Vietnam increases VAT penalties

The penalties for infringement of the Vietnamese VAT regime are to be increased in December 2013.  The new charges were published in Decree 129.

The changes include:

• The new maximum fine for VAT reporting infringements is VND 200m
• There is a new maximum penalty for withholding tax payments of 20% of the tax due.  In the cases of willful VAT fraud, the penalties change to 100% to 300% of the amounts involved.
• Penalties may be liable for infringements stretching back up to 10 years for VAT registered businesses.  There is no limit for unregistered VAT businesses.
• For delayed payments with VAT filings, the penalties will be 0.05% per day for an initial delay of up to 90 days, and then 0.07% thereafter.

The new rules come into effect on 15 December 2013.