How to handle when a person has multiple standardized tax codes
At the Training session, professional guidance and information technology system to meet the requirements of using personal identification numbers instead of personal tax codes organized by the Tax Department on the morning of June 25, 2025, Ms. Nguyen Thi Thu - Head of the Professional Department, Tax Department answered questions and responded to many situations raised by tax officials of regional departments, related to the work of standardizing personal tax codes.
One of the common situations is: A person has many tax codes, but all of them have been standardized and linked to personal identification numbers.
According to Ms. Thu, in this case, the tax system will continue to monitor tax obligations corresponding to each code as before. However, in essence, all data was identified as belonging to a single person, through personal identification numbers.
Regarding new tax obligations arising after the standardization period, Ms. Thu said: The tax authority will instruct taxpayers to declare and submit according to a single code. This is to ensure consistency, avoid the emergence of scattered data or inadequacies in searching and verifying information.
Currently, the tax management system has been upgraded to identify personal identification numbers as the only legal basis for determining the identity of taxpayers.
Ms. Thu affirmed that during the conversion process, taxpayers will not be affected in their rights. Tax obligations are still fully monitored by tax authorities. The data consolidation does not lose the history of declaration or previous payments, but on the contrary, helps taxpayers and tax authorities easily trace, compare and handle arising procedures more conveniently and accurately.
How to handle when a person has two tax codes, only one has been standardized
Specifically answering the case of a taxpayer having two codes, in which only one code has been standardized according to the national population database, Ms. Thu said that in this case, the system is still recording and processing two tax codes as two separate taxpayers, because there is not enough legal basis to confirm that the two codes belong to the same individual. The standardized tax code will be associated with the personal identification number, while the un standardized code can still monitor normal tax obligations, but in a state of temporary use called "number 10" - that is, not synchronous.
"We must clearly identify that status No. 10 does not mean to be disabled, but is a temporary status waiting for standardization. Tax obligations are still being monitored and arising, but will continue to be handled in the data consolidation process, Ms. Thu emphasized.
Currently, the Tax Department is implementing a plan to conduct an in-depth review, coordinate with information technology units to compare and authenticate information between the tax system and the national database. After full confirmation, the two codes will be merged into one, and the entire history of tax obligations will be associated with a single personal identification number.
Ms. Thu also noted that the management of the two codes during the temporary period does not affect the rights or obligations of taxpayers. However, local tax authorities need to grasp this situation to guide people to declare accurately and avoid confusion when implementing tax procedures.
How to handle when a person has multiple tax codes that are not determined to match
In the process of standardizing personal tax codes, there have been many cases of having two or more codes but there is not enough basis for verification to conclude that they belong to the same person. This is a special group, as tax data and national population data are not compatible. The taxpayer may declare incorrect birth dates, paperwork numbers, or lack original legal information. With such codes, the system will bring them to a 'number 10' state - a temporary state waiting for standardization, Ms. Thu explained.
Even in a state of "number 10", tax obligations are still monitored normally as with active tax codes. The tax authority did not disable the code, nor did it terminate the recognition of arising obligations. However, these codes have not been confirmed to be overlapping, so data cannot be merged.
When authentication is complete, codes identified as belonging to the same person will be merged into a single code associated with a personal identification number. However, we cannot give a deadline for completing the handling of status No. 10, because this depends on the process of standardizing basic information," Ms. Thu emphasized.
Tax officials at all levels are required to closely monitor cases in status No. 10, regularly update standardization results and support taxpayers to supplement necessary information to speed up the confirmation process.
