Supplementing the threshold of 1 million VND to eliminate very small debts
On the afternoon of May 7, the Tax Department issued information related to the draft Decree guiding the Law on Tax Administration No. 108/2025/QH15, which supplements the tax debt threshold from 1 million VND or more to apply temporary exit suspension measures to business individuals, business households, legal representatives, and beneficial owners of enterprises that no longer operate at registered addresses.
This measure will be applied after 30 days from the date the tax authority notifies the temporary suspension of exit if the taxpayer has not yet fulfilled their tax obligation.
The Tax Department said that this is an adjustment point compared to Decree 49/2025/ND-CP. According to current regulations, in case taxpayers no longer operate at the registered address, there is no minimum debt threshold regulation. Therefore, as long as an overdue tax debt arises, even if very small, taxpayers may still be considered for temporary exit suspension if they do not rectify after notification and have not been rectifyed for more than 30 days.
Regarding many opinions that the level of 01 million VND is too low, the tax authority explained that it is necessary to fully recognize the nature of this regulation to see that this is a step of adjustment based on listening to and absorbing feedback from the taxpayer community, creating more convenience for taxpayers compared to the current regulations in Decree 49/2025/ND-CP.
According to the tax authorities, the addition of a threshold of 1 million VND or more is to eliminate very small debts arising from technical errors, slow data updates or objective reasons.
Synthesized data from the Tax Department shows that more than 50% of taxpayers in non-active status at the registered address have debts of less than 1 million VND, but this debt accounts for only about 0.2% of the total tax debt.
According to this agency, the addition of the 1 million VND threshold is to ensure the principle of correspondence between the nature of the violation and the state management measures applied.
If the mechanism without thresholds as currently applied continues, the temporary exit suspension measure may affect a large number of taxpayers because the debts are very small, while the budget recovery efficiency is not commensurate," the Tax Department stated.
Taxpayers are warned 30 days in advance
The Tax Department emphasizes that the temporary exit suspension measure is not applied immediately when tax debts arise. According to the draft, 30 days before the time of issuing the temporary exit suspension notice, the tax management agency must send a notice that this measure will be applied so that taxpayers can proactively remedy it immediately when they have a exit plan. Taxpayers are not surprised when measures are applied at border gates or airports without prior notice.
Notices are made simultaneously through electronic tax transaction accounts and publicly available on the electronic information page of the tax management agency to increase access to information and limit disputes about not receiving notifications.
The 30-day period is defined as the time for taxpayers to check, compare debt amounts, pay taxes, contact tax authorities to handle data errors or adjust exit plans if necessary.
The Tax Department said that the application procedure includes 3 steps: determining the application area; notifying 30 days in advance; only implementing temporary exit suspension if the taxpayer does not remedy.
According to the tax authority, this process reflects the principle of prioritizing voluntary fulfillment of obligations before applying administrative measures restricting the right to exit.
The threshold of 1 million VND is a supplementary condition in the overall signs of violation that have been identified.
Further clarifying the proposal for the debt threshold of 1 million VND, the Tax Department said that it is necessary to understand the true nature of the status of "not operating at the registered address".
Accordingly, this is not simply a case of tax debt, but a situation where taxpayers violate the obligation to maintain accurate tax registration information, causing difficulties for management, inspection and tax debt recovery. This is an act that disrupts the management connection between state agencies and taxpayers.
The tax authority said that the threshold of 1 million VND is not the only measure, but an additional condition in the overall signs of violations that have been identified.
Practical implementation shows that about 7,100 taxpayers have proactively contacted tax authorities to fulfill their obligations and temporary exit suspension has been cancelled. This shows that this mechanism operates in the direction of warning - creating opportunities for remedy - only applying restrictive measures, not imposed sanctions immediately.
