On 13 June 2019, the Government issued the Decree No. 51/2019 / ND-CP prescribing administrative fines for violations arising from technology transfer, effective from August 1, 2019. In which activities Technology transfer is regulated in technology transfer law No. 07/2017 / QH14 June 19, 2017.
In Clause 3, Article 27, the Law on Technology Transfer, the price of transferred technology must be audited and applied in accordance with regulations of the Law on taxation and prices in the following cases:
a) Technology is transferred between the parties among which one or both parties have state funding
b) Technology is transferred between the parties having parent company-subsidiary company relationship
c) Technology is transferred between the parties having association relationship as prescribed by the law on taxation
In Clause 3, Article 22, Decree No. 51/2019 / ND-CP dated June 13, 2019, prescribing administrative fines for violations arising from technology transfer ranging from VND 30,000,000 to VND 40,000,000 for one of the following violations:
a) Failing to carry out the valuation based on technology valuation counsels when transferring technology between parties, one or several of whom hold state capital
b) Failing to audit prices in the form of appraisal of the transferred technology when transferring it between parties whose relationship exists in the model of parent company and subsidiary upon the request of the tax authority
c) Failing to audit prices in the form of appraisal of the transferred technology when transferring it between parties engaged in transfer pricing under law on taxes upon the tax authority’s request
Accordingly, it can be understood that the tax administration authority has the right to request evidence for the evaluation of technology transfer prices. In case the taxpayer fails to provide it, a fine of between VND 30,000,000 and VND 40,000,000 shall be imposed on individuals and In case of imposition of a fine, authority to impose a fine on an organization shall be 02 times as much as the authority to impose a fine on an individual. Thus, any taxpayer in Vietnam who participates in technology transfer agreements and pays or receives royalties should prepare a record for determining the transaction at the price of the royalty fee for the purpose of declaring associated transactions in accordance with the provisions of Decree 20/2017 / ND-CP February 24, 2017.