Vietnam drops the seller-paid condition for VAT refunds and sets agricultural-product rules (Decree 359/2025/NĐ-CP)

What changed in detail

The Government issued Decree No. 359/2025/NĐ-CP on 31 December 2025, signed by Deputy Prime Minister Hồ Đức Phớc and published in Công Báo No. 16 of 14 January 2026. It amends Decree 181/2025/NĐ-CP, which details VAT Law 48/2024/QH15 as amended by Laws 90/2025/QH15 and 149/2025/QH15. It takes effect on 1 January 2026.

• Refunds. Article 1(2) repeals Article 37(3) and Article 39(3) of Decree 181, removing the refund condition that the seller has declared and paid VAT on the invoices issued to the claimant. Under Article 2(2), refund files received before 1 January 2026 but not yet decided also need not meet that condition.
• Agricultural products. Article 1(1) inserts Article 4(1b). Enterprises, cooperatives and cooperative unions that buy unprocessed or simply pre-processed crop, forestry, livestock and fishery products and sell them to other such entities do not declare or pay VAT on them, but may still deduct input VAT. Deduction-method sellers of these products to households, individuals and other buyers charge 5%. Direct-method sellers at the commercial stage pay 1% of turnover.

What it means

The decree is in force and still part of the current text of Decree 181, which Decree 144/2026/NĐ-CP amended again from 20 June 2026 on other points.

The refund change matters most. The repealed condition made a claimant’s refund depend on whether its suppliers had filed and paid, which the claimant could not control. That condition is gone, including for files already pending at the start of 2026. The agricultural rule implements the Law 149/2025/QH15 amendment to Article 5(1). Traders in farm produce should check which buyer type each sale goes to, because that decides between no VAT, 5% and 1% of turnover.