Law on Excise Tax, No. 66/2025/QH15

LAW

On Excise Tax

Pursuant to the Constitution of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam;

The National Assembly promulgates the Law on Excise Tax.

Chapter I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope of regulation

This Law provides for taxable and non-taxable objects, and payers, bases, refund, deduction and reduction of excise tax.

Article 2. Taxable objects

1. Goods:

a) Tobacco as prescribed by the Law on Prevention and Control of Tobacco Harms;

b) Liquor as prescribed by the Law on Prevention and Control of Harms of Liquor and Beer Abuse;

c) Beer as prescribed by the Law on Prevention and Control of Harms of Liquor and Beer Abuse;

d) Motor vehicles with fewer than 24 seats, including passenger automobiles; four-wheeled passenger vehicles with engines; pick-up automobiles for passenger transport; double-cabin pick-up trucks for cargo transport; VAN trucks with two or more rows of seats, fixed partitions between passenger holds and cargo holds;

dd) Two- and three-wheeled motorcycles of a cylinder capacity of over 125 cm³;

e) Aircraft, helicopters, gliders, and yachts;

g) Gasoline of all kinds;

h) Air conditioners with a capacity of over 24,000 BTU up to 90,000 BTU, excluding those designed by the manufacturer exclusively for installation on means of transport including automobiles, railway carriages, aircraft, helicopters, ships, and boats. In cases where organizations or individuals manufacture for sale or import separately each component being either the indoor unit or outdoor unit, the goods sold or imported (the indoor unit or outdoor unit) shall still be subject to excise tax as applicable to the complete product (complete air conditioner);

i) Playing cards;

k) Votive gilt papers and votive objects, excluding votive objects which are children’s toys and educational tools;

l) Beverages, as per the National Technical Regulation (TCVN), with a sugar content exceeding 5g/100mL.

Goods specified in this Clause refer to complete products and do not include components used for assembling such goods.

2. Services:

a) Dance halls;

b) Massage parlors and karaoke bars;

c) Casinos; prize-winning video games, including jackpot and slot games and games on similar machines;

d) Betting business, including sports betting, entertainment betting, and other forms of betting as prescribed by law;

dd) Golf business;

e) Lottery business.

3. In case of necessity to amend or supplement taxable objects in accordance with the socio-economic context in each period, the Government shall submit to the Standing Committee of the National Assembly for consideration, decision, and report to the National Assembly at the nearest session.

4. The Government shall detail this Article.

Article 3. Non-taxable objects

1. Goods specified in Clause 1, Article 2 of this Law are not subject to excise tax in the following cases:

a) Goods which are directly exported by organizations or individuals that produce, process, or have goods processed; or which are sold or entrusted by such organizations or individuals to other business entities for for export;

b) Imported goods, including:

b1) Goods as humanitarian aid or non-refundable aid, including goods imported using non-refundable aid capital approved by competent agencies; humanitarian assistance goods; emergency relief goods for remedying consequences of war, natural disasters, and epidemics; gifts from overseas organizations and individuals to state agencies, political organizations, socio-political organizations, socio-political-professional organizations, social organizations, socio-professional organizations, people’s armed forces units, and non-business units, within the tax-exempt quota as prescribed by the law on import duty and export duty; and gifts or presents for individuals in Vietnam within the tax-exempt quota as prescribed by the law on import duty and export duty;

b2) Goods in transit as prescribed by the law on commerce and foreign trade management; goods subject to transshipment or border-gate transfer; goods imported from abroad into bonded warehouses and then exported to another country as prescribed by the law on customs;

b3) Goods temporarily imported for re-export and temporarily exported for re-import which are not subject to import duty or export duty within the time limit specified in the law on import duty and export duty. In cases where the time limit for re-export or re-import is exceeded, or the goods are sold or their intended use is changed within the temporary import or temporary export period, the business organizations or individuals shall be liable to pay excise tax;

b4) Personal effects of foreign organizations or individuals within diplomatic immunity quotas; goods within the import duty-free luggage quotas as prescribed by the law on import duty and export duty; goods imported for duty-free sale under law;

b5) Goods previously exported abroad that had been subject to excise tax and are returned by foreign entities upon re-import;

c) Aircraft, helicopters, gliders, and yachts used for the business purpose of transporting goods, passengers, or tourists; and aircraft, helicopters, and gliders used for security, national defense, emergency medical services, rescue, firefighting, pilot training, filming, photography, mapping, or agricultural production;

d) Ambulances; prison vans; hearses; automobiles designed with both seats and standing places for transporting 24 or more persons; passenger automobiles and four-wheeled passenger vehicles with engines that are not registered for circulation and are used exclusively within amusement parks, entertainment zones, sports areas, historical sites, hospitals, schools, and other specialized automobiles as prescribed by the Government.

2. In case of necessity to amend or supplement non-taxable objects in accordance with the socio-economic context in each period, the Government shall submit to the Standing Committee of the National Assembly for consideration, decision, and report to the National Assembly at the nearest session.

3. The Government shall detail this Article.

Article 4. Taxpayers

1. Excise taxpayers include organizations and individuals that produce, process, or import goods and provide services which are subject to excise tax.

2. Organizations or individuals engaged in export business purchases excise tax-liable goods from a producer for export and do not export but sell them domestically, shall pay excise tax.

Chapter II

TAX BASES

Article 5. Tax bases and tax calculation methods

1. Tax bases:

a) Excise tax bases calculated according to the ad valorem method include the taxed price of a taxable goods or service and the tax rate;

b) The tax base for excise tax calculated according to the specific amount method is the quantity of taxable goods and the specific tax amount.

2. Tax calculation method:

In which:

Article 6. Taxed price

1. The excise taxed price of a goods or service is the goods selling price or the service charge, exclusive of excise tax, environmental protection tax and value-added tax, specifically:

a) For domestically produced goods or imported goods, it is the selling price of the producer or importer.

In case excise tax-liable goods are sold to trading enterprises which have the parent company-subsidiary relation with, or are subsidiary companies of same parent company of, the producer or importer, or to trading enterprises being those having partnership relation, the price serving for determining the price for excise tax calculation must not be lower than a percentage (%) of average selling price set by trading enterprises directly purchasing goods from the producer or importer, as prescribed by the Government;

b) For imported goods at the importation stage, the price is the import duty calculation value as prescribed by the law on export duty and import duty, plus import duty, and plus any additional import duties as prescribed by the law on export duty and import duty (if any). For imported goods eligible for import duty or additional import duty exemption or reduction, it is exclusive of the exempted or reduced import duty or additional import duty amount;

c) For processed goods, it is the taxed price of the goods sold by processing-ordering organization or individual, or the selling price of the product of the same or similar kind at the same time with the time of goods sale;

d) For goods produced in the form of business cooperation between an individual or institutional producer and an individual or institutional user or owner of goods trademarks (brands) or production technologies, their excise taxed price is the selling price set by that user or owner. In case an organization or individual produces goods under a franchise license and transfers goods to Vietnam-based branches or representatives of foreign companies for sale, the goods’ excise taxed price is the selling price set by those branches or representatives;

dd) For goods sold on installment or deferred payment, it is the one-off selling price of such goods, exclusive of the installment or deferred payment interest.

For excise tax-liable goods sold together with a service of leasing part of or components of such goods, the excise taxed price shall be the price of similar or equivalent goods sold at the time of transaction;

e) For golf business, it is the selling price of the membership card or golf-playing ticket, inclusive of the golf playing charge, practice session tickets, course maintenance fees, buggy rental, caddy service, deposit amount (if any), and other charges related to golf activities paid by players or members to the golf business organization or individual;

g) For casino, prize-winning video game and betting business, it is the turnover from such business minus the prize already paid to customers and the returned amount for unused tokens or credits (if any);

h) For dance hall, massage parlor and karaoke bar business, it is the turnover from such business, including revenue from food and beverage services and other accompanying services;

i) For lottery business, the excise taxed price is the revenue from selling lottery tickets of all types permitted for business operation under the law.

2. For goods and services used for barter, internal consumption, gifting, donation, or promotional purposes, it is the excise taxed price of the goods or service of the same or similar kind at the time such activities occur.

3. Excise taxed prices of goods and services specified in this Article are inclusive of additional charges and revenues (if any) enjoyed by business organizations or individuals.

4. The Government shall detail this Article.

Article 7. Time of determination of excise tax

1. The time of determination of excise tax for goods shall be the time of transfer of ownership or the right to use the goods to the purchaser, regardless of whether payment has been collected.

2. The time of determination of excise tax for services shall be the time the service provision is completed or the time of issuance of the service provision invoice, regardless of whether payment has been collected.

3. The time of determination of excise tax for imported goods shall be the time of customs declaration registration.

Article 8. Tax rates and specific tax amount

1. Excise tax rates and specific tax amount for goods and services are specified in the Excise Tariff below:

EXCISE TARIFF

2. Specific tax amount for cigarettes as prescribed at Point a, Section 1, Part I of this Tariff shall apply to cigarette packs containing 20 cigarettes. The Government shall provide guidance on the conversion of specific tax amounts applicable to cigarette packs containing other than 20 cigarettes.

The specific tax amount for cigars as prescribed at Point b, Section 1, Part I of this Tariff shall apply to cigars with a weight of 20 grams per cigar. The Government shall provide guidance on the conversion of specific tax amounts applicable to cigars with a weight different from 20 grams per cigar.

Chapter III

TAX REFUND, DEDUCTION AND REDUCTION

Article 9. Tax refund and deduction

1. Excise taxpayers may have the paid tax amounts refunded in the following cases:

a) Goods which are raw materials imported for production or processing of goods for export abroad.

Excise tax refund under this Point shall only apply to the actual quantity of goods exported abroad;

b) Tax finalization upon dissolution or bankruptcy where there remains uncredited excise tax.

In case a cooperative group is transformed into a cooperative, the cooperative shall inherit the overpaid or uncredited excise tax amount of the cooperative group for deduction or refund as prescribed;

c) Excise tax refund under treaties to which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a contracting party.

2. Taxpayers that produce excise taxable goods from raw materials for which excise tax has been paid and that can produce lawful documents on tax payment may have the tax amounts paid for raw materials deducted upon the determination of payable excise tax amounts at the stage of production.

For taxpayers permitted to produce or blend bio-gasoline, the uncredited excise tax amount on mineral gasoline used as input materials for producing or blending bio-gasoline (including the uncredited tax amount from the immediately preceding tax period) may be offset against the payable excise tax amount arising from other goods and services in the same period. Where, after such offsetting, a remaining uncredited excise tax amount on mineral gasoline used for producing or blending bio-gasoline still exists, it may be carried forward to the following period or refunded.

The excise tax refund shall be sourced from the excise tax revenues of the central budget.

3. Taxpayers importing excise taxable goods shall be entitled to deduct the amount of excise tax already paid at the importation stage when determining the payable excise tax amount at the selling stage.

4. The Government shall detail this Article.

Article 10. Tax reduction

1. Taxpayers that produce excise taxable goods and face difficulties caused by natural disasters or unexpected accidents are entitled to tax reduction.

2. The tax reduction level shall be determined based on the actual extent of damage caused by natural disasters or unexpected accidents but must neither exceed 30% of the payable tax amount in the year the damage occurs nor exceed the balance between the value of damaged assets and the received compensation (if any).

3. Procedures and dossiers for tax reduction shall comply with the law on tax administration.

Chapter IV

IMPLEMENTATION PROVISIONS

Article 11. Effect

1. This Law takes effect from January 1, 2026.

2. The Law on Excise Tax No. 27/2008/QH12, which had a number of articles amended and supplemented under Law No. 70/2014/QH13, Law No. 71/2014/QH13, Law No. 106/2016/QH13 and Law No. 03/2022/QH15 cease to be effective from the date this Law comes into force.

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This Law was passed on June 14, 2025, by the XV^th National Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam at its 9^th session.