Vietnamese law firm: New law on natural resource taxes to take effect
The new Law on Taxation of Natural Resources, recently passed by the 12th National Assembly, was promulgated on November 25 and includes provisions on resources subject to taxation, taxpayers, bases for computing taxes, and tax exemptions.
Subject to taxation are metallic and non-metallic minerals, crude oil and natural gas; coal gas; forest products (excluding animals); seafood; water (seawater and groundwater); bird’s nests; and other resources as defined by the National Assembly Standing Committee.
Under the law, taxpayers shall register for, declare, calculate and pay taxes due pursuant to provisions in the Law on Tax Administration.
This law takes effect on July 1, 2010, and replaces the Ordinance on Taxation of Natural Resources.
Circular supports foreign construction standards
The Ministry of Construction issued Circular No 40/2009/TT-BXD on application of foreign construction standards in Viet Nam. Accordingly, foreign standards may be voluntarily applied but must ensure that survey, design, and execution of construction works must conform with national technical standards in construction and other related fields. In addition, the foreign standards must be reviewed and approved by the authority responsible for issuing the investment licence for the construction project before any preliminary designs are made. Investors must submit a dossier which includes a list of codes and names of the standards, contents of the standards in full (translated into Vietnamese) and an explanation on how the standards would meet the above-mentioned conditions. The new circular takes effect on February 1 and replace Decision No 09/2005/QD-BXD.