Costs on top of an apartment's price: VAT, 2% maintenance, management fee, pink book fees

Legal basis: Law on Value Added Tax No. 48/2024/QH15 (effective 1 July 2025) and Decree 181/2025/NĐ-CP · Law on Housing No. 27/2023/QH15 — Article 152 · Decree 10/2022/NĐ-CP on registration fees (amended by Decree 175/2025/NĐ-CP), Circular 13/2022/TT-BTC · Law on Real Estate Business No. 29/2023/QH15 — Article 17 · Decision 86/2024/QĐ-UBND of HCMC · Updated 20 October 2026.

For an apartment priced at 3 billion dong, the extra amount payable on top of the price is about 70 million dong (the 2% maintenance fund and the 0.5% registration fee), not counting the monthly management fee or loan interest. That is enough to throw off your cash plan if you have only prepared the list price. Below is each cost, its rate and when it is paid.

Summary table

Cost	Rate	Calculated on	When paid
Value added tax (VAT)	10%	Pre-tax price, minus land use fees	With each instalment — usually included in the list price
Maintenance fund for common areas	2% of the apartment's value	Charged separately, not part of the purchase price	Per the contract, usually before or at handover
Operation and management fee	Per the contract, dong/m²/month	The apartment's usable area	Monthly, from handover
Registration fee	0.5%	The contract price (excluding the maintenance fund)	When applying for the pink book
Certificate issuance fee, file appraisal fee	Rates set by the provincial / city People's Council	Per application	When applying for the pink book

1. 10% VAT: is it included in the price?

Real estate business is subject to 10% VAT. The taxable price is the pre-tax selling price minus the land use fees (or land rent) the developer has paid to the state budget. So the VAT on a unit is usually less than 10% of the total price.

Most project price lists say "VAT included". When comparing two projects, put both on the same basis: VAT included, maintenance fund not included.

2. The 2% maintenance fund

The 2023 Law on Housing requires buyers of apartments from the developer to pay 2% of the apartment's value for maintaining the common areas (lifts, roof, technical systems…). This is charged separately from the purchase price and must be stated clearly in the contract.

Townhouses and villas in urban developments are not apartment buildings: the maintenance fee follows each project's contract. For example, the Izumi City (Dong Nai) price list for October 2026 states prices including VAT, excluding a 1.5% maintenance fee, collected at handover — see the Izumi City price list, updated 18 October 2026.

3. Operation and management fee

The management fee for commercial apartments is agreed between the developer and the buyer in the contract. In HCMC, Decision 86/2024/QĐ-UBND sets a range of 1,800–7,000 dong/m²/month for buildings with lifts (600–3,500 dong for buildings without lifts). This range applies to state-owned apartment buildings and serves as the reference when the parties cannot agree or are in dispute; it does not change a rate already written in the sale and purchase agreement. The range excludes parking, fire insurance, electricity, water and VAT.

Some developers waive the management fee for an initial period. For example, Izumi City waives the operation and management fee from handover until 30 November 2029 for buyers who pay in full and take handover on time (policy effective 18 September 2026 – 31 December 2026).

4. The 0.5% registration fee and pink book costs

The registration fee for houses and land is 0.5%. It is calculated on the price in the sale and purchase agreement if that is higher than the price table issued by the provincial / city People's Committee — usually the case for apartments bought from the developer. For apartments, the price used excludes the maintenance fund; if the contract or invoice does not show that amount separately, the fee is calculated on the total value stated on the invoice or contract.

When applying for the pink book, you also pay the certificate issuance fee and the file appraisal fee at the rates set by the People's Council of the province / city where the home is. The 2023 Law on Real Estate Business requires the developer to file the pink book application for the buyer within 50 days of handover or of the buyer paying in full, unless the buyer handles the procedure themselves.

Reference example: a 70 m² apartment priced at 3 billion dong

Assumptions: the 3 billion dong price includes VAT, the pre-tax price is 2.75 billion dong; the maintenance fund is calculated on the pre-tax price; the registration fee is calculated on the contract price; the management fee is assumed to be 15,000 dong/m²/month.

Cost	Amount
Maintenance fund 2% × 2.75 billion	55 million dong
Registration fee 0.5% × 3 billion	15 million dong
One-off total	about 70 million dong
Management fee 70 m² × 15,000 dong	about 1.05 million dong/month, 12.6 million dong/year

Not included: pink book issuance fee, parking, fire insurance, furniture, loan interest. Add these to your cash-flow plan alongside the payment schedule, or use the "Price & loan calculator" in the price section of a project page to see the amount for each instalment.

This article is for reference only and does not replace legal or financial advice for your specific case.

Sources in Vietnamese; titles kept in the original, with a short English translation in brackets.

• Tax – Customs Review (Economy and Finance Review) — Giá tính thuế GTGT khi chuyển nhượng dự án bất động sản được xác định thế nào? (How is the VAT base determined when transferring real estate? — point h, clause 1, Article 7 of Law 48/2024/QH15; Article 8 of Decree 181/2025/NĐ-CP), 11 September 2026.
• Hệ thống pháp luật — Điều 152 Luật Nhà ở 2023 (Article 152 of the 2023 Law on Housing — 2% maintenance fund), accessed 20 October 2026.
• Thư viện Nhà đất — Mức thu lệ phí trước bạ nhà đất năm 2026 là bao nhiêu? (What is the registration fee for houses and land in 2026? — clause 1, Article 8 of Decree 10/2022/NĐ-CP), 19 December 2025.
• Bao Dau Thau — Sửa quy định về giá, tỷ lệ thu lệ phí trước bạ (Amended rules on registration fee base and rates — Decree 175/2025/NĐ-CP, effective 1 July 2025), 2 July 2025.
• Caselaw — Thông tư 13/2022/TT-BTC hướng dẫn Nghị định 10/2022/NĐ-CP về lệ phí trước bạ (Circular 13/2022/TT-BTC guiding Decree 10/2022/NĐ-CP on registration fees), 28 February 2022.
• VnEconomy — TP.HCM: Phí quản lý chung cư tối đa 7.000 đồng/m2/tháng (HCMC: apartment management fee capped at 7,000 dong/m²/month — Decision 86/2024/QĐ-UBND), 29 October 2024.
• Izumi City — price section (updated 18 October 2026) and sales policy TB143 (effective 18 September 2026 – 31 December 2026) on the HPR project page.
• Industry and Trade Magazine (Tạp chí Công Thương) — Chủ đầu tư chỉ được thu tiền đặt cọc không quá 5% giá bán (Developers may collect a deposit of no more than 5% of the price — clause 3, Article 17: pink book application within 50 days), 1 April 2024.