Do businesses get exempted from corporate income tax (CIT) if they have employees who are persons with disabilities?

Posted on: 09/01/2025

My company was recently established, focusing on producing packaging and handicrafts to provide employment opportunities for people with disabilities in the local area. Currently, 38% of our workforce consists of persons with disabilities. In this case, is my company eligible for corporate income tax (CIT) exemption due to employing persons with disabilities?

Clause 4, Article 4 of the 2008 Corporate Income Tax Law, as amended by Clause 3, Article 1 of the 2013 Amended Corporate Income Tax Law, stipulates tax-exempt income as follows:

Income derived from production and business activities of enterprises with an annual average workforce of at least 30% being persons with disabilities, rehabilitated drug addicts, or individuals living with HIV/AIDS, and with an annual average total workforce of at least 20 employees. This does not include enterprises operating in the financial or real estate business sectors.

According to Clause 1, Article 9 of Decree No. 28/2012/ND-CP, production and business establishments employing at least 30% of their total workforce as persons with disabilities are entitled to the following preferential policies:

Production and business establishments employing at least 30% of their total workforce as persons with disabilities, as stipulated in Article 34 of the Law on Persons with Disabilities, are eligible for the following incentives:
a) Financial support for improving working conditions and environments suitable for persons with disabilities, as per regulations of the Ministry of Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs. The support amount depends on the proportion of persons with disabilities employed stably at the establishment, the severity of their disabilities, and the size of the establishment, as prescribed by the Prime Minister. The Chairperson of the Provincial People’s Committee decides on the support funding for such establishments.
b) Exemption from corporate income tax in accordance with tax regulations.
c) Access to preferential loans for production and business development projects from the Social Policy Bank. Loan conditions, terms, amounts, and interest rates are determined based on current regulations for job creation loans.
d) Priority in leasing land, premises, and water surfaces as prescribed by law.
e) Exemption or reduction of land, premises, and water surface rental fees for production and business activities. Specifically:
- Full exemption for establishments employing at least 70% of their workforce as persons with disabilities.
- 50% reduction for establishments employing from 30% to under 70% of their workforce as persons with disabilities.

During the exemption or reduction period, establishments are prohibited from transferring, donating, leasing, or mortgaging land, premises, or water surface usage rights. They are also not allowed to use these rights as collateral or contributions for joint ventures or associations, as per land laws.