National Assembly Passes Amendments to 8 Laws on Finance, Bidding and Investment: Key New Points (PART 1.1)

Introduction

The Vietnamese National Assembly has officially passed amendments to 8 important laws related to finance, bidding, and investment, known as the 8 Laws on Finance. This is considered a strategic step to complete the legal framework, promote economic development, and create a transparent and healthy competitive business environment.

Vietnam is striving to improve its investment environment through a series of legal reforms. Despite much progress, barriers still exist. Therefore, important amended laws have been promulgated after many rounds of consultations, aiming to create a transparent investment environment, enhance the effectiveness of financial management, simplify administrative procedures, promote the application of technology, and harmonize with international standards.

Context of Law Amendments

Against the backdrop of Vietnam promoting international integration and improving its investment environment, despite many positive legal reforms in recent years, some barriers and inadequacies still exist in current regulations, causing difficulties for businesses and investors.

The drafting process for the amended laws underwent many rounds of consultations with stakeholders, including state management agencies, business associations, legal experts, and investors. Extensive feedback collection helped lawmakers gain a comprehensive view of the practical difficulties in applying the law, thereby proposing appropriate solutions.

The strategic goals of these amendments are to:

• • Create a transparent, favorable, and competitive investment environment.
  • Enhance the effectiveness of state management in the financial sector.
  • Simplify administrative procedures, reducing compliance costs for businesses.

These amendments focus on the 8 Laws on Finance, which aim to address the existing barriers and enhance the overall investment climate.

• Increase the application of technology in financial management and bidding.
• Harmonize Vietnam’s legal system with international standards.

The implementation roadmap for the amended laws is reasonably phased, with effective dates from Q3/2025 to early 2026, aiming to provide stakeholders with sufficient time to prepare and adapt to the legal changes.

Overview of 8 Amended Laws

Below is an overview of the 8 amended laws, their scope of application, and effective dates:

1. Law on State Budget (Amended)

On June 26, 2025, the National Assembly passed the Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on State Budget. After 8 years of applying the 2015 Law, this amendment focuses on stronger decentralization, granting more power to the Prime Minister and local governments, while tightening financial discipline. This law will take effect from the 2026 fiscal year, with some provisions implemented from July 1, 2025.

Key Content

Increased Power and Proactiveness for Localities

Localities can autonomously decide on budget adjustments and allocations within their delegated authority.

Have the right to mobilize capital and issue bonds for investment projects according to medium-term plans.

Take self-responsibility for balancing revenues and expenditures, enhancing the efficiency of public spending.

Added Authority for the Prime Minister

The Prime Minister can direct unified fiscal policy nationwide.

Has the right to adjust the budget in urgent or necessary situations.

Tightening Budget Discipline – Controlling Overspending

Local budget overspending can only be used for development investment.

Borrowing must be within repayment capacity, minimizing public financial risks.

Increased Disclosure, Transparency, and Oversight

Expanded disclosure responsibility from budget estimation to finalization.

The Fatherland Front, media, and citizens have the right to oversee budget implementation.

The amended law aims for an effective, transparent, autonomous, and sustainably developing public financial system. Granting more power to localities and the Prime Minister is expected to create new impetus in budget management, ensuring reasonable resource allocation between the central and local governments.

According to sources from VTC News, Finance Magazine, and Government News.

2. Law on Value Added Tax (VAT)

According to the new Value Added Tax Law No. 48/2024/QH15, which replaces the current Law 2008 and subsequent amendments, the promulgation of the new Law aims to update practices, narrow the scope of non-taxable items, adjust tax rates, expand the tax base, and strengthen management of e-commerce and digital economy activities. The Law will take effect from July 1, 2025, with the exception of provisions on the revenue threshold for business households and individuals to determine non-taxable subjects, which will apply from January 1, 2026.

Key New Points

a) Streamlined List of VAT-Exempt Goods and Services

Elimination of tax exemptions for groups such as fertilizers, agricultural machinery and equipment, offshore fishing vessels, securities services, securities depository services, etc.

Addition of tax exemption for imported goods and services donated or sponsored for disaster prevention, epidemic prevention, and war, as regulated by the Government, as VAT-exempt subjects.

b) Adjusted VAT Rates

Fertilizers, offshore fishing vessels: from 0%/non-taxable → 5%.

Raw forest products, sugar, scientific research tools, IT products: from 5% → 10%.

Expanded scope of 0% tax rate application for: international transportation services, aircraft/ship leasing, construction abroad or in non-tariff zones.

c) Updated Tax Calculation Principles

Taxable price for imported goods includes: import duty, special consumption tax, environmental protection tax.

Valid promotional goods will be taxed at a price of 0, instead of requiring value separation.

d) Tightened Conditions for Tax Deduction and Refund

Mandatory non-cash payment for all input VAT invoices (even below VND 20 million).

Expanded eligible deduction documents: bill of lading, export cargo insurance contract, etc.

Businesses applying the 5% tax rate can get a tax refund if the un-deducted input tax is ≥ VND 300 million after 12 months or 4 quarters.

e) Added and Expanded VAT Payers

Foreign suppliers without a permanent establishment in Vietnam must still declare and pay tax when selling goods or providing services via digital platforms.

E-commerce platforms and digital platforms are obligated to deduct, declare, and pay tax on behalf of foreign sellers.

f) Business Households and Individuals with Revenue Below VND 200 Million/Year Not Required to Pay Tax

From January 1, 2026, individuals with revenue ≤ VND 200 million/year from manufacturing, trading goods/services will not be required to pay VAT.

The amended VAT Law 2024 reflects the trend of modernizing tax management while narrowing inappropriate incentives. With notable changes in tax rates, taxpayers, and deduction conditions, businesses need to proactively review their supply chains, contracts, invoices, and payment methods to promptly adjust their tax strategies before the law takes effect.

3. Law on Accounting (Amended)

Law No. 56/2024/QH15, effective from January 1, 2025, has amended several important provisions in the 2015 Accounting Law. This update aims to promote digital transformation, apply International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), enhance transparency, internal control, and create a legal framework for electronic documents and financial reports.

Key New Points

a) Updated Definition of “Financial Report”

Article 3 adds a clear understanding: “Financial report is a system of economic-financial information…”

b) Application of International Standards (IFRS)

Clause 3, Article 7 assigns the Ministry of Finance the responsibility to guide specifically the scope, roadmap, method of applying accounting standards and professional ethics based on international standards.

c) Electronic Documents and Signatures

Article 19 adds: electronic documents must have a digital signature or legal electronic confirmation.

Removes the mandatory requirement to include “recipient’s name, address” in accounting documents.

d) More Flexible Accounting Period

Article 12 allows the first or last annual accounting period (not exceeding 3 months) to be combined with another annual period, with a maximum of 15 months.

e) Financial Reports and Accountant’s Rights

Article 29 expands the content of financial reports (BCTC) and increases professional independence:

Accountants are allowed to reserve their opinions and report when discovering violations without being held responsible if forced to implement.

f) Language and Bilingualism

Article 11 stipulates: Vietnamese is to be used, and when necessary, bilingualism is permitted. Reports in foreign languages must be translated when requested by authorities.

This is an important step towards digitized, transparent, and internationally integrated accounting. To adapt, stakeholders – businesses, accountants, auditors – need to quickly improve their systems, enhance capabilities, and adopt global standards.

4. Law on Bidding (Amended)

The amended Bidding Law, passed by the National Assembly on June 25, 2025, will officially take effect from July 1, 2025. The law comprehensively amends the provisions of the 2013 Bidding Law, aiming to enhance management effectiveness, increase transparency in bidding activities, expand autonomy for state-owned enterprises, and strongly promote the application of online bidding and more flexible contractor selection methods. (According to Thu Vien Nha Dat, Dau Thau Newspaper)

Key New Points

a) Expanded Scope of Regulation and Differentiation by Capital Source

The Law clearly states: all contractor selection activities using state budget capital must comply with the provisions of the Bidding Law.
For activities not using state budget capital, state-owned enterprises have the right to decide on contractor selection but must ensure transparency, effectiveness, and clear accountability.

Along with this, the Law adds provisions on strengthening inspection, supervision, and performance evaluation to ensure the exercise of autonomy is associated with strict management and risk prevention in the use of enterprise capital.

b) Increased Autonomy in Choosing Bidding Forms

Project owners are prioritized to choose the simplest and most convenient forms such as: direct contracting, ordering, contractor selection in special cases.

In addition, project owners can still choose other forms such as: open bidding, competitive bidding, restricted bidding, etc., suitable for the scale and nature of each package.

The Law also expands the cases where direct contracting and contractor selection in special cases can be applied, aiming to create flexibility when implementing projects.

The Government is tasked with detailing the remaining forms, ensuring transparency and unified guidance.

c) Mandatory Online Bidding from 2025

From January 1, 2025, all bidding packages using state budget capital must be conducted online, with some specified exceptions. This helps reduce costs, limit negativity, and increase transparency and publicity in bidding.

d) Prioritizing Domestic Contractors, Promoting Green Procurement and Innovation

The Law continues to affirm the policy of prioritizing domestic goods, services, and contractors, especially small and medium-sized enterprises. At the same time, it encourages green procurement, the application of new technologies, and innovative products, in line with green growth and sustainable development strategies.

Conclusion

The amended laws demonstrate Vietnam’s strong commitment to completing its legal framework. From increasing power for localities in the Law on State Budget, modernizing the VAT Law, promoting digital transformation in the Accounting Law, to enhancing bidding transparency under the Bidding Law, each change aims for a more effective legal system. Businesses need to proactively research and adjust to seize opportunities in the new legal environment.

Harley Miller Law Firm

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