Circular 135/2026/TT-BTC amend Circular 152/2015/TT-BTC on royalties

CIRCULAR

Amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Minister of Finance’s Circular No. 152/2015/TT-BTC dated October 02, 2015, providing guidance on royalties, which was amended and supplemented under Circular No. 41/2024/TT-BTC

Pursuant to the Law on Royalties No. 45/2009/QH12, amended and supplemented under Law No. 71/2014/QH13;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 50/2010/ND-CP dated May 14, 2010, detailing and guiding a number of articles of the Law on Royalties, amended and supplemented under Decree No. 12/2015/ND-CP;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 29/2025/ND-CP defining the functions, tasks, powers and organizational structure of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, amended and supplemented under Decree No. 166/2025/ND-CP;

At proposal of the Director of the Department for Management and Supervision of Tax, Fees and Charges Policies;

The Minister of Finance hereby promulgates the Circular amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Minister of Finance’s Circular No. 152/2015/TT-BTC dated October 02, 2015, providing guidance on royalties, which was amended and supplemented under Circular No. 41/2024/TT-BTC.

Article 1. Amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Minister of Finance’s Circular No. 152/2015/TT-BTC dated October 02, 2015, providing guidance on royalties, which was amended and supplemented under Circular No. 41/2024/TT-BTC

1. To amend and supplement Point 5.3, Clause 5, Article 6 of Circular No. 152/2015/TT-BTC, amended and supplemented under Clause 2, Article 2 of Circular No. 41/2024/TT-BTC, as follows:

“5.3. In case of adjustment, amendment or supplementation of the Royalty-Liable Price Schedule, the provincial-level Department of Finance shall assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with relevant agencies in, organizing the formulation, adjustment, amendment and supplementation of the Royalty-Liable Price Schedule, and submit it to the provincial-level People’s Committee for promulgation.”

2. To amend and supplement Point 5.4, Clause 5, Article 6 of Circular No. 152/2015/TT-BTC as follows:

“5.4. After the Royalty-Liable Price Schedule is promulgated, the Ministry of Finance (the Department of Taxation) shall update the database on royalty-liable prices.  Local tax offices shall publicize the Royalty-Liable Price Schedule on their portals.”

3. To amend and supplement Point a, Clause 3, Article 9 of Circular No. 152/2015/TT-BTC as follows:

“a) The natural resource output used for royalty calculation is the total output of natural resources exploited during the year, regardless of whether such natural resources are in inventory or undergoing processing or transportation.

Where the output sold includes both natural resource products and industrial products, the natural resources contained in such natural resource products and industrial products shall be converted into the output of exploited natural resources according to the natural resource use norms determined by the taxpayer.

Where the application of the natural resource use norm per unit of product determined by the taxpayer results in an amount of royalties payable that is lower than the amount calculated according to the natural resource use norm promulgated by the provincial-level People’s Committee for the same category of natural resource, the natural resource use norm promulgated by the provincial-level People’s Committee shall apply.”

4. To amend and supplement Clause 1, Article 13, amended and supplemented under Clause 3, Article 2 of Circular No. 41/2024/TT-BTC as follows:

“1. The provincial-level People’s Committees shall:

a) Direct the provincial-level Departments of Finance to assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with relevant agencies in, formulating Royalty-Liable Price Schedules applicable in their respective localities and reviewing market fluctuations in order to adjust such Schedules in accordance with regulations.

d) Direct tax offices, finance, agriculture and environment agencies and other relevant agencies to coordinate in administering royalties in accordance with the guidance provided in this Circular.”.

Article 2. To repeal and replace a number of provisions

1. To repeal and replace a number of provisions of Circular No. 152/2015/TT-BTC

a) To repeal Examples 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 in Article 5 and Examples 8 and 9 in Article 6.

b) To repeal the provision “Processing expenses incurred at the stage of processing natural resource products into industrial products shall be deducted when determining the royalty-liable price based on the enterprise’s processing technology under the approved project, but shall not include expenses for exploitation, screening, sorting and enrichment.” at Point b, Clause 3, Article 6.

c) To remove the phrases “Annually”, “for application in the immediately succeeding year”, “shall be based on the guidance of line ministries, the Ministry of Finance, and”, and “but shall not include expenses for exploitation, screening, sorting and enrichment” in Clause 5, Article 6.

d) To replace the phrase “natural resources and environment” with the phrase “agriculture and environment” in Clause 6, Article 5 and Point c2, Clause 5, Article 6.

2. To repeal Clauses 2 and 3, Article 2 of the Minister of Finance's Circular No. 41/2024/TT-BTC dated May 20, 2024, amending, supplementing a number of articles of the Minister of Finance’s Circular No. 44/2017/TT-BTC dated May 12, 2017, defining the royalty-liable price brackets for groups, categories of natural resources with the same physical and chemical properties, and the Minister of Finance’s Circular No. 152/2015/TT-BTC dated October 02, 2015, providing guidance on royalties.

Article 3. Effect

1. This Circular takes effect from September 09, 2026, and applies from the 2026 royalty period.

2. Any difficulties arising in the course of implementation should be promptly reported to the Ministry of Finance for consideration and guidance./.