Ms. Nguyen Cam Chi - Director of Sustainable Development Consulting, MCG Business Development Consulting Company - Photo: BSA
Sharing at the seminar: Understanding the issue of 'upgrading to a company' and 'changing lump-sum tax' organized by the Association of High-Quality Vietnamese Goods Enterprises, BSA Center and VCCI Ho Chi Minh City on the morning of June 17, Ms. Nguyen Cam Chi said that currently the whole country has more than 5.2 million business households (HKD), creating 8-9 million jobs, contributing about 30% of the state budget.
In that context, the Government aims to increase the number of enterprises to 2 million by 2030. HKD is considered a key target for transformation into enterprises to promote private economic growth.
What do you want in the next 3-5 years?
A major barrier today is that many businesses lack basic knowledge about taxes, leading to anxiety whenever there is a change in policy. According to Ms. Chi, small-scale traders still maintain traditional business habits, such as "collecting money and putting it in plastic bags, spending it during the day, and then counting it at the end of the day."
In these cases, the question is: should they convert from HKD to enterprise?
The answer becomes even clearer for HKDs with large revenues, up to several billion VND per year. With this scale, maintaining the HKD model can cause them to lose many development opportunities such as having difficulty obtaining necessary certifications, accessing investment capital, or participating in exports.
"As a consultant, I have had to refuse many unfortunate cases. Investors really like that industry and business model, but because they are still HKD, they cannot invest capital," Ms. Cam Chi shared.
From her consulting experience, Ms. Chi encourages businesses to proactively answer the question: "What do I want in the next 3-5 years?".
If you are satisfied with a grocery store, putting money in plastic bags and counting every day, then maintain a small model; or if you want to grow bigger, you need to choose a suitable business model, converting to an enterprise is necessary.
For example, for businesses in the food and beverage sector with large revenues such as restaurants, pho shops, etc., Ms. Chi recommends switching to a single-member LLC model. This model makes it easier to apply for licenses that are very difficult for businesses such as food safety certificates and fire prevention and fighting certificates.
On the contrary, if choosing the model of a two-member LLC, businesses in this industry may encounter many problems related to branding, profit sharing and the risk of disputes between shareholders.
Meanwhile, for retail or grocery stores, if they want to convert to a business, the two-member LLC model may be more suitable, because it allows calculating the business owner's salary into expenses.
"Not everyone goes to the company. In many cases, we will advise them to switch from lump-sum tax to pre-declaration. If they want to borrow capital, sign labor contracts, or expand their chain, they should consult the company," said Ms. Cam Chi.
Business households at Tan Binh market, Ho Chi Minh City - Photo: HONG PHUC
"Bill to sleep well at night"
In fact, whether operating under the HKD or enterprise model, all entities must declare, record fully and transparently financial information from the beginning of 2026.
This not only creates a fair business environment, but also serves as a platform for HKDs to demonstrate their actual scale, an important condition for accessing capital, partners and larger markets.
An important reason why many small traders have had to close their stalls in recent times is not due to concerns about tax policies, but because the origin of goods is unclear and there are no valid documents of origin.
Therefore, whether choosing to continue operating as a sole proprietorship or switching to a business, transparency rules on invoices and input origins are mandatory.
Sharing in his personal capacity, Mr. Hoang Xuan Nam - Deputy Head of Business Management and Support Department No. 4, Tax Department of Region II - said that it cannot be said that the new tax regulations caused HKDs to stop doing business, but it could be due to other reasons, such as trading in counterfeit, fake, and poor quality goods.
"If we want to continue doing business, we must make full invoices, so that we can sleep well at night. Recently, the phenomenon of real estate transfers with low prices will be exposed at some point. If it reaches the level of tax evasion, it can be prosecuted criminally, and will be prosecuted," said Mr. Nam.
People converting from a HKD to an enterprise are exempted from business license fees for three years, exempted from personal income tax when transferring capital contributions to a limited liability company or joint stock company, and after the tax exemption period, if qualified, will enjoy a preferential tax rate of 15-17%.
In addition, enterprises with clear legal status will have easier access to capital than HKD. They can participate in the 2%/year interest rate support program for green or innovative projects and receive loan guarantees through the Small and Medium Enterprise Development Fund as well as local credit guarantee funds.
Source: https://tuoitre.vn/neu-muon-tiep-tuc-kinh-doanh-phai-lap-hoa-don-day-du-de-toi-ngu-ngon-20250617121415051.htm
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