10 Steps to Starting a Business in Ho Chi Minh City

8/12/2019 10 Steps to Starting a Business in Ho Chi Minh City

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10 steps to starting a business in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam(summary version)

STEP 1 - Check the proposed company name. Obtain a

business registration certificate from the local Business

Registration Office under the Department of Planning and

Investment

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Time to complete:15 daysCost to complete:VND 200000 (official fees) or $12USD

STEP 2 - Obtain a seal-making license from the Public

Security

2-Time to complete:4 - 7 daysCost to complete: no charge

STEP 3 -Make and pick up company seal

3-Time to complete: 7 daysCost to complete: VND 165,000 ($10USD) for bronze seal

STEP 4 - Open a bank account

4-Time to complete: 1 dayCost to complete:no charge

STEP 5 - Publish announcement in a daily newspaper

5-Time to complete:7 daysCost to complete:VND 1,026,000 ($63USD)

STEP 6 - Apply for a tax code at the Hanoi Municipal

Taxation Department; pay business license tax

6-;Time to complete: 15 days (simultaneous with previous step)Cost to complete: VND 3,000,000 ($185USD) for businesslicense tax

STEP 7 - Buy pre-printed VAT invoices from the Municipal

Taxation Department or obtain and print self printed VAT

invoices

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Time to complete:15 days (simultaneous with previous step)Cost to complete:If buying the pre-printed VAT Invoices: VND14,000 (0.90USD) per book (50 copies). If self-printed : it shalldepend on the design and requirements

STEP 8 - Register with the local labor office to declare use oflabor (Municipal Department for Labor, Invalids and Social

Affairs).

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)Time to complete:1 dayCost to complete:no charge

STEP 9 - Register employees with the Hanoi Social Insurance

Fund for the payment of health insurance and social

insurance.

9-Time to complete:1 dayCost to complete:no charge

STEP 10 - Establish a trade union with the City's Trade

Union

10-()Time to complete:15 daysCost to complete:no charge

The following list of 10 steps to starting a business in Vietnam is fromThe World Bank Group as postedon doingbusiness.org.

oingbusiness.org is a site which provides objective measures of business regulations and theirenforcement across 175 countries.

Among other things, they identify the bureaucratic and legal hurdles an entrepreneur must overcometo incorporate and register a new firm. A very cool site!!

I would strongly encourage you to visithttp://www.doingbusiness.org/ and view all the cool statsposted on doing business in Vietnam. Please note that there might be other steps you must gothrough due to the constantly changing requirements in Vietnam. Also, I expect the fees associatedwith these steps will be increased so visithttp://www.doingbusiness.org/ to check for updates orcontact each agency and get the latest information yourself.

------------------Data is as of 2006 from doingbusiness.org-------------------
http://www.doingbusiness.org/ExploreEconomies/?economyid=202http://www.doingbusiness.org/ExploreEconomies/?economyid=202http://www.doingbusiness.org/http://www.doingbusiness.org/http://www.doingbusiness.org/http://www.doingbusiness.org/http://www.doingbusiness.org/ExploreEconomies/?economyid=202


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STEP 5 - Publish announcement in a daily newspaperTime to complete:7 daysCost to complete:VND 1,026,000 ($63USD)

Comment: Cost depends on the newspaper, the page and the length of the announcement. In thecase of New Hanoi, 9x4 cm, VND1,026,000 for three issues. Details to be made public: name and

type of company; the number and the issuance date of the Business Registration Certificate;headquarters and business objectives; charter capital; name of the legal representative and place ofbusiness registration.

STEP 6 - Apply for a tax code at the Hanoi Municipal Taxation Department; pay businesslicense taxTime to complete: 15 days (simultaneous with previous step)Cost to complete: VND 3,000,000 ($185USD) for business license tax

Comment :Required documents are: a declaration of tax registration (standard form is available); acertified business registration certificate. This procedure registers the company for all necessarytaxes. After issuance of the business registration certificate, the company goes to the HanoiTaxation Department for declaration of relevant taxes and the accounting system.

Within 15 days from the date of the receipt of the application for tax registration, the company will beissued a taxation code. Taxes and the applied accounting system connected to operations of thecompany (business license tax, VAT, corporate income tax, personal income tax, etc) are to bedeclared.For the approval of accounting system, required documents are: an application for approval of theaccounting system, a certified business registration certificate, and a C.V. of the chief accountant.The company must comply with the Ministry of Finance's regulations on accounting standards andmaintaining its accounting records.MOF allows a domestic company to incorporate the application for approval of an accounting systeminto the application for the tax code and for the combined application to be submitted to theprovincial tax department belonging to the MOF.

STEP 7 - Buy pre-printed VAT invoices from the Municipal Taxation Department or obtain andprint self printed VAT invoicesTime to complete:15 days (simultaneous with previous step)Cost to complete:If buying the pre-printed VAT Invoices: VND 14,000 (0.90USD) per book (50copies). If self-printed : it shall depend on the design and requirements

Comment: Required documents are: authorization of the General Director of the company to theperson who shall contact the Department to buy invoices, Application for buying pre-printed invoices(standard form available), ID card of the buying person, Business registration certificate and copy,tax registration certificate and copy.Upon completion of the application, Tax Dept shall issue an appointment of not more than 5 laterdays for purchase of invoices. During this 5 days period tax officer shall pay visits to the company'soffice to certify the existence of the company and sign with the company a minute of certification of

the company office location. First purchase is not allowed to be more than two books (100 copies).It would take more time to have the company's invoices printed at its own requirements. It may take7-10 days to obtain registration of self-printed invoice from the Municipal Taxation Department.Required documents are: application for registration of self-printed invoices (standard formavailable), model form of self-printed invoice including all statutory details, map drawing showing thelocation of the Company's office or copy of the lease contract, if the office property is leased,certified by ward/commune people's committee, ID card of the General Director, copy of businessregistration certificate, and tax registration certificate and copy.It will take 7-15 more days to have approved invoice printed at printer authorized by the General


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Taxation Department of Vietnam. After having the invoice printed and before use, the Companymust register the serials of the invoices with the Municipal Taxation department.The procedure takes from 10 to 20 days.

STEP 8 - Register with the local labor office to declare use of labor (Municipal Department forLabor, Invalids and Social Affairs).

Time to complete:1 dayCost to complete:no charge

Comment: Can be done simultaneously with the previous step. This step must be carried out within30 days after the company is operational. All the employees and their qualification must beregistered with the labor office (in conformity with set forms). The relationship between employeesand the company is regulated by the Labor Code and set forth in labor contracts. The company canrecruit employees itself or hire labor service agencies to do it.

STEP 9 - Register employees with the Hanoi Social Insurance Fund for the payment of healthinsurance and social insurance.Time to complete:1 dayCost to complete:no charge

Comment: Can be done simultaneously with the previous step. The company must declare all theemployees who engage in the labor contracts with the definite term of 3 months or more. Thedeclaration must be in the form provided by the Hanoi Social Insurance and must include thefollowing information: name, date of birth, salary (as stated in the labor contract), serial number ofsocial insurance book (for employees already issued with those books), together with a certifiedcopy of the company's business registration certificate and copy of each labor contract. The SocialInsurance Office will issue an insurance registration book for each new employee (i.e. one who didnot have an insurance registration book with his/her previous employer). The company isresponsible to pay the social insurance and health insurance contributions for each employeedirectly to the Hanoi Social Insurance on a monthly or quarterly basis. A health insurance certificatewill be issued in the first month of the year.The Health insurance and social insurance funds have been merged.

STEP 10 - Establish a trade union with the City's Trade UnionTime to complete:15 daysCost to complete:no charge

Comment: This procedure is compulsory for every company, and must be done within 6 monthsafter start of operation. This first trade union is provisionary, and its term of office is 1 year. Uponexpiry of the aforementioned term and according as the presence of some conditions legallyrequired, the provisional trade union unit shall be transformed into an official grassroots trade unionunit. The time is not specified as it doesn't affect the operation of the company.

Documents

10 Steps to Starting a Business in Ho Chi Minh City