Investment project value-added tax (VAT) refunds let foreign-invested enterprises (FDI) in Vietnam recover input VAT incurred during construction and machinery installation before commercial operations. Under Law on Value-Added Tax No. 48/2024/QH15 (effective July 1, 2025) and Decree No. 181/2025/ND-CP, you need a net input VAT balance of at least VND 300 million. For the three refund channels side by side, see our VAT refund in Vietnam overview.
A completed project must file within 1 year from the date the project or investment phase is completed, meaning the date it generates revenue (Decree 181). Form 02/GTGT is set out in Appendix I of Circular 89 (replacing Circular 80/2021/TT-BTC from July 1, 2026). This guide covers the investment channel only; the wider rules sit in the VAT guide for FDI.
Regulatory Framework and the VND 300 Million Threshold
The governing legal framework comprises:
- VAT Law No. 48/2024/QH15 (effective July 1, 2025): gives deduction-method taxpayers with investment projects the right to a VAT refund (Article 15).
- Decree No. 181/2025/ND-CP: sets the VND 300 million threshold, the 1-year filing deadline and the excluded project categories.
- Circular No. 89/2026/TT-BTC (effective July 1, 2026): regulates separate filing for each project, offsetting against Form 01/GTGT, where project dossiers are filed, and dossier classification.
Net input VAT must reach at least VND 300 million after offsetting against operational VAT liabilities. Below this threshold, balances roll forward on Form 02/GTGT. Since January 1, 2026, Law 149/2025/QH15 has repealed point c, clause 9, Article 15 of the VAT Law, so the refund conditions no longer require the seller to have declared and paid the VAT on the invoice.
The 1-Year Deadline and Project Completion Triggers
Under the VAT Law and Decree 181, for a project or phase that has been completed and has not yet received a refund, enterprises must file the refund dossier within 1 year from the date the investment project or specific phase is completed. Projects still in the investment stage are not subject to this limit.
Compliance Warning: Using an illustrative date, a project that generates its first revenue on September 15, 2026 should file before September 15, 2027. Decree 181 does not state the consequence of a late filing, so confirm the treatment with the tax authority if the deadline has passed.
Criteria Defining Commercial Completion
Decree 181 establishes specific benchmarks for activating the 1-year clock:
- Revenue Inception: The completion date of the project, phase or item is the date it generates revenue.
- Excluded Revenue Streams: Revenue from the trial-run period, financial income and disposal of project materials are not counted.
In practice, keep acceptance and handover records on file as supporting evidence of the completion date if the tax authority asks for an explanation.
Three further project-specific rules apply under Decree 181:
- Trial-run revenue, financial income and disposal of project materials do not count as revenue when determining the completion date and the 1-year window.
- Where a new entity, project management board or branch ran the project and does not continue to operate the business afterwards, it must hand over the uncredited input VAT to the project owner or the business that operates the project once the project, phase or item is completed, for deduction from the next tax period.
- A project that ends before it starts operating and has no output VAT must repay the VAT already refunded; VAT not yet refunded is no longer refundable.
Phased Construction Across Multi-Stage Projects
For multi-stage industrial investments, tax authorities evaluate each phase independently:
| Project Classification | 1-Year Clock Trigger | Input VAT Treatment | Filing Mechanics |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single-Stage Project | Inception of first commercial sales from entire project | Refund accumulated input VAT on Form 02/GTGT before Form 01 transition | File refund before transferring balance to Form 01/GTGT |
| Phase 1 (Completed) | Commercial commissioning and revenue generation of Phase 1 | Claim refund for Phase 1 input VAT within the 1-year window | Segregate costs; submit refund dossier within 1 year |
| Phase 2 (Under Construction) | Future commercial commissioning of Phase 2 | Accumulate input VAT on standalone Form 02/GTGT independently | File standalone Form 02/GTGT; do not combine with Phase 1 |
Once project VAT moves to Form 01/GTGT, it is deducted against operational output VAT and the investment refund rule no longer applies to it.
Form 02/GTGT and Form 01/GTGT Offset Mechanism Under Circular 89/2026/TT-BTC
Under Circular 89, operating taxpayers with an investment project must execute separate filing and internal tax offsetting:
[New Investment Project Under Construction: Separate Form 02/GTGT Filing]
│
▼
[Does Enterprise Have Ongoing Operations with VAT Payable?]
├──> YES: Compulsory offset of Form 02 input VAT against Form 01 VAT payable
│ │
│ ├──> Remaining Project VAT ≥ VND 300 Million: Eligible for Refund Dossier
│ └──> Remaining Project VAT < VND 300 Million: Carry forward on Form 02
│
└──> NO (Newly Established Project Entity):
│
├──> Accumulated Form 02 VAT ≥ VND 300 Million: Eligible for Refund Dossier
└──> Accumulated Form 02 VAT < VND 300 Million: Carry forward to next periodThe offsetting rules require:
- Separate Project Filing: Taxpayers file Form 02/GTGT for each project with the directly managing tax authority by default. For a project in another province, the project management board or branch there (or the taxpayer, if it has none) files with the tax authority where the project is located. A project spanning several provinces is filed by its project management board with the board’s own managing authority, and taxpayers managed by the Large Enterprise Tax Branch file with the provincial tax office where the project sits.
- Mandatory Periodic Offset: If the enterprise generates VAT payable from current business operations on Form 01/GTGT, it must offset project input VAT against operational liabilities within the same tax period.
- Offset Capping: Project VAT offset is capped at the total VAT payable on Form 01/GTGT for that period. Only residual project input VAT of VND 300 million or more can be submitted for refund on Form 02/GTGT.
A project refund claimed without offsetting operational VAT payable is unlikely to be granted in full, since the offset is a precondition under Decree 181.
4 Exclusions from Investment VAT Refunds
Decree 181 (Article 30) excludes 4 categories of investment projects from VAT refunds. Where charter capital is incomplete or business conditions are unmet, the project is not refunded but carries the input VAT forward, and becomes refundable once the conditions are met:
| Exclusion Category | Regulatory Rationale | Input VAT Treatment |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Non-Fixed Asset Projects | Projects that do not form fixed assets of the enterprise | Outside the investment refund regime |
| 2. Natural Resource Extraction | Mineral extraction projects licensed under the Mineral Law | Not refunded; carry forward |
| 3. Incomplete Charter Capital | Registered charter capital not fully contributed at the time the refund dossier is filed | Not refunded; the unrelieved VAT is carried forward to the next period |
| 4. Non-Compliant Conditional Lines | Conditional business sectors lacking sub-licenses or regulatory approvals | Not refunded while the business conditions are unmet, unless a licence has already been granted, is not yet required during the investment phase, or is not required at all; carried forward and refundable once the conditions are met |
Where charter capital is not fully contributed as registered at the time of filing, the refund is not granted and the unrelieved input VAT is carried forward. Investors should complete their capital contributions before applying.
Standardized Dossier and VND 5 Million Non-Cash Payment Threshold
Refund applications are submitted through electronic transactions on the roadmap set out in Article 52 of Law No. 108/2025/QH15. Confirm the filing channel with the managing tax authority.
Investment Refund Dossier
Beyond Form 02/GTGT with Appendix 01-8/GTGT, a project dossier needs a copy of the Investment Registration Certificate, proof of charter capital contribution and, for projects with construction works, land documents plus a construction permit where required. The full dossier list is in our VAT refund guide for FDI.
The VND 5 Million Non-Cash Payment Rule
Purchases invoiced at VND 5 million or more (VAT-inclusive) need non-cash payment proof for the input VAT to be deducted or refunded (Article 14 of the VAT Law; Decree 181). The same-day aggregation and valid-evidence rules are in our non-cash payment guide.
Risk Classification and Audit-First Examination Procedure
Vietnam tax administration classifies refund dossiers into two tracks: Audit First, Refund Later and Refund First, Audit Later (Law 108/2025/QH15).
Risk Classification Criteria for Investment Projects
Under Decree No. 252/2026/ND-CP and Circular 89, a project dossier goes to audit first when it is the first refund for that project, filed within 2 years of a tax evasion penalty, assessed as high risk (in whole or in part), or filed by an enterprise in dissolution or bankruptcy. All other dossiers are refunded first and audited later, within 6 working days from the acceptance notice, excluding explanation and supplementation time (Article 31 of Decree 252). The authority issues the acceptance notice within 03 working days of receipt.
For audit-first dossiers, the refund decision comes within 10 working days from the inspection conclusion or penalty decision (Article 31 of Decree 252). Actual processing time depends on when the examination decision and conclusion are issued.
Compliance Risk Prevention Matrix and Transitional Rules
FDI enterprises should guard against 5 common rejection triggers:
| Compliance Risk | Root Cause | Standardized Prevention Measure |
|---|---|---|
| Form 01/02 Commingling | Failure to segregate project accounts from commercial operations | Establish distinct project cost centers; file accurate Form 02/GTGT |
| IRC Scope Discrepancy | Invoices reflect machinery misaligned with registered objectives | Audit IRC objectives before purchasing; amend IRC via the Department of Finance or the industrial zone authority if expanding |
| Delayed Capital Injection | Charter capital contributed late or not as registered | Ensure registered charter capital is fully contributed on schedule before filing |
| Risky Supplier Invoices | Subcontractors flagged for tax suspension or fake invoicing | Verify supplier tax standing on eTax portal before signing and payment |
| 1-Year Deadline Expiry | Failure to track commercial commissioning date | Log commercial milestones; apply as soon as VND 300M is accumulated |
Regulatory Transition Rules
- Projects Commenced Prior to July 1, 2025: Projects invested before July 1, 2025 that are still in the investment phase when Decree 181 takes effect carry forward accumulated input VAT for processing under the VAT Law and the Decree.
- Tax Periods Before July 1, 2026: Returns for tax periods before July 1, 2026 use the forms applied before Circular 89/2026/TT-BTC (Article 100). Refund dossiers already accepted but not yet resolved before that date continue under the earlier procedure. Project VAT refund requests sent after the electronic-transaction roadmap date use Form 02/GTGT with Appendix 01-8/GTGT.
Contact our Certified CPAs and tax compliance team for input invoice reviews, Form 02/GTGT preparation and representation during refund audits through our VAT refund service. For liquidity planning on new or expansion projects, contact our specialists.
Explore related guides: Vietnam VAT Refund Guide for FDI | New VAT Law 2024 Key Changes | Export Processing Enterprise (EPE) VAT Regime | Corporate Income Tax Incentives
