According to the new proposal of the Ministry of Finance , the tax-free revenue level for business households is raised to 500 million VND/year - Photo: VGP
Many businesses may not have to pay taxes.
The Ministry of Finance has just issued Official Dispatch No. 18491/BTC-CST reporting to Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and Deputy Prime Minister Ho Duc Phoc on receiving and explaining the opinions of National Assembly deputies on the Draft Law on Personal Income Tax (amended). One of the notable contents is the proposal to adjust tax policies for business households and individuals.
According to the Ministry of Finance, based on practical research and feedback, the agency proposed to raise the threshold of non-taxable revenue to VND500 million/year, instead of the previous plan of VND200 million/year. Compared to current regulations, the new proposed level is 5 times higher.
Notably, the VND500 million threshold is not only the tax-free threshold but also the revenue deducted before calculating tax at the rate for tax-paying households. Accordingly, the revenue exceeding this threshold is the basis for determining tax liability.
According to estimates by October 2025, the country has more than 2.54 million regular business households being managed by tax authorities. If the threshold of 500 million VND is applied, it is expected that about 2.3 million households will not have to pay tax, accounting for nearly 90% of the total number of business households today.
The Ministry of Finance believes that this adjustment aims to ensure consistency with reality, while creating a relative balance in tax policy between different types of income, including income from salaries, wages and income from business activities.
According to the drafting agency, in the context of many small-scale businesses with unstable income, raising the tax exemption threshold will help reduce financial pressure, especially for the individual economic sector which is heavily affected by market fluctuations.
Apply the method of calculating tax based on actual income
Along with raising the tax exemption threshold, the Ministry of Finance continues to propose applying the method of calculating tax based on income (revenue minus expenses) for households and individuals doing business with revenue from over 500 million to 3 billion VND per year.
Accordingly, the applicable tax rate is 15%, similar to that of enterprises with revenue under VND 3 billion/year as prescribed by the Law on Corporate Income Tax No. 67/2025/QH15. This approach is expected to reflect the true nature of personal income tax, that is, people with high incomes will pay more tax, people with low incomes will pay less, or even not pay if there is no taxable income.
In case the business household or individual cannot determine the cost, the tax calculation will be applied at a rate on the revenue, depending on the industry, for the part exceeding 500 million VND.
As for real estate leasing - considered an irregular form of business (except accommodation activities) - the Ministry of Finance proposes to only apply the method of calculating tax based on revenue ratio for cases with revenue of over 500 million VND/year. According to this regulation, the lessor will not have to determine expenses, offset income and also not have to settle taxes annually.
To ensure consistency in the tax policy system, the Ministry of Finance also proposed raising the non-VAT revenue level for business households and individuals to VND500 million/year in the draft Law amending and supplementing the Law on VAT No. 48/2024/QH15.
According to the Ministry of Finance, this synchronization aims to help taxpayers easily monitor and fulfill their tax obligations, while limiting the situation of having to apply different thresholds for different taxes.
Many experts agree with the idea of raising the tax-free revenue threshold for business households to VND500 million/year or higher. From the experts' perspective, Ms. Nguyen Thi Cuc, President of the Vietnam Tax Consultants Association (VTCA), said that raising the tax-free threshold to VND500 million is a positive step. According to Ms. Cuc, in the current context, this level is suitable for the average income of the people.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Cuc said that it might be worth considering raising the threshold to better reflect the reality of increasing income and living costs. Ms. Cuc also emphasized that the key factor is not only the tax-free threshold, but also transparency in declaration.
In reality, there are still cases of large discrepancies between declared revenue and actual revenue. According to the Chairman of VTCA, only when business households declare correctly, will the management agency have the basis to build a reasonable and fair tax exemption level. On the contrary, state agencies also need to build a mechanism to encourage people to declare honestly, instead of declaring low to avoid tax. In cases of intentional dishonesty, tax agencies need to handle them strictly to ensure a transparent business environment, creating fair competition between entities.
Mr. Minh
Source: https://baochinhphu.vn/de-xuat-nang-nguong-mien-thue-cho-ho-kinh-doanh-len-500-trieu-dong-nam-10225112915211339.htm
Comment (0)