Warning about the tactic of creating two accounting systems to evade taxes.

VTV.vn - The Tax Department warns of the tactic used by businesses to create two accounting systems to evade taxes, and is strengthening monitoring of data, cash flow, and investigating high-risk cases.

On April 9th, at the Ministry of Finance 's regular quarterly press conference for the first quarter of 2026, Mr. Le Long, Deputy Director of the Tax Department, affirmed that the use of two parallel accounting systems by businesses—one to monitor actual production and business activities and another to provide to competent state management agencies—is a serious violation of the law aimed at tax evasion or fraud in the preparation and issuance of financial reports for malicious purposes (participating in tenders, obtaining bank loans, etc.), demonstrating a weak sense of social responsibility on the part of the business owner.

According to Deputy Director of the Tax Department Le Long, this is not only a matter of state budget revenue loss but also has long-term effects on the economy and business environment. The worrying aspect of this behavior is that it can be systematic, highly sophisticated, easy to conceal, and difficult to detect without specialized inspection and auditing skills or investigative expertise from relevant authorities.

The head of the Tax Department also pointed out several major cases that have recently been discovered and clarified by authorities, such as: the case of Hoang Long Company creating two sets of accounting books and keeping them off the books to conceal revenue, causing tax losses to the state of over 241 billion VND; and the case at Bao Tin Minh Chau Co., Ltd. using two software systems to manage and declare taxes, causing losses to the state budget of approximately 150 billion VND. These cases highlight the alarming reality of the increasing scale and seriousness of this type of crime.

Mr. Le Long believes that there are many reasons leading to this situation, such as limited compliance with the law and business ethics; businesses being driven by the desire to maximize profits and minimize tax obligations; businesses underestimating or not fully understanding the criminal risks they will face or accepting the trade-offs; and businesses believing that their criminal acts are easy to conceal and difficult to detect.

Recently, the Tax Department issued a document requesting organizations providing electronic invoice solutions to compile a list of customers who have used the financial accounting software provided by the organization, and to update any changes to this customer list monthly before the 5th of the month.

"Collecting the above information helps the Tax Department understand the number of businesses, organizations, and business households using accounting software, thereby enabling the implementation of solutions to support these entities in tax declaration and payment, ensuring full fulfillment of tax obligations to the state budget," the Deputy Director of the Tax Department stated.

Accordingly, as of April 7th, the Tax Department had received customer lists from 42 organizations containing information on 12,809 customers currently using the organizations' accounting software. The Tax Department is continuing to coordinate with these organizations to compile information nationwide.

In addition, the Tax Department will use the collected information and data to review and issue warnings and recommendations to organizations, businesses, and household businesses that use multiple accounting books simultaneously from April 2026, in order to serve tax management purposes.

Deputy Director of the Tax Department Le Long believes that with its pioneering role and social responsibility, along with the support of various organizations, it will be an important foundation for jointly striving to build a healthy, fair, and transparent business environment, contributing to the national digital transformation process.

To effectively prevent businesses from using dual accounting systems to evade taxes, the Tax Department has been implementing a comprehensive set of solutions, such as strengthening control over cash flow and reducing the use of cash. This includes enhancing data connectivity between the tax authorities and the banking system, and controlling large-value transactions through bank accounts.

Furthermore, the application of technology and data analysis utilizes Big Data and AI to: Analyze risks, detect signs of "two accounting systems" from unusual revenue fluctuations and unreasonably low profit margins. This shifts the focus from "manual checks" to "data-driven monitoring".

At the same time, strengthen risk management of electronic invoices and accounting software, continue to require real-time connection of sales data with tax authorities (for high-risk industries), and request software and accounting solution providers to provide customer lists to control the use of multiple accounting software by businesses.

Furthermore, continue to improve the effectiveness of coordinated investigation and criminal prosecution: Identify signs of tax fraud and tax evasion by organizations and individuals to strengthen case files and promptly transfer files to the police when signs of crime are detected.

The tax sector will also strengthen communication, openness, and transparency: Warning about legal risks when committing tax law violations; a lucky invoice program to encourage consumers to obtain invoices; and a reward mechanism for consumers who report organizations or individuals selling goods without issuing invoices, leading to tax violations.

Regarding the situation of businesses with trillion-VND revenues but thin profit margins or reporting losses, Mr. Le Long, Deputy Director of the Tax Department, said that through reviewing and compiling tax declaration data nationwide, the tax authorities have basically identified a significant number of businesses with large revenues that declare losses: over 400 businesses with revenues of 1,000 billion VND/year or more have declared losses.

Businesses declaring losses or very low profits can be due to many objective or subjective reasons. However, in practice, tax authorities have discovered many cases where businesses with years of losses continue to expand their scale and increase investment capital, raising many doubts about the honesty of these businesses in complying with tax and accounting laws.

To address the issue of businesses declaring losses for many years, the tax authorities have implemented a comprehensive set of solutions focused on risk management and increased transparency. These include promoting the honest, accurate, and complete declaration of tax obligations in accordance with the law; and warning of legal consequences and penalties for taxpayers who make inaccurate or dishonest declarations.

Source: https://vtv.vn/canh-bao-thu-doan-lap-2-he-thong-ke-toan-de-gian-lan-thue-100260409161759848.htm