VAT Filing Period, License Fee, Incorrect Invoices: What to Know

Three tasks that accountants handle regularly every period — paying the business license fee, choosing the VAT filing period, and correcting wrongly issued invoices — all saw major changes in 2025–2026. Confusing old rules with the rules now in force can easily lead to underpayment, filing in the wrong period, or handling invoices incorrectly.

Short answer: the business license fee ended collection and payment from 1 January 2026, but amounts still owed for 2025 and earlier must still be paid. Whether VAT is filed monthly or quarterly depends on the immediately preceding year’s revenue (threshold of 50 billion VND); a newly established business may choose quarterly. Small and medium enterprises registering for the first time may be exempt from CIT for 3 years, but with conditions and exclusions. A wrongly issued invoice must be handled by an adjustment or replacement invoice and must not be deleted arbitrarily.

When was the business license fee abolished? Are old debts written off?

Under clause 7, Article 10 of Resolution No. 198/2025/QH15 (passed by the National Assembly on 17 May 2025), collection and payment of the business license fee end from 1 January 2026. On 31 December 2025, the Government issued Decree No. 362/2025/NĐ-CP, which repeals Decree No. 139/2016/NĐ-CP and Decree No. 22/2020/NĐ-CP — the two documents that used to be the basis for collecting the business license fee.

From 2026 onward, a business no longer has to:

• File a business license fee return (even when charter capital changes during the year).
• Pay the business license fee for 2026 and subsequent years.

The new policy is not retroactive. Resolution No. 198/2025/QH15 only says “ending the collection and payment… from 1 January 2026” — with no provision writing off business license fees incurred before that date. A business that still owes business license fees for 2025 or earlier years must still pay in full; if late, it still incurs late-payment interest and may be subject to enforcement under the Law on Tax Administration like an ordinary tax debt.

For a business established in 2026, remove the line “first-year business license fee” from the accounting to-do list for the first month — this item no longer exists for newly established businesses from this point.

Does a business file VAT monthly or quarterly?

The value-added tax (VAT) filing period is determined by revenue, not by the accountant’s free choice. Under Article 19 of Circular No. 89/2026/TT-BTC:

A common mistake: a newly established business follows the practice of an accountant who worked at another company (which files quarterly because it qualifies) and applies it directly without rechecking its own actual revenue. A newly established business has no “prior-year revenue” to compare — the rules allow choosing quarterly filing in this period, but after 12 months of operation it must re-check itself against the 50 billion VND threshold.

The chosen filing period is tied to the deadline for filing the return and paying the tax (monthly or quarterly). Changing the filing period mid-year is not a free action in the accounting software, but must follow the prescribed timing and conditions.

Does a newly established small and medium enterprise get a 3-year CIT exemption?

Article 10 of Resolution No. 198/2025/QH15 provides tax support mechanisms for the private economy, of which clause 4 states: small and medium enterprises are exempt from corporate income tax (CIT) for 3 years from the date the enterprise registration certificate is first issued. Decree No. 20/2026/NĐ-CP guides the conditions of application in detail.

This is a conditional incentive, not a default for every business newly established during the year:

• The business must meet the criteria of a small and medium enterprise under current law.
• The exemption period is counted from the date the enterprise registration certificate is issued for the first time — not from the date revenue begins, and it does not apply to newly established enterprises formed by merger, consolidation, division, split, change of owner or change of enterprise type.
• Decree No. 20/2026/NĐ-CP also sets conditions relating to the legal representative and key members/shareholders — these need to be checked against the rules before declaring the exemption, since this is a point the tax authority usually examines closely.

Tax exemption does not mean exemption from filing. A business within the exempt group must still file a full CIT finalization return by the prescribed deadline; the exempted tax is shown on the return, and it does not mean skipping the obligation to file.

An enterprise newly established on paper but whose capital, managers and business lines in reality move over from an old enterprise (in the form of a re-establishment) is a case easily excluded from the exemption under the exclusion conditions above, even if the business registration dossier does not clearly show this link.

Is a wrongly issued invoice canceled or adjusted?

From 1 July 2026, the legal basis for handling erroneous invoices has changed. Decree No. 254/2026/NĐ-CP (issued 30 June 2026) replaces Decree No. 123/2020/NĐ-CP in full and repeals Decree No. 70/2025/NĐ-CP — the two documents that were previously the basis for handling erroneous invoices are no longer in force. Circular No. 91/2026/TT-BTC guides Decree No. 254/2026/NĐ-CP in detail, with Article 10 providing for the handling of issued e-invoices with errors.

An e-invoice with errors — wrong name, tax code, amount, tax rate — is still not handled by deleting the old invoice and issuing a new invoice number to replace it entirely; this principle has been kept through successive amendments of the documents. Under Article 10 of Circular No. 91/2026/TT-BTC, handling is divided by the level of error:

• Errors that do not affect the amount of tax payable (for example a wrong buyer name or address): the seller only needs to send an e-invoice error notice in the prescribed form, and is not required to issue a new invoice.
• Errors that affect the amount of tax payable (wrong tax code, amount, tax rate, unit price, etc.): the seller chooses to issue an adjustment invoice or a replacement invoice for the wrongly issued invoice (point b, clause 1, Article 10 of Circular No. 91/2026/TT-BTC), and the adjustment/replacement invoice must clearly state the number, symbol, form number and issue date of the original invoice.
• An invoice already declared in the VAT return: the related return must be adjusted for the affected tax period, not only correcting the invoice while ignoring the part already declared.

The tax authority’s e-invoice portal is where issued invoice data is cross-checked. Deleting an invoice in internal software and issuing a new invoice number — while the old invoice data remains on the tax authority’s portal — leads to mismatched data between the two sides, easily resulting in invoice penalties and tax assessment. Keep the written agreement between the two parties (if the rules require it) and the adjustment schedule as a basis for later cross-checking.

A business used to handling under Decree No. 123/2020/NĐ-CP or Decree No. 70/2025/NĐ-CP needs to update its internal process and e-invoice software to Decree No. 254/2026/NĐ-CP and Circular No. 91/2026/TT-BTC — do not apply the old process as it was, since the two original documents have been out of force since 1 July 2026.

How Thái Tín supports you

Thái Tín is the coordinating point for reviewing recurring tax obligations and connecting the right accounting and tax partners to handle the business’s actual situation:

• Reviewing outstanding business license fees for years before 2026, determining the exact amount still payable before removing this item from the books entirely.
• Determining the correct VAT filing period (monthly or quarterly) by actual revenue, to avoid choosing the wrong period and having to correct it mid-year.
• Reviewing the conditions for the 3-year CIT exemption for newly established small and medium enterprises, so the right category is declared from the very first return.
• Connecting accounting partners to handle erroneous invoices under the new process of Decree No. 254/2026/NĐ-CP and Circular No. 91/2026/TT-BTC.

The tax authority reviews and decides the tax payable and the specific incentive level; Thái Tín coordinates the dossier and connects the right accounting and tax partners to carry out the professional part.

Have a recurring tax item you are unsure how to handle? Send the type of business and the specific situation (for example: a wrongly issued invoice, or not sure whether your VAT filing period is monthly or quarterly) so Thái Tín can connect the right advisory partner.

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