Gap in fulfilling tax obligations
In recent years, online business through social media platforms and e-commerce marketplaces such as Facebook, TikTok, Shopee, Lazada, etc., has become a familiar way of doing business. With just a smartphone connected to the internet, anyone can open a store, livestream, and earn tens, even hundreds of millions of VND per month. Statistics from 2025 show that the total sales on leading e-commerce platforms nationwide reached nearly 340 trillion VND.
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| Tax officials at Branch 4 are disseminating information about fulfilling tax obligations for online businesses. |
In Tuyen Quang , the number of online sellers is increasing due to the ease and convenience of this business model. According to statistics, as of December 2025, the total number of individuals and households engaged in e-commerce under management in the province was 1,272. Online selling is no longer simply a "side job" to earn a little extra money, but has become a primary source of income, resembling and operating on the scale of small businesses.
However, this boom is accompanied by a worrying reality regarding compliance with tax laws. Mr. Nguyen Xuan Huy, Head of the Personal, Household and Other Tax Department of Tuyen Quang Province, shared that many business owners still hold the harmful misconception that spontaneous online businesses don't need to pay taxes. In reality, many young entrepreneurs start by selling local specialty products (such as tea, honey, and OCOP agricultural products) initially with the thought of "selling small amounts for fun." However, when their livestream sessions attract thousands of viewers, generating revenue of 40-50 million VND per month, requiring them to hire additional staff to run ads, process orders, and pack goods, their scale expands, yet they still maintain the mindset of "not registering their business, not declaring taxes." Many sellers are completely unaware of basic concepts such as "personal identification code" or "VAT refund," and automatically consider taxes as "a matter for large businesses."
A lack of legal understanding leading to unintentional violations is one thing, but more reprehensible is the deliberate circumvention of the law by many individuals with enormous revenues. Discussing this issue, Comrade Vo Ba Chau, Head of the Economic Police Department of Tuyen Quang Provincial Police, stated that to evade taxes, these individuals primarily aim to conceal their actual revenue through increasingly sophisticated methods.
Specifically, these individuals often rent, borrow, or use a matrix of multiple bank accounts to receive money, making it difficult for authorities to accurately track the flow of funds. In the delivery process, they distribute the money through various COD (Cash on Delivery) shipping services, even completely discontinuing COD services from major companies to hire people to manually package and send via post to erase any traces. On their books, they maintain a "double accounting" system: one internal account recording actual revenue, and another declaring lower revenue to evade tax authorities. More sophisticatedly, sellers instruct customers to absolutely not include the purchase transaction in the transaction details, instead "disguising" it as "loan," "debt repayment," or leaving it blank. Particularly, some employ the tactic of splitting up business operations among multiple relatives. For example, a business with an annual revenue of 5 billion VND might be split among five relatives to avoid paying personal income tax.
Unforeseen legal consequences
Many online business owners still mistakenly believe that social media is a virtual space where evidence can be easily erased by removing livestream videos, deleting messages, or changing account names. However, they don't understand that every electronic transaction leaves a clear "technical trace."
To expose schemes to conceal revenue, the tax authorities are implementing extremely rigorous data mining and cross-referencing solutions. Through the General Department of Taxation's electronic portal, e-commerce platforms must periodically provide detailed data from each store to a centralized database. From there, the tax authorities directly cross-reference this data with the Tax Management System (TMS) to promptly detect cases of under-declaration. Notably, the tax authorities are also promoting the application of Web Crawler technology to automatically scan and collect data on the scale of interaction and the number of direct orders placed during livestream sessions.
The legal framework for managing e-commerce taxes is becoming increasingly完善 (perfected). It is particularly noteworthy that with the issuance of Decree No. 141/2026/ND-CP amending and supplementing Decree No. 68/2026/ND-CP, the taxable revenue threshold for individual businesses has been adjusted upwards to VND 1 billion/year (instead of VND 500 million as before) to better reflect current practices. Those who intentionally evade taxes will face severe penalties. The most serious offenses will result in criminal prosecution with a maximum sentence of up to 7 years imprisonment.
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| Ms. Tô Thị Biên, owner of Goldfarm clean fruit store in Minh Xuân ward, along with her staff, sells products online through social media. The store fulfills all its business tax obligations. |
The closed-loop inspection network has proven remarkably effective. By May 2026, the Provincial Tax Department had inspected and recorded 8 cases of individual business owners violating regulations. As a result, they collected 424 million VND in value-added tax; 407 million VND in personal income tax; and imposed administrative penalties and late payment fines totaling 282 million VND.
Beyond just tax recovery, serious offenses have been prosecuted criminally. Recently, the Tuyen Quang Provincial Police Investigation Agency initiated a case and indicted NXA (born in 1983, residing in Thai Hoa commune) for the crime of "Tax Evasion." Verification revealed that from October 2024 to August 2025, this business owner generated total revenue of approximately 50.9 billion VND from livestream sales but only declared 308 million VND. Concealing revenue exceeding 50 billion VND resulted in the individual evading nearly 837 million VND in taxes.
Sustainable business
Online business is a legitimate freedom of citizens, encouraged by the State. However, paying taxes is not only a responsibility to the national budget but also an act of protecting the legitimate rights of business owners. Operating without proper documentation deprives them of the right to deduct legitimate expenses and risks not receiving tax refunds when selling through e-commerce platforms due to inaccurate identification information.
From a practical perspective, Ms. Nong Kim Lien, owner of a clean fruit store in Minh Xuan ward, shared: “Previously, I thought paying taxes would reduce profits, so I just sold spontaneously. But when I wanted to include my products in the Flash Sale programs of the e-commerce platform, they had strict requirements regarding tax identification numbers and invoices. Thanks to proactively registering my business and paying taxes, I am now completely confident in livestreaming every day. Paying taxes is truly a passport that helps my store increase credibility and easily cooperate with large partners.”
To ensure that tax collection is managed "correctly, for the right people, and for the right revenue," the Provincial Tax Department has established a mechanism for close coordination with the People's Committees of communes and wards to widely disseminate information to the grassroots level, helping people to promptly understand the regulations and voluntarily comply.
Comrade Nguyen Xuan Huy, Head of the Personal, Household and Other Taxes Department of Tuyen Quang Provincial Tax Department, emphasized: “Tax policy always prioritizes self-awareness and leniency. If business owners realize they have previously made errors in their tax declarations, they should promptly review their books and proceed with supplementary declarations. Voluntarily rectifying the consequences before the authorities conduct inspections is an important factor to consider for mitigating liability.”
Legitimate wealth creation on digital platforms is an inevitable trend. However, this "means of livelihood" is only truly sustainable when it is built on a foundation of respect for the law. Financial transparency and voluntary tax payment are the best ways for business owners to protect themselves and confidently expand their reach.
Text and photos: Giang Lam
Paying taxes is protecting your own interests.
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| Comrade Phan Duc Hieu Standing Member of the Economic and Financial Committee of the National Assembly |
Currently, a segment of taxpayers still lacks full awareness of their rights and obligations, leading to inaccurate declarations, late payments, or non-compliance with tax laws. Particularly in the individual business sector, the rate of tax declaration and payment remains limited, while e-commerce and digital platform businesses are posing new demands on management. To improve the effectiveness of tax policy implementation, state agencies need to strengthen support, guidance, and facilitation for citizens and businesses to comply with regulations; and at the same time, establish mechanisms to encourage and recognize organizations and individuals who comply well with the law. More importantly, a culture of compliance needs to be built within the business community and among the people, so that tax payment is not only a mandatory obligation but becomes a voluntary act stemming from trust in the fairness and transparency of the state management system.
Upholding the rule of law is essential for the sustainable development of the digital economy.
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| Comrade Nguyen Ba Tuan Chairman of the People's Committee of Bang Hanh Commune |
In recent years, many households in Bang Hanh commune have proactively utilized social media platforms such as Facebook, Zalo, and TikTok to promote OCOP products, distinctive agricultural products, and traditional craft products such as brocade weaving and traditional musical instrument making. This has helped bridge geographical distances, expand consumer markets, and increase income for local people.
However, the vibrancy of the online market also poses challenges for tax management. With the motto "Focus on public awareness, prioritize compliance," the Bang Hanh commune government continues to cooperate with the Tax and Police agencies to implement legal guidance, public awareness campaigns, and disseminate tax policies. This helps people understand that declaring and paying taxes is both an obligation and a responsibility to the community and the overall development of the locality.
Voluntarily declare additional information and pay all taxes.
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| Lawyer Vu Trung Kien Director of Vu Kien Law Firm |
In tax law, timing determines the nature of a violation. Proactively reviewing, voluntarily declaring, and paying all outstanding taxes before authorities announce an inspection is a crucial mitigating circumstance. This action demonstrates that the seller only violated the law due to lack of knowledge, helping them avoid criminal prosecution and minimize administrative penalties. Conversely, waiting for investigators to "knock on your door" and use their expertise to extract electronic data completely eliminates the opportunity to correct the mistake. Don't let procrastination turn an administrative violation into a criminal conviction. Proactive compliance, transparent cash flow, and full tax payment are the cheapest risk insurance costs to protect your business.
Pay taxes on time and in full.
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| Ms. Nguyen Anh Sao Group 16 Minh Khai, Ha Giang 2 Ward |
As business owners, we all understand that paying taxes is a duty to contribute to the national budget and that we are entitled to the benefits of doing business in a stable, transparent, and fair environment, with the support of the state in providing a safe business infrastructure. Therefore, we all proactively declare taxes, review our accounting records, and avoid delays or tax arrears.
However, with the current regulations concerning taxpayers and the promotion of digital transformation, we sometimes lack the necessary information and skills for electronic tax declaration and payment. We hope the tax authorities will pay attention and provide guidance on electronic tax payment in a simpler and faster way. At the same time, flexible policies are needed, including timely tax reductions in difficult situations, to support small businesses and alleviate their financial burden.
Source: https://baotuyenquang.com.vn/kinh-te/thuong-mai-dich-vu/202606/kinh-doanh-online-va-nghia-vu-thue-a571baa/
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