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GOVERNMENT OF VIETNAM |
THE SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM |
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No. 346/2025/ND-CP |
Hanoi, December 29, 2025 |
ON ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION FEES ON WASTEWATER
Pursuant to the Law on Government Organization No. 63/2025/QH15;
Pursuant to the Law on Fees and Charges No. 97/2015/QH13;
Pursuant to the Law on State Budget No. 89/2025/QH15;
Pursuant to the Law on Environmental Protection No. 72/2020/QH14;
At the request of the Minister of Finance;
The Government promulgates the Decree on environmental protection fees on wastewater.
Article 1. Scope and regulated entities
1. This Decree regulates the payers, collectors, cases of fee exemption, fee rates, determination of payable fees, declaration, collection, payment, management and use of environmental protection fees on wastewater.
2. This Decree applies to wastewater upon which fees are charged, payers, collectors of environmental protection fees on wastewater; and state authorities, organizations and individuals related to the collection, payment, management and use of environmental protection fees on wastewater.
Article 2. Wastewater upon which fees are charged
The environmental protection fees in this Decree are charged upon industrial wastewater and domestic wastewater, except for cases where the water drainage service has been charged in accordance with laws on prices, water drainage and wastewater treatment, and cases subject to fee exemption in accordance with Article 5 of this Decree. To be specific:
1. The environmental protection fees are charged upon industrial wastewater from production, business, service establishments; centralized production, business, service zones; and industrial clusters (hereinafter referred to as “establishments”) discharged into water bodies in accordance with laws on environmental protection, except for domestic wastewater upon which fees are charged as prescribed in point 2 of this Article.
2. Domestic wastewater upon which environmental protection fees are charged includes:
a) Domestic wastewater and wastewater from establishments under the list of business and service types producing wastewater that are treated as domestic wastewater (hereinafter referred to as “domestic wastewater”) in accordance with the National technical regulations on domestic wastewater, wastewater in urban areas and residential areas issued by the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment.
b) Wastewater from establishments generating an average annual wastewater volume of less than 20 m3/day (equivalent to 7.300 m3/year) in cases where water is used from the clean water supply system.
Collectors of environmental protection fees on wastewater include:
1. Province- and commune-level state authorities responsible for management of environment in accordance with laws on environment shall collect fees as prescribed in clause 1, Article 2 of this Decree.
Based on the actual management situation, province-level People’s Committees shall decide the authorities collecting environmental protection fees on industrial wastewater from establishments within provinces as prescribed in this clause.
2. Clean water suppliers shall collect fees as prescribed in clause 2, Article 2 of this Decree.
Organizations, households and individuals discharging wastewater as prescribed in Article 2 of this Decree shall pay environmental protection fees on wastewater.
Article 5. Cases of fee exemption
Environmental protection fees on wastewater shall not be charged upon:
1. Water that is discharged from hydropower plants including water that is discharged from the turbine of hydropower plants of the dam or reservoir of the plant without passing through any production or operation stages, and may cause pollution (excluding domestic wastewater; wastewater from maintenance, repair, cleaning of works, mechanical or technical activities, or other operational activities of the plant that come into contact with pollutants).
2. Wastewater from seawater used for salt production.
3. Domestic wastewater of organizations, households and individuals in extremely disadvantaged communes as prescribed by investment laws; domestic wastewater of organizations (except for establishments generating an average annual wastewater volume of 20 m3/day (equivalent to 7.300 m3/year) or more), households and individuals living in areas without clean water supply systems or using self-extracted water.
4. Heat exchange water as prescribed by environmental protection laws.
5. Wastewater from natural rainwater runoff.
6. Wastewater from fishing vessels.
7. Wastewater from centralized urban wastewater treatment systems as prescribed by laws on drainage and wastewater treatment; and wastewater from drainage and treatment systems of high-rise apartment complexes, apartment clusters and residential areas as prescribed by environmental protection laws.
8. Wastewater from mineral exploitation activities as prescribed by geology and mineral laws.
9. Wastewater from production and processing activities of establishments that is reused in accordance with environmental protection laws.
10. Wastewater from aquaculture activities.
FEE RATES AND DETERMINATION OF PAYABLE FEES
Article 6. Fee rates and determination of payable fees for domestic wastewater
1. Environmental protection fee rate on domestic wastewater:
The environmental protection fee rate on domestic wastewater is 10% of the selling price of 01 m3 of clean water excluding value-added tax (VAT). In cases where a higher fee rate is required, province-level People’s Councils shall decide a higher fee rate for each type of wastewater upon which fees are charged.
2. Determination of the environmental protection fee payable for domestic wastewater:
|
Payable fee (VND) |
= |
Volume of used clean water (m3) |
x |
Selling price of clean water (VND/m3) |
x Fee rate |
Where:
a) The volume of used clean water is determined based on the water flow meter of the fee payer.
b) The selling price of clean water is the domestic water selling price (excluding VAT) issued by province-level People’s Committees.
c) The fee rate shall comply with clause 1 of this Article.
Article 7. Fee rates and determination of payable fees for industrial wastewater
1. In cases where an establishment is not subject to monitoring as prescribed in environmental protection laws and does not conduct self-monitoring for determination of fees, the fee rate and payable fee for the quarter shall be determined by the following formula:
Fq = Lq x 1.700
Where:
a) Fq is the fee payable for the quarter (VND).
b) Lq is the total volume of wastewater for the quarter subject to the fee (m3) that is determined based on the actual results from the outflow flow meter in accordance with environmental protection laws.
c) 1.700 is the fee rate per 01 m3 of wastewater (VND/m3).
2. In cases where the establishment conducts monitoring of pollution parameters in wastewater to determine fees (including establishments that are not required by environmental protection laws to conduct monitoring but voluntarily conducts monitoring once a year to determine the annual fee, and establishments that are required to conduct monitoring in accordance with environmental protection laws), the fee rate and payable fee for the quarter are determined as follows
Fq = Lq x C
Where:
a) Fq is the fee payable for the quarter (VND).
b) Lq is the total volume of wastewater for the quarter subject to the fee (m3) that is determined based on the actual results from the outflow flow meter in accordance with environmental protection laws.
c) C is the total fee rate for all pollution parameters in the wastewater that are charged (VND/m3) by the following formula:
C = Σ(Hi x 0,001 x Pi)
Where: Hi is the concentration of the i-th pollution parameter (mg/L); Pi is the fee rate for the i-th pollution parameter according to the following table:
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No. |
Pollution Parameter |
Fee Rate (VND/kg) |
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1 |
Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) |
3.000 |
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2 |
Total Suspended Solids (TSS) |
3.500 |
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3 |
Mercury (Hg) |
55.000.000 |
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4 |
Lead (Pb) |
600.000 |
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5 |
Arsenic (As) |
1.100.000 |
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6 |
Cadmium (Cd) |
2.800.000 |
3. Some cases prescribed in clauses 1 and 2 of this Article are implemented as follows:
a) In cases where an establishment is subject to monitoring but does not have sufficient pollution parameters required for fee determination and does not voluntarily conduct monitoring of the missing parameters, the default concentrations of the missing parameters shall be applied according to the following table:
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No. |
Pollution Parameter |
Default Concentration (Hi) |
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1 |
Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) |
90 |
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2 |
Total Suspended Solids (TSS) |
80 |
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3 |
Mercury (Hg) |
0,005 |
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4 |
Lead (Pb) |
0,5 |
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5 |
Arsenic (As) |
0,25 |
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6 |
Cadmium (Cd) |
0,1 |
b) Hi shall be considered 0 (zero) in the following cases: the pollution parameter subject to fee is not prescribed in the environmental license or component environmental license (confirmed by the licensing authority as absent in the wastewater); measurement results are below the limit of detection (LOD) or below the limit of quantification (LOQ).
c) For establishments subject to periodic wastewater monitoring under environmental protection laws but lacking monitoring results during the fee determination period, the data from the nearest monitoring period shall be used.
d) For establishments subject to automatic, continuous wastewater monitoring, the total wastewater volume and pollution parameter concentrations shall be determined as the average of the three lowest and three highest data points within the fee quarter.
dd) In cases of force majeure that results in inability to determine the actual results of the outflow flow meter and pollution parameter concentrations, the wastewater volume during the force majeure period shall be determined as the average discharge flow in the establishment’s environmental records multiplied by the number of days without actual results, or as 80% of the water consumption volume. The pollution parameter concentrations shall be determined based on the default concentrations prescribed in point a of this clause.
e) In cases where environmental inspection or measurement results of state authorities responsible for management of environment differ from the establishment’s monitoring results, the payable fee shall be determined based on the most recent inspection or measurement results of state authorities (if the enterprise does not calibrate the automatic, continuous monitoring system for comparison or request an arbitration laboratory to verify periodic or voluntary monitoring results).
g) For thermal power plants that use part of the heat exchange water for air pollution control, fees shall only be determined for the volume of water used for air pollution control.
The pollution parameter concentrations subject to fees shall be determined as the actual difference between the pollution parameter concentration at the outflow minus the concentration at the inflow.
The inflow and outflow pollution parameter concentrations are determined based on periodic or voluntary monitoring results (quarterly) as prescribed by environmental protection laws to cover all fee-charged pollution parameters, and ensure that the sampling times for inflow and outflow shall not differ by more than 120 minutes.
If the actual difference between the outflow and inflow pollution parameter concentrations is less than or equal to 0 (zero), the concentration difference shall be considered 0 (zero) for fee determination.
COLLECTION, TRANSFER, MANAGEMENT AND USE OF FEES
Article 8. Declaration, collection and transfer of fees
1. Environmental protection fees on domestic wastewater:
a) Payers shall pay environmental protection fees on domestic wastewater together with their invoices for the use of clean water to clean water suppliers.
b) Collectors shall keep separate accounting records for environmental protection fees on domestic wastewater. These fees shall not be recorded as business revenue but as amounts payable to the state budget.
c) Before 20 of every month, collectors shall transfer the collected fees into the account for transfer of state budget.
d) Collectors shall declare fees in accordance with laws on tax administration, and transfer the fees payable into the account for transfer of state budget.
dd) Annually, collectors shall finalize the collected fees in accordance with laws on tax administration.
e) The State Treasury shall record the environmental protection fees on wastewater transferred by collectors into the state budget in accordance with the laws.
2. Environmental protection fees on industrial wastewater:
a) Quarterly, by the 20 of the first month of the following quarter (except for the case prescribed in point e of this clause), payers shall self-determine the payable fee as prescribed in Article 7 of this Decree, pay the fees into the state budget, or pay additional fees in accordance with the notification of collectors within 10 days from the issuance of notification for cases prescribed in point e, clause 3, Article 7 of this Decree by the method prescribed in point b of this clause.
If an establishment begins operation after March 31 of a year, the payer shall determine and pay fees from the quarter that they start operating by the method prescribed in point b of this clause.
b) Payers shall pay the fees in person at the State Treasury, or via non-cash payment to collectors’ accounts opened at a credit institution.
c) Collectors shall notify payers of any outstanding fees or fees to be adjusted downwards, and record these amounts in the payer’s payable fee for the next payment period for cases prescribed in point e, clause 3, Article 7 of this Decree.
d) Quarterly, by the last day of the first month of the following quarter, collectors shall declare and transfer all collected fees (including interest) into the state in accordance with laws on tax administration.
The source for covering fee collection activities shall be funded by the state budget and included in the estimates of the fee collector in accordance with the regime and norms of state budget expenditures as prescribed by laws.
dd) Annually, collectors shall finalize collected environmental protection fees on wastewater within 90 days from January 1 of the following year in accordance with laws on tax administration.
e) For establishments under management of the police and national authorities (cases related to national defense and security secrets): Quarterly, by the 20 of the first month of the following quarter, payers shall self-determine the payable fees and send them to relevant managing authorities. Managing authorities shall notify collectors within 30 days from the receipt of the information from establishments, and notify establishments to pay the fees within 10 days from the issuance of the notification.
Article 9. Management and use of fees
1. Clean water suppliers may retain 10% of the total collected fees to cover the costs of collecting fees. If necessary, province-level People’s Councils may decide the ratio that clean water suppliers may retain in accordance with the actual local conditions and costs. The ratio shall not exceed 10%.
2. The retained amount is considered revenue of clean water supplies. They shall declare and pay taxes in accordance with laws on tax administration, and independently decide the management and use of retained amount.
1. This Decree takes effect from January 01, 2026, and replaces Decree No. 53/2020/ND-CP dated May 05, 2020 of the Government on environmental protection fees on wastewater.
2. Form the effective date of this Decree, if province-level People’s Councils have not issued environmental protection fee rates on wastewater as prescribed in clause 1, Article 6 of this Decree and the ratio of retention of environmental protection fees on wastewater as prescribed in clause 1, Article 9 of this Decree, regulations in documents promulgated in accordance with Decree No. 53/2020/ND-CP shall apply. Province-level People’s Councils shall promulgate replaced documents at the nearest meeting.
3. The declaration, appraisal, collection, transfer, statement, management and use of fees for cases arising before the effective date of this Decree shall comply with Decree No. 53/2020/ND-CP.
4. The payment of environmental protection fees prescribed in this Decree shall not serve the basis for confirming the legal discharge of wastewater by wastewater-generating facilities. Wastewater-generating facilities that violate laws on environment shall incur penalties in accordance with laws on environment.
5. In cases where relevant documents prescribed in this Circular are amended, supplemented or replaced, the newer documents shall prevail.
1. The Ministry of Agriculture and Environment shall:
a) Provide guidelines for monitoring activities, determination of wastewater volume, and pollution parameter concentration for determination of environmental protection fees on wastewater.
b) Summarize and submit proposed amendments to documents concerning fee collection (if any) to the Ministry of Finance for consolidation and report to the Government.
2. Province-level People’s Committees shall:
a) Decide the collectors of environmental protection fees on industrial wastewater in provinces as prescribed in clause 1, Article 3 of this Decree.
b) Propose People’s Councils at the same level for promulgation of specific environmental protection fee rates on domestic wastewater prescribed in clause 1, Article 6 of this Decree, and the ratio of retention of environmental protection fees on domestic wastewater prescribed in clause 1, Article 9 of this Decree.
c) Direct collectors prescribed in clause 1, Article 3 of this Decree to cooperate with relevant authorities in reviewing, classifying and amending wastewater upon which fees are charged (if any) quarterly, and notify payers by March 10 annually. If establishments start operations after March 31, the notification shall be sent to the payers by the last day of the first month of the following quarter.
d) Direct collectors prescribed in clause 1, Article 3 of this Decree to receive and supervise the self-determination and payment of fees of payers.
dd) Summarize data on environmental protection fees on wastewater at provinces, report the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment before May 31 of the following year.
3. Tax authorities shall inspect the declaration, transfer and statement of environmental protection fees on wastewater of collectors.
4. Ministers; Heads of ministerial authorities; Heads of governmental authorities; Presidents of People’s Committees of provinces and cities are responsible for implementing this Decree.
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ON BEHALF OF THE GOVERNMENT Ho Duc Phoc |
