Tax, investment, employment and licence compliance coordination for businesses in Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia, with an agreed calendar and scope.
Part of Viettonkin's Global Company Registration services
ASEAN received 15 percent of global foreign direct investment inflows in 2024 and has been the leading recipient among developing regions for four consecutive years. Behind those figures are companies that must keep meeting tax, investment, employment and permit obligations in each market long after they are licensed, under rules that continue to change. For management teams still building operations, the harder problem is rarely one missed filing. It is the quiet build-up of obligations that nobody was assigned to.
Recent changes show why a compliance calendar cannot simply be copied from one year to the next. Vietnam ended collection of the business licence fee from 1 January 2026, and in Indonesia many non-luxury supplies now use an 11/12 VAT tax base under PMK 131/2024. Each market also runs its obligations through different authorities, on different cycles and with different trigger events.
Viettonkin’s compliance services bring those obligations into one coordinated view for each entity. We map what applies across tax, investment reporting, employment and operating permissions, agree who prepares, approves and submits each item, and keep the evidence that shows the work was completed. The company keeps its legal responsibilities; the retainer makes them visible, assigned and easier to oversee.
Few companies ignore their obligations on purpose. Gaps usually appear because each obligation starts from a different trigger and sits with a different team.
The tax calendar begins with registration, investment reporting follows the project and entity records, employer obligations start with the first hire, and permit conditions depend on the activities the company actually carries out. While the team is focused on launching operations, an obligation with no named owner can go unnoticed for several reporting periods before anyone asks for the record.
The way the work is organised often makes this harder. When everything sits in-house, the knowledge tends to concentrate in one person, so a resignation or a long absence leaves the calendar undocumented. When tax, payroll and corporate records sit with separate local providers, each firm sees its own deadlines but not the others’, and a single business change can be updated in one system and missed in the next.
The effect of a gap is rarely limited to the item itself. Licence amendments, audits, bank reviews and investor due diligence all draw on the same company history, so an incomplete record in one domain can slow work in another. The practical aim of a compliance retainer is a complete, assigned and evidenced calendar. It is not a promise that an authority will never raise a question.
Compliance work for a foreign-invested company falls into four regulatory domains, supported by monitoring and record-keeping. The engagement identifies which work Viettonkin prepares, submits or coordinates, and where specialist services are needed.
We coordinate the applicable return and payment calendar, collect the source records and prepare or review the agreed tax filings. Bookkeeping, annual accounts, statutory audit and specialist tax advice often sit with different providers, so the engagement records who owns each piece and when their input is needed. That keeps the tax calendar connected to the accounting work it depends on.
We review the project and entity records to identify the investment reporting that applies, then track it within the agreed mandate. Changes to capital, activities or location are assessed for their effect on those records before they are implemented. Where a change needs a formal amendment, we coordinate the submission and keep the result with the company file.
We maintain the agreed calendar for employer registrations, payroll-related submissions and labour reporting. Employee information comes from the HR and payroll teams, so the calendar sets out what data is needed and by when. Foreign-worker requirements and sector-specific employment rules are identified where they fall within the scope.
We map the permissions relevant to the company’s actual operations, not only the activities listed at registration. Renewal dates, reporting conditions and restrictions are tracked in the same calendar as tax and employment work. Planned changes, such as a new product, service or location, are reviewed before the new activity begins.
Rules change in all three markets, and not every change affects every company. We assess relevant updates against the company’s activities and turn those that apply into assigned actions with a date and an owner. The markets, topics and depth of monitoring are agreed in the retainer.
Filing acknowledgements, payment evidence and authority correspondence are kept against the obligation they support, with outstanding questions, approvals and follow-up work recorded alongside them. When management, auditors or a transaction counterparty ask for the compliance history, it can be retrieved rather than reconstructed.
The four domains are shared across the region, but the forms, calendars and authorities differ in each country. Start with the jurisdiction of your operating entity, then use its page to see the local planning points.
Tax, investment, employment and operating-licence compliance support for foreign-invested enterprises in Vietnam.
Explore compliance services
Coordinate tax filings, corporate reporting, employment obligations and operating permissions for companies in Thailand.
Explore compliance services
LKPM, tax, employment and operating-licence compliance coordination for PT PMA companies in Indonesia.
Explore compliance servicesThis is a planning comparison, not a universal filing schedule. The final calendar depends on the entity, tax status, licences and employment profile, and on the reporting period being filed.
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| Domain | Vietnam | Thailand | Indonesia |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tax | VAT, CIT, PIT and invoicing requirements assessed for the entity. | VAT and withholding filings, half-year and annual corporate income tax. | PPh obligations and PPN where applicable, using current tax-system rules. |
| Investment | Project reporting and changes assessed against the investment records. | Promotion conditions and reporting where BOI promotion applies. | LKPM reporting and OSS records assessed by project and business status. |
| Employment | Employer records, labour reporting and social insurance. | SSO and labour obligations, with employment changes tracked. | BPJS, workforce reporting and employment documentation. |
| Permissions | Sector permits and conditions linked to registered activities. | Foreign-business permissions, sector licences and promotion conditions. | Risk-based licensing, activity classifications and sector requirements. |
Growth decisions are often treated as internal matters, yet many of them change what the company must report. Reviewing a change across all four domains before it happens is simpler than correcting the records afterwards.
A change in capital or ownership can affect the enterprise and investment records, the information held by the company’s bank and the details supplied to the tax authority. Depending on the market, it may also affect permissions that depend on the ownership structure. We map the affected records first, then sequence the approvals and filings so each record reflects the same position.
Opening a branch, warehouse or new office can require updates to registered details and a review of the permits attached to the premises. It can also change which local authority offices the company deals with. Checking this before signing a lease or moving staff avoids operating from an address the records do not yet show.
Starting an activity outside the registered business scope may need a record amendment, a sector permit or both, and the tax treatment of the new revenue may differ from existing sales. We review the proposed activity against the current registrations and licences before it starts, and identify any specialist approval that should be scoped separately.
New employees bring registration and contribution obligations, and foreign staff can add work permit and residence requirements. When hiring moves faster than HR administration, these records tend to lag behind payroll. Agreeing the onboarding information with the HR team in advance keeps employer records aligned with the actual workforce.
A clear owner and evidence trail are as important as a date in the calendar. The retainer is built in four stages, and the last one repeats whenever the business changes.
We collect registrations, licences, prior filings, employee information and the current business plan. From these we separate routine upcoming obligations from gaps that need investigation, so historical issues do not delay the next filing. The review also shows which records are held by other providers.
We agree the covered entities, preparation and submission responsibilities, approval dates and escalation contacts. Specialist work and any historical remediation are identified and scoped separately. The result is a responsibility map that management, the accountants and the HR team can all read in the same way.
For each obligation we collect the necessary records, resolve discrepancies and obtain the approvals the company needs to give. Agreed filings are then completed and the acknowledgement or other completion evidence is retained. Where an authority raises a query, the response is coordinated with the people who hold the underlying information.
The calendar is revisited when the business hires, changes ownership, adds an activity or receives an authority enquiry, and responsibilities and scope are updated where necessary. Periodic reviews also confirm that the covered entities and services still match how the company operates.
The retainer supports oversight; it does not remove the company’s responsibilities or guarantee the absence of penalties. What it changes is how easily management can see the position and act on it.
Management can see who prepares each filing, who approves it and what information remains outstanding. Questions reach the right person earlier, before a deadline is close, and staff changes can be planned without losing track of recurring work.
A business change is assessed across the affected tax, investment, employment and licence records at the same time. This reduces the risk of one record being updated while another still shows the old position, and gives management a single plan for approvals.
A documented history is available for management, auditors and advisers reviewing the company’s compliance position, with acknowledgements and correspondence linked to the obligation they relate to. When a transaction or financing requires due diligence, the company starts from an organised file.
Since 2009, Viettonkin has supported 2,000+ businesses, including Fortune 500 and VNR500 companies. These engagements in Vietnam show the kind of regulatory and compliance questions we help foreign investors work through.
A Hong Kong garment manufacturer in Tay Ninh province was considering relocation to a new industrial zone in Tra Vinh. Viettonkin assessed the risks of acquiring industrial land, compared ownership structures and their tax implications, and set out the land acquisition procedure for foreign investors.
Read the case study
A Singapore-based investment fund exploring Vietnam’s gaming sector needed clarity on the legal framework. Viettonkin researched the legal requirements and licensing procedures for online and offline games, the market landscape and the localisation practices required for the Vietnamese market.
Read the case study
Two investors from China set up a joint venture company and factory in Vietnam. Under a retainership, Viettonkin advised on the legal process, compliance issues in construction and manufacturing and charter capital procedures, and supported adjustments to the Investment Registration Certificate and Business Registration Certificate.
Read the case studyPractical answers for your compliance planning.
No universal scope is assumed. The engagement letter identifies the entities, filings, coordination work and separately quoted services, including audit, specialist advice or dispute representation.
Yes. An initial review can identify missing records and potentially overdue obligations. Remediation, authority engagement and any liabilities are assessed separately from routine future work.
No. The company still supplies accurate records and approvals and retains its legal responsibilities. The engagement sets out what Viettonkin is authorised to prepare or submit.
Secretarial work focuses on company decisions, registers and corporate changes. Compliance coordination brings together tax, investment, employment and operating-permission obligations, with overlaps assigned clearly.
Yes, subject to an agreed scope for each entity. The calendar and filing responsibilities remain specific to each jurisdiction.
Regulatory points checked on 10 September 2026; market statistics checked on 11 September 2026. Requirements depend on the activity, investor and filing date.
Tell us your market, entity structure and immediate priorities. We will confirm the documents, responsibilities and scope of support.
