On July 1, 2025, the Government issued Decree 181/2025/ND-CP detailing the implementation of a number of articles of the Law on Value Added Tax. In particular, Article 18 of this Decree clearly states the conditions for applying the 0% value-added tax rate (VAT) to export goods and services.
According to regulations:
For export goods, enterprises must have:
Contract for selling and processing export goods or export trust contract;
Documents for non-cash payment for the value of exported goods;
Customs declaration according to regulations.
For export services, except in special cases, it is necessary to:
Contracts for service provision with organizations and individuals abroad or in non-taxable areas;
Cashless payment documents.
For international transportation, there must be:
Contracts for transporting passengers, luggage, and goods between the transporting person and the renter on international routes (from Vietnam to abroad, from abroad to Vietnam or both abroad); for passengers, the transportation contract is determined to be a ticket;
Cashless payment documents. For personal passenger transport, direct payment documents can be accepted.
For aviation services, it is necessary to:
Service provision contract or service provision request of foreign airline or organization;
Cashless payment documents.
For services arising unofficially, not according to the schedule, without a contract, there must be a direct payment document from a foreign organization or airline.
Note, this contract and document regulation does not apply to passenger service services for international flights from Vietnamese airports (passenger service charges).
As for aircraft repair services provided to foreign organizations and individuals, to apply a tax rate of 0%, aircraft must go through temporary import and re-export procedures.
For maritime services, it is required:
Contracts for service provision with foreign organizations, ship agents or service requests;
Cashless payment documents of an overseas organization or a shipping agency.
Similar to aviation services, for ship repair services provided to foreign organizations and individuals, the condition to apply the 0% tax rate is that ships must complete temporary import and re-export procedures according to the provisions of law.
These conditions aim to ensure transparency, avoid tax fraud and comply with international regulations on value-added tax on exported goods and services.
Details can be found in Decree 181/2025/ND-CP, effective from July 1, 2025.
