COMPLIANCE CHECKLIST FOR A NEWLY ESTABLISHED REPRESENTATIVE OFFICE (PART 2)

Regulation

Compliance obligations

Lease contract

Has the RO signed the valid lease contract on-premises where its office is located?

Appointment of Chief Representative

Has the overseas parent company appointed the Chief Representative and issued the Letter of Appointment or entered into a Labour Contract for this appointment?

Tax Code of the RO

Has the RO submitted an application for the tax code registration certificate to the local Tax Department?

Registration of the RO’s seal

Has the RO registered its seal with the police authority after the receipt of the Establishment License?

Annual report

Has the RO submitted the annual report on its operation to the DOIT by the end of January of the following year

Change of the parent company’s name or address

If the parent overseas company changes its name or address (within the territory of the country where the parent company was established or changed to another country), has the parent overseas company of RO applied for an amendment to its Establishment License at the DOIT?

Change of the RO’s Chief Representative

If the RO changes its chief, has the parent overseas company of RO applied for an amendment to its Establishment License at the DOIT?

Change of the RO’s name

If the RO changes its name, has the parent overseas company of RO applied for amendment to its Establishment License at the DOIT?

Change of scope of operation

If the RO changes its scope of operation, has the parent overseas company of RO applied for amendment to its Establishment License at the DOIT?

Change of the RO’s address

If the RO changes its office address within a province or city under (the jurisdiction of) central government , has the parent overseas company of RO applied for amendment to its Establishment License at the DOIT?

Change of the RO’s office address to another province

If the RO changes its office address to another province or city under the central government, has the parent overseas company of RO applied for a new Establishment License from the DOIT of that province or city?
Note: The parent overseas company must carry out this procedure within 30 days from the date on which the notification of termination of the RO at the former address is submitted .

The RO’s establishment license is lost, destroyed, damaged or destroyed in any way

If the RO’s establishment license is lost, destroyed, damaged or destroyed in any way, has the RO applied for a new Establishment License at the DOIT?

Upon expiry of the Establishment License, has the parent overseas company of RO also applied for an extension of the same at least 30 days prior to the expiry of the Establishment License?

Registration of the new CR

If the RO changes the CR, has the parent overseas company of RO registered with the DOIT for amendment of its Establishment License?

[1] Article 27.1 of Decree 07/2016/ND-CP

[2] Article 4.2.g and 5.3.b of Circular 105/2020/TT-BTC. The RO must register a tax code for the purpose of withholding and paying personal income tax of the RO’s employees to the State budget as prescribed by tax laws.

[3] Article 17.5 of Commercial Law 2005 and Article 5, Article 12.2 of Decree 99/2016/ND-CP. Please note that a seal is not required for RO under Vietnamese law. However, it shall be more convenient for RO's activities in Vietnam.

[4] Article 32 of Decree 07/2016/ND-CP

Note: In case of failure to make annual reports or dishonestly report on the operation of the representative office to the competent state agency, the RO will be fined from VND 20,000,000 to VND 40,000,000 (Article 4.4 and Article 67.2 of Decree 98/2020/ND-CP)

[5] Ho Chi Minh City is one of five cities under the central government of Vietnam. If the RO changes its office address within Ho Chi Minh City, it is necessary to apply for an amendment to Establishment License at the DOIT.

[6] Article 20.1 of Decree 07/2016/ND-CP

[7] Article 21 and 23.1 of Decree 07/2016/ND-CP

[8] Article 15 of Decree 07/2016/ND-CP