Reducing compliance costs for household businesses.

The Vietnam Private Economy Report 2025, recently published by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), shows that 73.7% of business households only achieve "low profits," while only 1.9% reach "expected profits." Notably, 39.5% of business households stated that their biggest current pressure is complying with tax and accounting regulations. Many business households shared that they don't want to violate regulations, but fundamentally, they don't know how to do it correctly. To comply, their only option is to hire services.

The story of Ms. Nguyen, a small business owner at An Dong Market (Ho Chi Minh City), is a case in point. Sitting beside her struggling stall, she sighed as she mentioned the machinery and software she bought last year to issue electronic invoices. Unfamiliar with bookkeeping, she sometimes had to hire an external accountant at a cost of about 3 million VND per month to assist with filing and processing invoices. For a small business with meager profit margins, the cost of meeting these procedural requirements became a significant burden, further diminishing her already small earnings.

Even a policy that is correct in its objectives can become a burden if those implementing it lack the necessary tools, time, and capacity to keep up. For small businesses, stall owners who simultaneously sell goods, import inventory, and manage cash flow, adding a new layer of procedures is not simply a matter of "adding a few more steps." Therefore, reform for household businesses cannot be measured solely by the number of new regulations issued, but rather by how easily they are understood, implemented, and are less costly.

Household businesses are in dire need of more affordable and user-friendly compliance tools, such as simple accounting software, declaration guides in everyday language, and direct support or timely Q&A channels when they encounter problems.

Each group of household businesses has its own characteristics and needs, therefore support policies should not be applied uniformly to all. Households that depend entirely on business for their livelihood should be prioritized. Micro-business households need support in compliance and basic governance. Larger groups can be supported in transitioning to enterprises, but this must be accompanied by a suitable roadmap of obligations, avoiding a situation where they are immediately placed under excessive compliance pressure upon conversion.

Vietnam currently has approximately 6 million business households. In reality, what most households like Ms. Nguyen's need is a simpler, easier-to-implement, and less costly regulatory system. Reducing compliance costs for business households, therefore, is not about "loosening regulations," but rather making the implementation of regulations easier for those who earn their daily living through trade.

KHANH CHAU

Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/giam-chi-phi-tuan-thu-cho-ho-kinh-doanh-post854416.html