The Ministry of Finance is seeking opinions on a new draft decree on business registration, which includes notable contents related to cases where it is not mandatory to register a business household. This is part of the process of perfecting the legal system to synchronize with the amended Enterprise Law, expected to take effect from July 1, 2025.
According to the draft, the new decree will replace Decree 01/2021/ND-CP, inheriting and updating many new regulations on business households. One of the notable points is the proposal to exempt business household registration for households producing agriculture, forestry, fishery, salt production, and small-scale business activities such as street vending, small-scale gifts, travel, mobile business, seasonal businesses or low-income services. However, the exception is still applied to conditional business lines.
The draft also delegates the authority to the People's Committees of provinces and centrally run cities to regulate specific "low income" levels, in accordance with local situations. This regulation is considered to create flexible space in management, while reducing the burden of procedures for micro-business groups.
The Decree also clarifies the principle of naming business households. Accordingly, the name must have the phrase "business household" attached to its own name, and must not use easily misleading words such as "companies", "businesses", "corporations", as well as words that purely violate customs, culture, and ethics. The name cannot match the registered business household name within the same scope of commune, ward, or special zone.
The draft decree is expected to be issued and take effect at the same time as the amended Law on Enterprises, to ensure consistency and unity in the legal system. Currently, the country has more than 5 million business households, contributing about 30% of GDP and creating jobs for tens of millions of people, an important economic force but still subject to many limitations in legality and policy access.
Meanwhile, moves to manage business households are also being promoted. As soon as Decree 70/2023/ND-CP and Circular 32/2025/TT-BTC took effect from June 1, 2025, the market experienced a situation where some business households refused to pay transfers, only receiving cash to conceal revenue and avoid tax obligations.
In response to this development, on June 4, the Tax Department of Region I issued an Open Letter to households and individuals doing business, calling for compliance with legal regulations, not committing tax fraud, and at the same time fully declaring revenue when selling goods and providing services.
The tax authority also encourages business households to convert to the business model to enjoy investment and tax incentives according to Resolution No. 198/2025/QH15, demonstrating the spirit of promoting the private economic sector as a growth driver of the economy.
According to the latest data from the tax industry, there are currently about 37,000 business households with revenue of over 1 billion VND per year - a group capable of converting and developing to the scale of enterprises. The completion of the legal corridor for business households is expected to create a foundation to promote the development of this area to be more transparent and sustainable in the coming time.
