Laos's headline corporate income tax (CIT) rate is 20 (minimum 15% under international tax rules for MNE groups).
The headline personal income tax (PIT) rate is 0-25 progressive.
The standard VAT/GST (or equivalent consumption tax) rate is 10. Registration thresholds, zero-rated and exempt categories, and reduced rates vary by jurisdiction - see the source link below for the full detail on this jurisdiction.
Distinctive finding, confirmed directly via KPMG's Lao Tax Profile: there is no formal definition of "residence" for corporate tax purposes in Laos. Instead, all companies registered under Lao law, or incorporated under foreign law but carrying on business in Laos, are subject to Lao profit tax on worldwide income, confirmed via PwC - taxable presence rather than a residence test determines liability. For individuals, presence of 183 days or more in a tax year is treated as the residency threshold, confirmed via two independent sources; residents are taxed on worldwide income while non-residents are taxed only on Lao-source income.
Confirmed directly via KPMG's Lao Tax Profile: "There are no CFC rules in Laos."
Confirmed directly via KPMG: "Laos does not have a thin capitalisation regime." Instead, all interest payments must be supported by documentation demonstrating a genuine business purpose, or the tax authorities may disallow an element of the interest expense - a documentation-based test rather than a debt-to-equity ratio.
No domestic FBAR/Form 8938-equivalent requiring Laos residents to self-report their own foreign accounts was identified. Notably, KPMG also confirms Laos has no general anti-avoidance provisions, no anti-treaty-shopping provision, no formal binding tax ruling system (informal, non-binding clarification letters may be obtained case by case), and no transfer pricing rules - collectively describing a jurisdiction with a genuinely light-touch anti-avoidance framework overall, not specific to foreign account reporting but relevant context for the broader compliance environment. Institutional-level CRS/FATCA participation status was not independently confirmed this session. Separately and independently of local law, US citizens and Green Card holders with Laos accounts remain obligated to file FinCEN Form 114 (FBAR) once aggregate foreign accounts exceed USD 10,000, and potentially Form 8938, regardless of local requirements.
Laos maintains a network of 12 double taxation agreements, confirmed via two independent TaxAtlas pages (one source separately cites 10 countries - a minor discrepancy noted rather than silently resolved, with 12 treated as the more specific and consistently-repeated figure). Foreign income derived from a treaty country is taxed according to the applicable DTT, confirmed via PwC. Given limited outward investment from Laos, treaty relief provisions tend to follow the approach taken by the treaty partner country, confirmed via KPMG. Specific treaty withholding rates on dividends vary by partner (e.g., 5% where the recipient company holds at least 10% of capital, versus 8-15% otherwise depending on the specific treaty), confirmed via PwC.