Global Daily Tax News, Vietnam Confirms New WHT Obligations On Digital Platforms, (Jun 17, 2025)

The Vietnamese Government has issued Decree No. 117/2025/ND-CP, prescribing rules on digital platform operators to withhold and remit value-added tax and personal income tax on behalf of their business users.

The obligation applies to platforms that process payments for business households and individuals in respect of domestic supplies.

The Decree provides that tax should be withheld as soon as the transaction in question is confirmed as successful and the payment for the transaction is accepted.

The rate of VAT that should be withheld is either one percent for goods, five percent for services, and three percent for goods transportation and related services.

The rate of personal income tax that should be withheld for individuals is 0.5 percent for goods; two percent for services; and 1.5 percent for goods transportation and related services.

For non-resident individuals, the rate of tax withheld should be one percent for goods, five percent for services, and two percent for goods transportation services and related services.

Where the platform is unable to determine the nature of the supply, tax should be withheld at the highest rate, the Decree provides.

The Decree sets out obligations on platforms to declare the tax withheld monthly, less any refunds. Further, it underscores the obligation on business households and individuals, in respect of digital platform transactions, to declare and pay special consumption tax, environmental protection tax, resource tax, and any other amounts payable to the Government.

The Government stated: "Households and individuals conducting business activities on e-commerce platforms are responsible for providing complete and accurate information on tax codes or personal identification numbers (for Vietnamese citizens); passport numbers or identification information issued by competent foreign authorities (for foreign citizens) and mandatory information for sellers as prescribed by the law on e-commerce to the organization managing the e-commerce platform."

"Households and individuals whose value-added tax and personal income tax have been deducted, declared and paid on their behalf by the organization managing the e-commerce platform as prescribed in this Decree shall not have to declare and pay value-added tax and personal income tax for business activities on the e-commerce platform for which tax has been deducted and paid on their behalf," the Government confirmed.

The Decree will enter into force on July 1, 2025.