Decree 20/2026/ND-CP, implementing Resolution 198/2025/QH15, for the first time establishes a comprehensive support framework for small and medium-sized enterprises, supporting industry enterprises and innovative enterprises.
The policy system includes prioritizing access to houses and land as public assets, reducing land rent costs, publicizing public assets funds and exempting corporate income tax for 3 years for businesses registering for the first time. This is considered a continuous corridor to remove the biggest bottlenecks in costs and premises of the private sector.
Public asset support mechanism for the first time specifically for private enterprises
According to Article 6 of Decree 20/2026/ND-CP, businesses that are prioritized are entitled to access houses and land that are public assets not directly from state agencies but through units with the function of managing and trading local houses according to Decree 108/2024/ND-CP (amended in Decree 286/2025/ND-CP). This method completely eliminates the mechanism of asking - giving, standardizing the process of valuation, signing contracts and supervising the exploitation of public assets.
Small businesses, supporting industries and innovative businesses are allowed to rent houses at listed prices and enjoy rental fee reductions according to current regulations. For businesses that have just started production, especially technology businesses, this incentive helps significantly reduce site cost pressure, which always accounts for a large proportion in the initial stage.
Transparency of public housing and land funds so that businesses no longer have to "find" land themselves
Decree 20/2026/ND-CP requires the provincial-level People's Committee to publicize the entire list of public assets eligible for lease, along with support criteria, reductions and implementation procedures. All must be posted on the local electronic information portal.
For many years, the lack of official data on land clearance has been one of the major obstacles for small businesses. Having to seek through brokers or unofficial sources of information puts businesses at risk of legal risks, incurred costs and difficulty in making investment plans.
When the public asset fund is made public and standardized, businesses can compare and choose more suitable premises, while limiting waste due to public assets being vacant or inefficiently used.
3-year tax exemption helps businesses reduce costs
Along with land support, Article 7 of Decree 20/2026/ND-CP provides important incentives: 3-year corporate income tax exemption for small and medium-sized enterprises registering for the first time. This is a policy that directly affects the financial capacity of newly established enterprises, helping them have more investment resources for production and the market.
This incentive does not apply to enterprises formed from mergers, consolidations, divisions or ownership conversions; nor does it apply if the legal representative has previously operated a dissolved enterprise for less than 12 months. This regulation helps avoid circumventing the law, ensuring the policy goes to the right focus: Supporting substantive startups.
All policies in Decree 20/2026/ND-CP are based on the criteria for classifying small and medium-sized enterprises according to Decree 80/2021/ND-CP. The determination of scale is based on the number of employees participating in social insurance and total revenue or total capital sources according to each operating field.
Correct classification helps ensure that large enterprises do not "disguise" themselves as small enterprises to enjoy incentives, and at the same time ensure that budget resources are allocated accurately to the group of enterprises accounting for a large proportion in quantity but limited in capacity to self-accumulate capital.
Opening up public resources, creating momentum to accelerate the private sector
The combination of land allocation incentives and tax incentives creates a synchronous and substantive support corridor for small businesses, supporting industries and innovative businesses. When land costs are reduced, procedures are transparent, financial resources are saved and reinvested, businesses will have conditions to expand operations, improve competitiveness and better adapt to market fluctuations.
Decree 20/2026/ND-CP is therefore considered an important reform step, both effectively activating public assets and supporting private enterprises to reduce the burden of costs, thereby creating new growth space for the sector that plays a driving role in the Vietnamese economy.
