Tax Obligations of Representative Offices in Vietnam

Foreign entities have found Vietnam as an increasing attractive destination for investment.  They could consider entering Vietnam in various forms, including setting up representative offices.

“A representative office is a dependent unit of the enterprise, having the task of representing under authorization the interests of the enterprise and protecting such interests” (Clause 2 of article 45, Law on Enterprises 2014). “Representative office shall perform the functions of liaison offices, market surveys, promotion of business opportunities for traders they represent, excluding those in which the establishment of representative offices in that field, it is stipulated in specialized legal documents” (Article 30 – Decree No.07/2016/ND-CP decree detailed regulations on establishment of representative offices or branches of foreign traders in Vietnam under Laws on Commerce).

A representative office is a dependent unit of a foreign enterprise in Vietnam, and it acts under the authorization of foreign enterprises. Representative office shall not conduct business activities therefore, the tax obligations of the representative office are limited, such as:

Firstly, as representative office does not involve profit making activity, hence there are no Value Added Tax, Corporate Income Tax, Annual Due incurred.

Secondly, representative office has to register its tax code, to deduct and pay Personal Income Tax on behalf of its employees working in the representative office or deduct and pay contractor taxes for foreign sub-contractors (if any).

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What is plagiarism?

Plagiarism means claiming other's ideas as one's own. It means taking information or ideas from other writers and using them in one's own work without acknowledging the source appropriately.

Mostly the University students seem to have faced the issue of plagiarism as they use other's works without citing or acknowledging them either by intention or due to lack of knowledge on the importance of quoting or citing.

Since it is a serious academic offence/sin, each writer should attempt his/her best to avoid plagiarism. It is a form of intellectual dishonesty or theft.

The following ways of taking information from others would be considered plagiarism:

1.      Not providing reference when we have used other's ideas in our work.

2.      No use of quotation marks even if we provide the reference.

3.      Taking a few sentences or paragraphs from other's work without referencing.

The following ways would not be considered plagiarism:

1.      Use of commonly accepted ideas even without referencing.

2.      Presenting the results of our own work.

3.      Use of some vocabulary from the original or use of some new sentence structures different from the ones in the original texts.

4.      Using the summary substantially different from the original.

Source: Exposureacademy.blogspot.com

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Forms of Disputes and Approaches to Settlement

Dispute in Vietnam could be between parties in business transaction, foreign investors and Vietnam government, or between countries in implementing international treaties.

The formation of market economy in Vietnam took place in the context of the development in the width and depth of the economic ties at a significant fast pace that make Vietnam an important part of the world supply chain.  Vietnam suppliers could sell the goods and services to the world and the foreign supplier could also export their goods and services to Vietnam market.  Further, as the Vietnam market opens up, foreign investors could invest through various forms of investments in Vietnam i.e. acquire equities in Vietnam companies, establish business in Vietnam.  During this process, disputes are an inevitable result which has been growing in scale and complexity.

Most should agree that disputes shall be construed as the dissent, inconsistencies or conflicts of interests, rights and obligations between the parties in the economic relations at different levels. Accordingly, economic disputes can have the following basic forms:

– Disputes in business are between the participants in a business transaction including investments, production to consumption of products or performance of services on the market for profit purposes i.e. professional and product liability, debt disputes over a business transaction, franchise disputes, intellectual property disputes, and disputes over contract for supply of goods or services…

– Disputes between foreign investors with Vietnam government agencies, arising in the implementation of the BTO, BT, BOT, and the implementation of international agreements on promotion and protection bilateral and multilateral investment i.e. government policy and policy measures, concession to water and sewerage, power or energy supply, project or contract payment…

– Disputes between countries in the implementation of the international bilateral and multilateral agreements.

In Vietnam, as the disputes arise, parties involved could consider resolving the matters through negotiation, mediation, arbitration, or taking court actions after taking consideration of various factors including cost, time, and the complexity of the disputes.  Litigation law firm in Vietnam with skillful dispute lawyers should be consulted to provide the suitable advice for dispute resolution.

How ANT Lawyers Could Help Your Business?

Contact Us for ADR & Mediation Services provided by qualified mediators and lawyers, supported by field experts. Via email ant@antlawyers.vn, office tel (+84) 24 32 23 27 71 or talk to our partner directly at + 84 912 817 823.

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Dispute Settlement in International Trade

In international trade, when drafting international contracts, the parties usually focus on the terms of payment and expense but little attention to terms of dispute settlement. Thus, the parties should be aware that the disagreements and disputes can arise at any time. Therefore, in the process of concluding an international economic agreement, the parties should note the provisions on the selection methods of dispute settlement if a dispute occurs. Currently, there are 4 dispute resolution methods in international trade as follows: negotiation, mediation, commercial arbitration and court.

• Negotiation

Negotiation is a settlement method which is usually applied in international dispute settlement. In particular, the parties discuss together, struggle, compromise and agree to settle the dispute. The result of the negotiation is that the dispute could be resolve or not. Negotiation is conducted in two ways: The two parties directly meet each other to discuss and deal or one party submit complaint to the other party and the other party answers the complaint.

• Mediation

Mediation is the method of resolving dispute between the parties through the role of a third party. Mediation can be accomplished by two ways: One is that the parties agree with each other about mediation, the mediator will be designated and conduct the mediation without following any rules of mediation. The second way is that the parties agree to conduct the mediation under rules of a professional organization or one specific arbitration institution, such as mediation rules of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC).

• Commercial arbitration

Arbitration is a method of dispute settlement arising in trade activities that are agreed between the parties and carried out according to the order and proceedings. Presently, there are kinds of arbitration such as: ad hoc arbitration and permanent arbitration.

• Court

The 3 dispute settlement methods above are voluntary in nature. They are different from the dispute settlement in accordance with judicial procedures at court. The settlement of dispute by court is to resolve dispute through the activities of the State tribunals. Therefore, litigants in the dispute are often considered as a final solution to protect their legitimate interests. Especially, when there is a conflict, the parties will choose the form of trade negotiation or mediation rather than commercial arbitration or court.

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What is intellectual property protection?

In short an intellectual property protection is a protection which prevents someone from stealing your creation.

There are many types of intellectual property protections, so you can be lost in choosing the protection which fits the best your creation. Indeed, depending on your type of creation, you can have:

-An automatic protection;

-A protection you have to apply for;

-An non-disclosure agreement.

-Automatic protections :

Copyright and Design right

The good news about these both protections is that you don’t need to do any application. They are also completely free. Copyright and Design right prevent people from using your work without your permission.

Design right

Design right protects only the configuration and the shape of your creation. This protection lasts 10 years once it is sold and 15 years from its creation. If you want to benefit from this right you have just to prove the date of creation and that is all.

Copyright

Copyright protects a lot of creations such as photography, web content, films, music…This protection is automatic, however, I advise you to inform the users that your creation is protected.

For that, you just need to add on your creation the following information: the copyright symbol ©, the year of creation and your name. This protection can be applied abroad if your country has signed international agreements. Usually the protection lasts around 25 years for photographs and 50 years for the other types of work.

NOT Automatic Protections

Registereddesigns, trademarks and patents

These protections are not automatic. You have to follow a process to benefit from these protections. Thanks to these rights, you have a legal action against someone who uses your creation or invention without your permission.

Registered designs

By registering your design, you protect its appearance, its shape or its decoration. The protection lasts up to 25 years however you have to renew it every 5 years.

Trademarks

Trademarks protect jingles, logos and product names. The application is a little bit more expensive. It costs around £250 and takes 4 months. The protection lasts 10 years. However it is renewable.

Patents

A patent is a veryeffective protection for your creation. However the procedure is time-consuming and very expensive. The application lasts around 5 years and costs around £4.000 because you need to hire a professional to do the application. A patent protects an artistic work, a playing game or a diagnosis.

Non-disclosure agreement:

An non-disclosure agreement is a contract signed by your partner and you. You can include the confidential information you want to share. Your partner is not allowed to disclose this information.

How ANT Lawyers Could Help Your Business?

Please click here to learn more about ANT Lawyers IP Practice or contact our IP lawyers in Vietnam for advice via email ant@antlawyers.vn or call our office at (+84) 24 32 23 27 71

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How to Prepare and File a Lawsuit in Vietnam?

If two parties have a dispute over a commercial matter in Vietnam, they should try to resolve disputes through negotiation, or mediation before considering to file a lawsuit against the other at a court in Vietnam.

To implement their right to sue, the plaintiff must prepare and submit the claim at the competent court in Vietnam.  The dispute lawyers in Vietnam with experience and understanding the litigation process should be invited at the early stage to advise, represent and prepare to defend the client.  The claim filing should include the petition and the supporting documents.  The petition is the most important legal document for the court to review and resolve the claim of the plaintiff, as such it should be carefully prepared to meet the requirements of the form, authority, and further contain information about the plaintiff, defendant, summary of the case and the request of the plaintiff.

The contents of the petition must be presented in full, brief, clear, and in logic.  The plaintiff should provide all documents, and evidence to prove the merit of the claim including contract, purchase order, separate terms and conditions, appendixes (if any), minutes of meetings of negotiations, invoices, delivery proof, legal status of plaintiff and defendant, documents to determine the legal status of the representative of the plaintiff such as appointment decision, power of attorney.  In order for the document issued in foreign country to be valid in Vietnam, the documents presented have to be original or notarized, legalized and authenticated copy and translated into Vietnamese in accordance with Vietnam laws.

When the claim has been filed at the competent court in Vietnam provided all conditions of acceptance are met, the court will notify the plaintiff or its representative know the court fees. When the applicant advance the court fee, the case will be recorded and brought into the process for settlement.

At the trial preparation process, the case will be assigned to a judge whom after studying would request parties to present additional necessary papers and documents relating to the case.  Parties or their representative would then be requested to meet the judge to provide further information or testimony or attend reconciliation.  If the disputing parties resolve disputes with each other, the court will make a record to acknowledge the successful reconciliation and issue the decision to recognize the agreement of the parties. Where reconciliation fails, the court records that and shall issue the decision to bring the case to trial.

Disagreements or disputes arise when parties can not agree on issues related to contract provisions, expected outcome or performance starndards...There are cases when the dispute is over a debt obligations matters which a debt recovery law firm could assist at an early stage to manage the collection process pre litigations including negotitions and managing expectations of both sides.    

ANT Lawyers, a law firm in Vietnam will be available to assist the clients when required to handle dispute matters out of court, at court or through arbitration in Vietnam.  

How ANT Lawyers Could Help Your Business?

Contact Us for ADR & Mediation Services provided by qualified mediators and lawyers, supported by field experts. Via email ant@antlawyers.vn, office tel (+84) 24 32 23 27 71 or talk to our partner directly at + 84 912 817 823.

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How do intellectual property rights work?

The phrase intellectual property (IP) refers to the bundle of legal rights that arise from the creative genius of the human mind. IP rights play an important role in the economic prosperity of a country and serve as a motivating force for creative individuals to share their genius with society.

When most people think of intellectual property rights, patents, trademarks and copyrights come to mind. This core set of IP rights reward and protect the creative works of inventors, authors, owners and sellers of goods and services in the marketplace.

Intellectual propertyrights also foster a competitive marketplace. They do so by encouraging disclosure of innovation through protecting the fruits of that innovation for a period of time. Intellectual property rights are regional in nature and the conditions of their grant and enforceability are governed by the laws of each jurisdiction.

How ANT Lawyers Could Help Your Business?

Please click here to learn more about ANT Lawyers IP Practice or contact our IP lawyers in Vietnam for advice via email ant@antlawyers.vn or call our office at (+84) 24 32 23 27 71

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