The biggest trap when researching tax incentives for hi-tech projects: all old materials cite the 2008 Hi-Tech Law — which EXPIRED on 1 July 2026. The current framework is the Hi-Tech Law 133/2025/QH15 (10 December 2025, effective 1 July 2026) combined with the Law on Export and Import Duties and the Investment Law 143/2025/QH15. And the mechanism point to lock in: import-duty incentives come from the Law on Export and Import Duties + the Investment Law + Decree 134/2016 — the 2025 Hi-Tech Law only refers to tax/investment law. Never write “the Hi-Tech Law exempts import duty”.
Three layers of import-duty incentives
Layer 1 — Specialized machinery, equipment and materials for direct R&D use: imported machinery, equipment, spare parts, specialized materials, documents and specialized scientific books and newspapers directly used for science and technology, innovation and the digital-technology industry are exempt from import duty; goods imported to create fixed assets of investment projects developing science and technology/innovation/the digital-technology industry (new and expansion projects) are exempt from import duty (Article 16(21)(a)–(b) of the Law on Export and Import Duties).
Layer 2 — Five-year raw-material exemption for hi-tech research and production: imported raw materials, supplies and components for production and research of science-and-technology organizations, strategic-technology enterprises, hi-tech enterprises, hi-tech-product manufacturers, science-and-technology enterprises and innovation centres → exempt from import duty for 05 years from the start of research and production (Article 16(21)(c) — amended twice: by Law 90/2025/QH15 effective 1 July 2025 and by Article 25(6) of the 2025 Hi-Tech Law effective 1 July 2026, mutually compatible and consolidated in document 96/VBHN-VPQH).
Layer 3 — Five-year exemption for domestically-unavailable materials: imported raw materials, supplies and components not yet producible domestically for production of investment projects in specially-encouraged business lines, extremely-difficult areas, hi-tech enterprises, science-and-technology enterprises and science-and-technology organizations → exempt from import duty for 05 years from the start of production (trial production excluded; except mineral-extraction projects, projects manufacturing special-consumption-tax goods, and automobile assembly projects) (Article 16(13); detailed in Article 15 of Decree 134/2016/ND-CP: self-declare the official production start date and notify before customs procedures). “Not yet producible domestically” is determined under the competent authority’s regulations.
Additionally: import-duty exemption for goods creating fixed assets of hi-tech projects (Article 16(11) of the Law on Export and Import Duties; Article 14 of Decree 134/2016) — science and technology, innovation, digital transformation, the digital-technology industry and the semiconductor industry are preferred investment business lines under the Investment Law 143/2025.
Emphasis: the 5-year limit, two different starting points
- Article 16(13): 5 years from the start of production (trial production excluded);
- Article 16(21)(c): 5 years from the start of research and production;
- After the 5-year period, full duty must be declared and paid on the unused quantity of materials — this is a time-limited incentive, not a permanent exemption.
Entity conditions: recognition under the 2025 Hi-Tech Law
The 2025 Hi-Tech Law classifies hi-tech enterprises into two groups (Article 15):
- Group 1 (Article 15(4)): meets the general criteria (ownership/co-ownership/lawful technology-use rights or technology transfer; criteria on revenue, R&D spending in Vietnam, direct R&D personnel) plus one of two additional criteria — (a) conducting hi-tech and hi-tech-product R&D; or (b) manufacturing hi-tech products meeting the Government-set minimum localization ratio, while total annual R&D spending in Vietnam reaches at least 1% of net revenue after input value;
- Group 2 (Article 15(5)): hi-tech enterprises meeting the general criteria in Article 15(2).
On incentives: Group 1 hi-tech enterprises enjoy the highest incentive and support policies under investment, tax and land law (Article 16(3)(b)); Group 2 enjoys incentives and support under investment, tax and land law (Article 16(3)(c)). Manufacturing hi-tech products, strategic-technology products and hi-tech supporting-industry products belongs to specially-encouraged investment business lines (Article 16(1)). Detailed recognition criteria are set by the Government — enterprises should check the full text rather than infer conditions.
Combined with the general investment-incentive framework: hi-tech projects are also subject to the three exclusion groups in Article 14(7) of the Investment Law 143/2025 (mineral extraction; special-consumption-tax goods/services except automobiles, aircraft and yachts; commercial housing construction).
Procedures
- The taxpayer notifies customs of the list of duty-exempt goods expected to be imported; exemption procedures follow tax-administration law — applicable to Article 16(11), (12), (13), (14), (15), (16) and Article 16(21)(b), (c), (d) (Article 17 of the Law on Export and Import Duties);
- Self-declare the official production start date and notify before customs procedures (Article 15 of Decree 134/2016);
- Post-5-year obligation: declare and pay full duty on unused materials.
On Decree 182/2025/ND-CP (1 July 2025, effective 1 July 2025): this decree amends Decree 134/2016 to implement Law 90/2025/QH15 — detailing the determination of duty-exempt goods under Article 16(21) points for science, technology, innovation and the digital-technology industry; it is not the implementing instrument of the 2025 Hi-Tech Law.
Transition: certificates issued under the 2008 Law
Hi-tech enterprise certificates issued under the Hi-Tech Law 21/2008 that remain valid after 1 July 2026 → remain effective until their stated expiry (Article 27 of the 2025 Hi-Tech Law).
Quick checklist
- Use the current instruments: Hi-Tech Law 133/2025 + Law on Export/Import Duties (consolidated 96) + Investment Law 143/2025 — never cite the 2008 Law;
- Identify the applicable incentive layer (specialized machinery / 5-year materials from research-production start / 5-year domestically-unavailable materials from production start);
- Check entity conditions (Group 1/Group 2 under Articles 15–16 of the 2025 Hi-Tech Law) and the three exclusion groups;
- Notify the duty-free list; self-declare the production start date; track the post-5-year duty obligation.
Need help reviewing import/export tax incentives for your investment project? Reach us via the Contact page of FLAT Law Firm.
The information above is for reference only and does not constitute legal advice.
For reference only, not legal advice. Content quality-checked by the AI Legal Council; not yet reviewed by a human lawyer.