Tax evasion of 100 million VND can lead to prosecution, but many businesses earning hundreds of billions of VND only declare 5 billion VND.

Some businesses in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City declare a revenue of 5 billion VND, but their actual revenue reaches hundreds of billions of VND each year.

Speakers discuss tax policies for household businesses at a workshop held on the afternoon of December 16th in Hanoi - Photo: B. NGOC

Ms. Nguyen Thi Cuc, President of the Vietnam Tax Consulting Association (VTCA), stated the above at the workshop "Decoding the transformation of business models and tax declarations from the practical experience of household businesses," organized by the Vietnam Federation of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) in collaboration with KiotViet Technology Joint Stock Company on December 16 in Hanoi.

Failure to declare taxes for more than 3 months constitutes tax evasion.

According to tax regulations, from January 1, 2026, households and individual businesses will switch from a lump-sum tax policy to self-declaration and payment of taxes based on revenue and income.

Sharing her views with thousands of households and individual businesses participating in the workshop, Ms. Cúc stated that the shift of household businesses from lump-sum tax to self-declaration, invoicing, and tax payment is a more civilized and ethical approach.

According to Ms. Cúc, whether applying a lump-sum tax or a declaration-based tax, the basis for calculating tax for household and individual businesses is taxable revenue multiplied by the tax rate on revenue. Accordingly, the taxable revenue for the distribution and supply of goods is 1.5%, including 1% value-added tax and 0.5% personal income tax.

For the construction industry, the value-added tax rate is 5%, and the personal income tax rate is 2%.

Similarly, the property rental industry has a value-added tax rate of 5%, corporate income tax of 5%, while insurance agents, lottery operators, and multi-level marketing businesses have a personal income tax rate of 5%.

Ms. Cúc emphasized that whether tax is declared based on a fixed amount or revenue, the tax rate remains unchanged. The only issue is that the hidden problem of inaccurate revenue declarations is still very significant. In Hanoi, some businesses declare only 5 billion VND in revenue, but their actual revenue reaches hundreds of billions. Many households do very good charitable work but fail to pay enough taxes, thus evading taxes.

However, flat-rate taxation carries the risk of underreporting revenue and lacking supporting documents, while tax evasion of 100 million VND or more is subject to criminal prosecution. In the cases of Mailisa, Ngan 98, Hoang Huong, Hang Du Muc, etc., the revenue was hundreds of billions of VND, but in addition to their companies, these individuals also established numerous household businesses to smuggle goods, trade counterfeit goods, and evade taxes.

According to the law, failing to declare taxes for more than three months constitutes tax evasion.

According to Ms. Cúc, in the current transitional context, tax authorities must work alongside the people, classifying violations for appropriate handling, and guiding those who unintentionally violate the law accordingly.

Furthermore, retroactive prosecution should be avoided for businesses and household businesses. Support should be provided to help them grow, rather than simply transferring criminal charges for violations exceeding 100 million VND.

Household businesses can choose to declare taxes based on revenue or income - Photo: HUU HANH

Household businesses with annual revenue under 500 million VND are exempt from tax.

Assessing the impact of the transition from lump-sum tax to revenue-based tax declaration for business households, Mr. Pham Ngoc Thach - Deputy Head of the Legal Department, VCCI - said that according to VCCI's observations, with the policy of tax exemption for business households with annual revenue under 500 million VND, based on revenue declarations in the past, about 90% of business households would be exempt from tax.

Regarding the tax calculation methods for household businesses, Mr. Thach informed that there are two methods: calculating tax based on revenue and calculating tax based on income (revenue - expenses).

Tax thresholds for household and individual businesses with revenue: From 500 million to 3 billion VND, the tax is calculated at 15% of income, while the tax rate based on revenue will vary depending on the type of goods.

Revenue from 3 billion VND to 50 billion VND is subject to an income tax rate of 17%, while revenue exceeding 50 billion VND is subject to an income tax rate of 20%.

Specifically for real estate rentals, the tax applied to revenue is the personal income tax at 5%.

According to Mr. Thach, the difficulties faced by household businesses when applying self-declaration and tax payment include a significant increase in the workload related to taxes. A VCCI study noted that 49% of household businesses believe that the cost and time spent managing invoices and documents will have a significant impact. The higher the revenue, the greater the effort required to manage invoices.

In addition, businesses also face difficulties in implementing electronic invoices and point-of-sale (POS) equipment.

According to a VCCI survey, 73% of participating businesses reported difficulties due to a lack of knowledge and skills in technology, 53% faced difficulties due to complex registration and declaration procedures, 49% found it difficult to change old management habits, 37% said they did not have time to learn, 37% lacked investment capital, 32% were concerned about information security, and 1% reported other difficulties.

Speaking with business owners at the workshop, Mr. Do Tuan Anh, Deputy Director of KiotViet Technology JSC, said that the company has been supporting digital transformation for business owners for 10 years.

Accordingly, KiotViet has provided software solutions to many businesses, and tax declaration and invoice generation are features of the software. These features and support for tax declaration are completely free throughout the software's lifespan, apart from the software management fee.

It only takes business households 3-7 days to switch to using software for self-declaring taxes based on revenue and income.

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BAO NGOC

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/tron-thue-100-trieu-co-the-bi-khoi-to-nhung-nhieu-ho-kinh-doanh-thu-tram-ti-chi-khai-5-ti-20251216174251751.htm