Nearly 200 foreign-invested enterprises in Vietnam to pay global minimum tax

Nearly 200 foreign-invested enterprises in Vietnam must pay the global minimum tax. Photo: MoF

The information was given by vice director of the Department of Taxation under the Ministry of Finance Dang Ngoc Minh, at the specialised seminar on tax policy for foreign-invested enterprises, organised by the Department of Taxation on September 28.

Minh stated that there are approximately 45,000 foreign-invested projects, and only about 1,500 projects with revenue exceeding €750 million ($852.9 million) are obligated to declare the global minimum tax (GMT). These are large corporations and multinational companies.

“Of these 1,500 projects, only about 200 foreign-invested enterprises actually incur tax obligations,” Minh said.

For businesses that previously enjoyed preferential tax rates of 5 per cent and 10 per cent, or tax deductions, when applying the GMT rate, Vietnam applies a general tax rate of 15 per cent.

“The total amount of tax collected by the Vietnamese government from the GMT in 2025 is approximately $624 million. It is a source to serve Vietnam's development and recover the incentives already provided,” he said. “Vietnam's collection of approximately from the GMT will not negatively impact foreign investment flows. Foreign investors' choice of Vietnam as an investment destination will no longer be as heavily dependent on preferential policies as before.”

In the first eight months of the year, Vietnam attracted $40.63 billion in foreign-invested capital inflows, marking a 55.4 per cent increase on year. FDI disbursement was estimated at $17.25 billion, up 12 per cent on year and also the highest eight-month figure recorded over the last five years.

“Vietnam has a strategic location in the global production chain, with a foundation in infrastructure, trade relations, and labour, thereby contributing to the global production chain,” he said.

According to director of the Department of Taxation Mai Xuan Thanh, tax and investment policy and tax management play a particularly important role. For a long-term investor, tax is not simply an expense. Businesses are also concerned about whether the policy is clear, obligations’ predictability, the consistency of the implementation methods, and whether there are appropriate mechanisms for discussion and resolution when problems arise.

“In recent times, the tax policy and legal system continued to be reviewed and improved; tax management has shifted strongly towards modernisation, based on data, risk management, technology application, and enhanced international cooperation. Vietnam is also participating in and gradually implementing international tax standards,” Thanh said.

“For foreign-invested enterprises, business operations are no longer limited to a single country. A transaction can involve multiple entities, markets, and tax legal systems. Therefore, related-party transactions, double taxation avoidance agreements, mutual agreement procedure, advance pricing agreements, information exchange, and data transparency are increasingly directly linked to the tax administration activities of businesses.”

Thanh noted that transparency was a requirement from both sides. From the business side, the tax authorities expect businesses to actively manage compliance, ensuring that records, data, and information accurately reflect the nature of their operations and transactions, and to promptly communicate complex or unclear issues to the tax authorities.

From the tax authorities' side, policies, procedures, and management requirements must be publicly available, clearly guided, implemented consistently, and communicated in a timely fashion.

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