Restaurants and cafés: 30% tax relief and multi-location revenue reconciliation

1. One brand may involve several taxpayers

Map each outlet’s registered operator, invoice issuer, tax ID and legal relationship. A franchisee may be a separate taxpayer; a dependent branch is not automatically a separate company. Do not aggregate or separate outlets merely by brand name.

For companies, Article 3 includes dependent units and business locations reflected in annual consolidated financial statements. Household businesses follow the PIT route and should not substitute company CIT payment procedures for their own filings.

2. Reconcile POS, delivery and catering sales

Reconcile dine-in, takeaway, app delivery and catering by transaction ID. Match cash, card, QR and transfers to recorded revenue. Separate documented discounts, refunds, cancellations, deposits and amounts collected for others for accounting review.

Do not count app sales and corresponding app payouts twice. Delivery commissions and ingredient costs reduce cash or profit but are not automatically revenue deductions for eligibility. Vouchers, prepaid cards and catering deposits require case-specific review of recognition rules.

3. Work through a three-outlet company example

Illustration: dependent outlets have qualifying revenue of VND 3 billion, 2.5 billion and 2 billion, plus VND 0.2 billion of financial revenue and other income. The total is VND 7.7 billion. If all conditions hold and CIT before this reduction, after other incentives, is VND 150 million, relief is VND 45 million and the remainder is VND 105 million.

If expansion raises actual annual revenue to VND 10.2 billion, individual outlets being below the ceiling does not preserve eligibility. Update monthly forecasts, assign an owner to monitor the threshold and reserve cash for reversing previous relief. Company late-payment rules differ from those for business individuals.

4. Calculate relief on tax, not revenue

Separate illustrative household-business example: properly determined annual revenue is VND 2.4 billion and all conditions are met. Business PIT before relief is VND 36 million. Relief is 36 × 30% = VND 10.8 million; the remainder is VND 25.2 million. This does not imply a standard tax rate for the sector.

Companies apply 30% to CIT payable after any other tax incentives. Salary PIT, VAT and other obligations do not automatically receive this reduction. Where eligible tax is zero, this calculation produces no relief and no cash grant.

5. Choose the correct filing route and retain receipts

Business individuals review Form 01 with the applicable return. Withholding or filing agents use Form 02 for their responsibilities. Companies self-determine relief when making quarterly CIT payments; the individual’s Form 01 is not a company CIT-relief form.

Suggested workflow: close the period, assess eligibility, calculate tax before relief, calculate relief, check official forms, file through the applicable electronic tax channel, and retain signed files, acknowledgements and payment evidence. These are working steps, not universal portal button names. Review amendment rules for missed relief rather than arbitrarily deducting it from a later payment.

6. Monitor the ceiling and prepare the evidence pack

Individuals exceeding VND 10 billion actual annual revenue reverse relief using Form 03 with the filing for the threshold-crossing period. The specified late-payment exclusion ends at that period’s filing deadline. Companies pay the shortfall and follow Article 24(3) of Decree 252/2026/ND-CP rather than assuming the individual rule applies.

Assign someone to update monthly cumulative revenue and outstanding orders or contracts, with a review date. Retain source records, calculations and reconciliations for independent review. The following is a recommended internal evidence pack, not a universal mandatory attachment list.

Suggested actions