of the Minister of Finance;
- Activities related to rare resources are subject to a tax rate of 50%. In the case of mines with 70% or more of their area located in areas with particularly difficult socio-economic conditions, the tax rate is 40%.
Cases of enjoying preferential tax rates, tax exemption or tax reduction for a period of time, as well as other cases of tax reduction are stipulated in Articles 15, 16 and 17 of Consolidated Document No. 10/VBHN-BTC of the Law on Corporate Income Tax.
b) According to the new Corporate Income Tax Law 2025 (effective from October 1, 2025):
According to the Corporate Income Tax Law 2025, the general corporate income tax rate continues to be 20%.
Cases applying new special tax rates include:
- Enterprises with total annual revenue no more than 03 billion apply tax rates 15%.
- Enterprises with total annual revenue from or above 03 billion to 50 billion apply tax rates 17%.
With oil and gas activities, tax rates range from 25% - 50% (32% - 50% according to old regulations), the Prime Minister decides on the specific tax rate suitable for each contract.
With exploration and exploitation of rare resources (including: platinum, gold, silver, tin, tungsten, antimony, precious stones, rare earths and other rare resources as prescribed by law) is 50%In case mines with 70% or more of their assigned area located in areas with particularly difficult socio-economic conditions, the tax rate is 40%.
Cases of preferential tax rates, tax exemption or tax reduction for a period of time, as well as other cases of tax reduction are prescribed in Articles 13, 14 and 15 of this Law.
👉 Refer to the detailed article: Cases enjoying preferential tax rates, tax exemptions, and latest tax reductions in 2025
Corporate income tax is not only an obligation but also reflects the business performance and legal compliance of the enterprise. Get it right, grasp current regulations and promptly update changes in Corporate Income Tax Law 2025 will help businesses Do it right, proactively plan your finances, take advantage of legal incentives and minimize tax risks. Regularly review expenses, store valid documents and make timely declarations and settlements to ensure legal safety and financial stability for the business.