Centralized digital technology zones: what incentives you get, and how to claim them step by step

What a centralized digital technology zone is

A centralized digital technology zone (khu công nghệ số tập trung) is a dedicated area for researching, developing and applying digital technology, producing and trading digital products and services, chip design, manufacturing, packaging and testing, training and incubation. The legal basis is the Law on Digital Technology Industry No. 71/2025/QH15 and Decree No. 354/2025/NĐ-CP of 31 December 2025, both in force since 1 January 2026.

Every centralized IT zone established or recognised under the old Decree 154/2013/NĐ-CP automatically became a centralized digital technology zone on 1 January 2026. According to the Ministry of Science and Technology, there were eight such zones in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang and Can Tho in December 2025, hosting more than 630 digital technology companies. Zones recognised under the old rules include Quang Trung Software City (Ho Chi Minh City), Da Nang Software Park, Da Nang IT Park, the FPT Complex in Da Nang, Cau Giay IT Park (Hanoi) and the Can Tho centralized IT zone.

Before you plan around a zone, ask its operator for the decision that established or recognised it. Only projects inside a zone that holds that status qualify for the location-based incentives below.

The incentives, and who they are for

Some incentives also depend on what you make, not only on where. Projects producing key digital products and services listed in Circular 31/2025/TT-BKHCN (ten groups, including AI, blockchain, cloud computing, big data and semiconductor chips) qualify for special investment incentives. Electronics manufacturers that meet one of four criteria in Circular 33/2025/TT-BKHCN can receive the 10% for 15 years rate and the 4 plus 9 year tax holiday.

Step by step: from first visit to claiming the incentives

1. 1

   Check that your activity fits

   The zone is for digital technology activities: software, digital content and services, R&D, data, chip design and production, training and incubation. Decree 353/2025, Art. 4 defines the two core activities: producing hardware means any of R&D, design, manufacturing, assembly, testing and packaging of a hardware product; producing software or digital content means any of R&D, analysis, creation, design, programming, testing and packaging. Write a one-paragraph description of what the Vietnam entity will actually do, and check it against the zone's functions and, if relevant, the key product list in Circular 31/2025. Foreign investors also need a market access check first.

2. 2

   Confirm the zone's status and choose your space

   Ask the zone operator for the decision establishing or recognising the zone, and which part of the zone your space is in. At least half of a zone's land is reserved for digital technology activities; the rest is support services. Get a written offer or a lease in principle: you will need site documents for registration.

3. 3

   Decide how you will enter, and frame it as a new investment project

   The 10% rate and the tax holiday are for new investment projects. Moving an existing company into the zone, or expanding an existing project, may be treated differently: confirm with a tax adviser before you sign. Choose your entry route with the Route Finder: a new company is usually route R1, or R4 for qualifying R&D, data centre, chip or strategic technology projects.

4. 4

   Register the investment

   For a project in the zone, the provincial investment registration authority issues, amends or revokes the IRC. For a digital technology industry project it must first obtain the written opinion of the provincial Department of Science and Technology (Decree 354/2025, Art. 21). Allow time for that consultation, and describe the activities in the dossier in the same words the zone's functions use. The zone operator's role includes supporting investors with administrative procedures (Decree 354/2025, Art. 20): ask it to review your dossier before filing.

5. 5

   Set up the company correctly from day one

   Complete the ERC, the capital account and contribution, premises, and any sector licences in the right order: see the go-live checklist. If you want export processing status, plan the fence, gates and customs supervision before fit-out.

6. 6

   Account for incentivised income separately

   Income from the incentivised project must be recorded separately from other income; where it cannot be separated, the incentive is allocated by ratio. Keep the investment documents, the lease and evidence of the project's start date on file: the tax holiday clock depends on the first year of revenue and of taxable income.

7. 7

   Claim the CIT incentives in your tax returns

   Corporate income tax incentives are applied when the company files its CIT returns and annual finalisation. Have a tax adviser confirm the start year of the 15-year rate and of the 4 plus 9 year holiday before the first finalisation.

8. 8

   Apply for the other incentives separately

   Land rent incentives (if you lease land directly), personal income tax treatment for qualifying staff, and intellectual property cost support each have their own application. Several implementing procedures were still being issued in 2026: ask the zone operator and the provincial Department of Science and Technology which are open, and keep a list of qualifying staff against the criteria in Decree 353/2025.

9. 9

   Keep the conditions for as long as you claim

   Stay within the zone's functions and keep your records. If the province suspends or ends a zone's recognition, new projects stop qualifying from that point, while companies already operating keep their incentives until the end of the period (Decree 354/2025, Art. 15).

Who counts as a high-quality digital technology worker

Decree 353/2025/NĐ-CP sets the criteria that decide who can use the personal income tax and talent policies. A person working at a digital technology company qualifies by meeting one of these (Art. 6):

• Chair, general director, CEO or equivalent of a digital technology company with revenue of at least VND 26,000 billion in one of the last three years.
• A Vietnamese employee whose average income from digital technology work over the last two years is at least five times Vietnam's GDP per capita.
• A foreign employee working in a developed country (as classified by the United Nations or the World Bank) whose average income from digital technology work over the last two years is at least three times GDP per capita of that country; for other foreign employees, at least five times.

Other routes to qualify: graduating with a very good or excellent degree in a relevant field within the last three years from a university in the global top 500 of QS, Times Higher Education, Shanghai Ranking or U.S. News, or from a top-50 Vietnamese institution (Art. 7); senior academic roles and doctorates linked to top-500 universities (Art. 8); a Q1 journal article (Scopus or Web of Science) in the last five years, or authorship of protected intellectual property on a strategic technology or key digital product (Art. 10).

The criteria are in force, but the procedure for applying the tax benefit is left to ministries, sectors and provinces to issue (Decree 353/2025, Art. 11(2)). Keep a list of staff who meet the criteria, with evidence, so you can apply as soon as the procedure opens.

Launching something the law does not cover yet: the sandbox

Decree 353/2025 (Chapter IV) also sets up a controlled testing mechanism for new digital technology products and services that existing law does not yet regulate. A company can be exempted from certain rules for a limited time, place and scope.

• Licensing authority: the provincial People's Committee for a test within one province; the relevant ministry for a test across two or more provinces or within its sector.
• Duration: up to three years, extendable once by up to three more years.
• Process (Art. 25): file the application on form TNCNS01 by post, at the authority's one-stop desk or on the National Public Service Portal. The authority confirms a complete dossier within 5 working days, completes the appraisal (including any site check) within 60 days of a valid dossier, then issues the licence on form TNCNS02 or a written refusal with reasons. Testing must start within 90 days of the licence (Art. 25(7)), and an extension must be requested at least 60 days before the test ends (Art. 27).
• Companies and the licensing authority that follow the testing rules are exempt from liability for the test itself.

Documents to prepare

• A short description of the project and its digital technology activities, matched to the zone's functions.
• The zone operator's confirmation of the zone's status, and the lease offer or lease in principle.
• The investment registration dossier for your route (legalised investor documents, financial capacity, project proposal).
• For key digital products or electronics: evidence against Circular 31/2025 or the criteria in Circular 33/2025.
• An accounting set-up that separates incentivised income from day one.

Common mistakes

• Signing a lease before checking that the space is inside a recognised zone and in the part reserved for digital technology activities.
• Assuming an existing business that moves into the zone automatically gets the new-project tax rate.
• Describing the project in the IRC dossier in words that do not match the zone's functions, which slows the Department of Science and Technology review.
• Expecting the land rent incentive as a tenant: it goes to the land user, usually the zone developer.
• Not separating incentivised income in the accounts, then losing part of the incentive at finalisation.