Small traders worry about the burden of declaration when lump-sum tax is abolished

From 2026, business households will switch to declaring instead of paying lump-sum tax, but many small traders are worried about increased costs and procedures... making them "exhausted" when switching.

Having been selling clothes at An Dong wholesale market (HCMC) for many years, Ms. Trang and many other small traders here will switch to tax declaration from the beginning of next year. To comply with the new regulations, she has to buy an additional laptop, barcode printer, and A4 printer to declare invoices and documents for goods, instead of using her phone to “check” goods like before.

The cost of investing in an electronic invoicing system alone cost her facility more than VND40 million, not including hiring an accountant. “With a kiosk of about 2 square meters, having to hire an accountant with a salary of VND8-9 million a month is too much for me,” she said, adding that her biggest concern now is getting used to the technology, the initial investment and the operational burden when switching to tax declaration.

“If an invoice is issued incorrectly, it must be canceled and a report must be made, which is very time-consuming and costly,” she shared.

Small traders doing business at Ben Thanh market, Ho Chi Minh City, March 2020. Photo: Quynh Tran

According to Ms. Trang, the nature of wholesale business is to sell on a rolling basis, with returns and exchanges, through many intermediaries, but regulations require invoices to be issued at the time of sale, even if the money has not yet arrived. "The pressure on cash flow is huge, and small businesses cannot manage it," she said. Not to mention, managing input and output documents also makes small traders confused.

Many businesses at An Dong wholesale market share the same concern. Ms. Hong Nhung, who has been selling shoes for more than 30 years, said that despite investing in equipment since June, she still struggles to operate the computer. "It is very difficult for an elderly household owner like me to use the software, and declaring each item is also complicated. If we apply it right at the beginning of 2026, it will be too urgent, we need more time to prepare," she said.

From January 1, 2026, the operator will stop collecting lump-sum tax from business households and switch to self-declaration and tax payment management. According to data from the Ministry of Finance , by the end of 2024, the whole country will have about 2 million households and individuals paying lump-sum tax. The average lump-sum tax for each business household is about 672,000-700,000 VND per month. Thus, the average revenue of households per day is less than 1 million VND. Of which, more than 2,000 households have revenue of over 10 billion VND but the lump-sum tax payment is very low, about 0.4% of revenue.

According to the declaration, the average tax of business households is about 4.6 million VND per month, nearly 7 times higher than the fixed amount.

At the conference last weekend, President of the Tax Consulting Association Nguyen Thi Cuc said that there is a lack of equality and transparency in tax payment among business households and individuals. Therefore, to bring real revenue to light, business households need to be encouraged to abandon lump-sum tax and switch to paying according to declaration.

Sharing the same view, Mr. Quach Chanh Dai Thanh Tam - CEO of TPRO, Institute of Economic and Social Research (Saigon University) - said that converting business households to declare or become enterprises brings many long-term benefits to them, such as increasing prestige, easier borrowing, expanding scale and enjoying support policies from the State. "When cash flow is transparent, business households will reduce risks, operate more stably and easily cooperate with large partners," he commented.

Small traders at a market in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: Thi Ha

In fact, the transformation has already begun. In the first 9 months of the year, more than 18,500 households switched from contract to declaration, nearly 2,530 households became enterprises. About 98% of households declared and paid taxes electronically and more than 133,000 registered to use electronic invoices generated from cash registers.

However, according to Deputy Director of the Tax Department Mai Son, individual business households (especially in the fields of food, services, and online business) still face difficulties in proactively fulfilling their tax obligations. Because most of them are small, elderly business people, have little habit of keeping accounting books and are afraid of accessing administrative procedures, especially online procedures.

According to him, most of these businesses want to convert, but they are limited in knowledge, skills and are hesitant. “The tax sector will continue to support and guide them so that they can accompany and feel secure when converting,” he said.

The survey results of the Institute for Economic and Social Research (Saigon University) show that business households and individuals face five difficulties when changing their tax payment methods. These include a fear of change, complicated costs and procedures, lack of management and accounting skills, limited capital and market, and limited access to supporting information.

Mr. Quach Chanh Dai Thanh Tam said the biggest obstacle is not policy but the fear of change among business households. "Once operations are standardized and records are transparent, business households will have easier access to capital, markets and develop more sustainably. If they are slow to transform, they risk being left behind in the digital economy," he commented.

According to a survey by the Hanoi Association of Small and Medium Enterprises, more than 65% of informal business households admitted that they “do not have enough people or knowledge to declare correctly”. 90% of households that have become enterprises said that “fear of violating tax regulations” is the biggest barrier. Mr. Mac Quoc Anh, General Secretary and Vice President of the Association, said that instead of just “managing”, operators need to consider business households and online sellers as partners and have online support solutions and friendly declaration tools.

On the other hand, local authorities also face challenges. A representative of the People's Committee of An Dong Ward (HCMC) said that the conversion of nearly 4,000 small businesses in the area is not an easy task.

“Switching to declaration is an inevitable trend, but a roadmap and specific instructions are needed for people to agree and avoid being left behind,” said a ward representative, adding that the government recommended that management agencies increase direct propaganda at the market, provide brief instructions and set up an online consultation channel for traders.

Prof. Dr. Hoang Van Cuong, member of the National Assembly's Economic and Financial Committee, said that the State needs to provide strong support because the initial investment cost for business households to change their tax payment method is not small. He also proposed developing low-cost or subsidized software for easy access by small traders. According to the latest draft of the Law on Tax Administration (amended), the Government plans to spend about 0.1% of total tax revenue to support this digital transformation process. "Business households are willing to pay taxes, just need simple and easy procedures," he said.

From the perspective of the management agency, Ms. Le Thi Chinh - Deputy Head of the Professional Department (Tax Department, Ministry of Finance) - said that the industry is implementing a project to transform the model and method of tax management for business households when eliminating lump-sum tax. They focus on 3 groups of solutions including improving institutions, simplifying procedures and innovating support. Declaration forms will be automated, integrated with smart electronic services and increased direct guidance at markets and neighborhoods.

Along with that, the industry is also testing the application of blockchain and AI in the new generation tax management system, expected to operate from 2026, with the goal of reducing administrative costs by 44% - higher than the general requirement of 30%. This is to reform, create trust for taxpayers and sustainable resources, according to a representative of the tax authority.

Source vnexpress.net

Source: https://baophutho.vn/tieu-thuong-lo-ganh-nang-ke-khai-khi-xoa-bo-thue-khoan-241782.htm