Factory rental deposits, project-performance escrows and guarantee balances are the ‘small money, hard files’ of an FDI enterprise ending life in Vietnam. Each type has a different holder and a different refund mechanism — merging them into one transfer order is the fastest way to have the bank demand separated files.
Three monies, three refund mechanisms
Rental deposits: refunded under the lease after handover minutes and a debt reconciliation with the (private) lessor — this is a domestic refund flow, reaching abroad only as part of the enterprise’s liquidation or capital reduction. Investment-project escrow: the project-performance deposit under the Investment Law 143/2025/QH15 is refunded when the investor completes its duties and the project operates or terminates properly, on the investment registration authority’s confirmation. Bank guarantees (bid, performance, advance-payment): not held cash — releasing a guarantee merely ends the security duty and creates no cash flow, except for any blocked margin deposit at the issuing bank.
Refund condition: the underlying duty must close first
The common principle: no deposit or escrow is refunded while the duty it secures is unfinished or disputed. A lease with an open damage dispute keeps the matching deposit portion; a project terminated for breach may forfeit part or all of the escrow under the rules and the authority’s decision; a guarantee actually called converts the paid sum into a recovery claim between the parties, no longer ‘refund money’. Check each duty’s status before planning homebound cash.
Going abroad and tax
Deposit and escrow refunds are in nature a return of money spent, not income — the refund itself is untaxed. But escrow interest (if any), compensation retained by a counterparty, or deposit portions converted into final rent change nature and are taxed accordingly. Abroad, these sums have no ‘own road’: they join the enterprise’s balance and move through the investment capital account only within a valid capital event (profit distribution, capital reduction, liquidation) with that event’s file — keep the refund documents ready to explain sources within the capital-event file.
Frequently Asked Questions
The lessor refuses to return the deposit after the lease ends — what then?
An ordinary civil or commercial dispute: claim under the lease’s refund clause, reconcile handover minutes and debts, and litigate or arbitrate failing agreement. A dissolving enterprise must finish this dispute before closing the liquidation books, or provide for it in the liquidation plan with an authorisation for someone remaining to pursue the receivable.
When is project escrow refunded if the project terminates early?
It depends on the termination ground: lawful termination after completing duties (tax, land, labour) earns refund on the investment registration authority’s confirmation; termination for breach of investment duties may face forfeiture under the rules. The refund file needs the project-termination document and completion confirmations — one missing confirmation hangs the file.
A guarantee has expired — is any step still needed?
Obtain release or termination confirmation from the issuing bank and the beneficiary (if the guarantee carried a blocked margin, release unblocks that money simultaneously). A guarantee ‘expired on paper’ but unreleased in the bank’s system still counts as a live security obligation when another bank assesses the enterprise’s credit.
This article has been quality-reviewed by the FLAW AI Legal Council