To Tax or Not to Tax Trademark Use? Vietnam Decides Yes

摘要

Vietnam's announcement that it will tax the use of trademarks is likely to encounter pushback from companies, tax specialists told Bloomberg BNA, raising questions about how the developing country is taking in foreign technology. Taxpayers in Vietnam who buy the rights to foreign trademarks do owe value-added tax, the finance ministry said in an official letter earlier this month. This negated the belief that trademark transactions qualify for tax breaks that encourage technology transfers, which Vietnam sees as a key tool to push its $200 billion economy past the middle-income trap. The news comes as Vietnam revamps its intellectual property regime, as promised under trade deals with Europe and the Trans Pacific Partnership nations.