1. Cases of tax code registration for foreign contractors

A contractor's tax code is a series of 10 or 13 numbers issued by the tax authority to a person who registers for tax before starting production or business activities or when obligations arise with the government budget. Vietnam.

Cases of tax code registration for foreign contractors include the following cases

- Case 1: Foreign organization does not have legal status in Vietnam, foreign individual independently practices business in Vietnam in accordance with Vietnamese law, has income arising in Vietnam or has income arising in Vietnam. generating tax obligations in Vietnam (hereinafter referred to as foreign contractors, foreign subcontractors), and registering to pay contractor tax directly with the tax authority will be granted a 10-digit tax code for each contract. copper.

- Case 2: Contractors and investors participating in oil and gas contracts are granted a 13-digit tax code according to the 10-digit tax code of each oil and gas contract to fulfill their separate tax obligations under the oil and gas contract ( including corporate income tax on income from transfer of rights to participate in oil and gas contracts).

- Case 3: Organizations and individuals withholding and paying on behalf are granted a 10-digit tax code (hereinafter referred to as the tax code paid on behalf) to declare and pay taxes on behalf of foreign contractors and subcontractors. foreign countries, overseas suppliers, organizations and individuals with contracts or business cooperation documents. Foreign contractors and foreign subcontractors that are declared and paid by the Vietnamese party on behalf of the contractor will be granted a 13-digit tax code according to the tax code paid on behalf of the Vietnamese party to confirm the completion of tax obligations. contractors in Vietnam.

In reality, the most common case is that foreign contractor tax is deducted and paid by Vietnamese companies, and rarely does foreign contractor register to pay tax directly with the tax authority. Except for the case of oil and gas contracts, there will be other regulations.

2. Regulations on re-issuance of Licenses to foreign contractors

To ensure benefits for foreign contractors when doing business in Vietnam, the state has regulations on re-issuing construction activity licenses. Pursuant to Decree 15/2021/ND-CP detailing a number of contents on construction investment project management, the re-issuance of Licenses to foreign contractors is carried out as follows:

The foreign contractor will be re-issued the Construction Activity License by the competent state agency in case the revocation of the Construction Activity License is not due to a subjective error originating from the contractor's side but is recorded incorrectly due to Errors of construction licensing agencies, such as:

- Recording incorrect information about the contractor's name;

- Incorrectly stating the name of the country to which the contractor belongs;

- Wrong recording of foreign contractors' bidding tasks, etc.

- The agency competent to revoke the construction license is responsible for re-issuing the construction license within 05 working days from the date of receiving the revoked construction license.

In particular, for serious violations such as falsifying documents in the application file for a Construction Operation License, repairing, erasing and falsifying the content of the approved Construction Operation License. Authorities competent to issue construction licenses to foreign contractors will only consider granting licenses after 12 months from the date of issuance of the revocation decision.

3. Responsibilities of project investors towards foreign contractors

According to current legal regulations, foreign contractors can only operate construction activities in the territory of Vietnam after being granted a construction license by a competent state agency in Vietnam to operate in the field of construction. . However, the activities of foreign contractors in the territory of Vietnam need to comply with the provisions of Vietnamese law and international treaties that Vietnam has signed or acceded to.

In addition to the rights and obligations of foreign contractors, project investors also need to have responsibilities in the construction activities of foreign contractors. Responsibilities of the project investor include:

- Contract delivery and receipt can only be signed when a construction activity license is issued by a competent state agency; guidance on compliance with relevant legal regulations; Support foreign contractors in preparing documents related to the contracted works that foreign contractors must declare in their application for bidding licenses and other related procedures according to the provisions of the Contract. law of Vietnam.

- Supervise the correct implementation of commitments in joint venture contracts with Vietnamese contractors or use of Vietnamese subcontractors

- Consider the ability to provide domestic construction equipment before agreeing on the list of construction machinery and equipment of foreign contractors requesting temporary import for re-export.

- Consider the possibility of providing technical labor in Vietnam before agreeing on a list of foreign personnel working for the contractor applying to enter Vietnam to perform work under the foreign contractor's contract. outside.

- Confirm settlement of imported materials and equipment upon completion of the project.

- When using foreign contractors to provide project management consulting or construction quality supervision, the investor or project owner must notify in writing other contractors and quality management agencies. Construction quality knows about the functions and tasks of the contractor performed on behalf of the investor or project owner.

4. Regulations on foreign contractors' seals

During the operation of an organization, a seal is an important tool for organizations to use to record the legality of a document or transaction of the organization, ensuring that the issued document is accurate, legal, and to avoid counterfeiting. Legal regulations on seals for foreign contractors are specifically as follows:

For foreign contractors, the application for seal sample registration includes:

- Decision to appoint the head of the executive office of the foreign contractor

- Authorization letter for the head of the executive office to register the seal.

- Passport of the head of the executive office

- Operating license from Vietnamese competent authority. (Construction license for foreign contractors)

- The agency competent to carry out seal sample registration procedures for foreign contractors The Police Department for Administrative Management of Social Order under the Ministry of Public Security is the agency competent to receive documents, issue seals, and Seal sample registration certificates for foreign contractors.

According to the provisions of Decree 15/2021/ND-CP detailing a number of contents on construction investment project management, foreign contractors are obliged to register, cancel seal samples, and return seals. at the end of the contract according to the provisions of law. Foreign contractors only use this seal to serve the performance of contracts in Vietnam according to the provisions of the construction activity license.