When tax authorities carry out inspections and examinations according to plan or unexpectedly, many business households have a mentality of avoidance, delay in providing documents, and even do not receive inspection officials on the grounds of being busy with business or not preparing books in time. Many cases believe that "no cooperation" is just a matter of attitude, not serious enough to be penalized.
In fact, tax law considers non-cooperation in tax inspection as an administrative violation, which may be fined in cash, even when violations of the amount of tax payable have not been detected.
Fines from 3 – 5 million VND for acts of not cooperating with tax inspection
According to Decree 125/2020/ND-CP, amended and supplemented by Decree 310/2025/ND-CP, business households may be fined from 3 - 5 million VND if they have one of the following acts:
- Failure to provide or incompletely provide relevant dossiers, documents, and vouchers as required by the tax authority;
- Delaying or prolonging working hours without a valid reason;
- Not assigning people to work, not signing inspection minutes as prescribed;
- Failure to comply with tax inspection decisions on time.
This fine is applied independently, regardless of whether business households have incurred tax violations or not.
Not cooperating in inspection does not mean a lack of records
In terms of legal nature, it is necessary to distinguish between non-cooperation during tax inspection and failure to provide documents due to data loss or damage. Non-cooperation shows the subjective will of taxpayers, such as avoidance or non-compliance with working requirements.
Meanwhile, the failure to provide records due to objective reasons can be considered by level, but there is still a risk of being penalized if the storage obligation is not ensured according to regulations. The confusion between these two acts makes many households misjudge legal risks.
Failure to cooperate in inspection, risks do not stop at fines
Non-cooperation in tax inspection is not implicitly considered tax evasion. However, this behavior often prolongs the inspection process and may lead to a re-determination of tax obligations based on the available data of the management agency.
In case through inspection, it is discovered that revenue declaration is insufficient or tax obligation errors, business households may have to:
- Being retroactively collected the remaining tax arrears;
- Be fined 20% of the tax declared insufficiently according to the 2025 Law on Tax Administration;
- Being charged late payment according to regulations.
Thus, non-cooperation not only faces a fine of 3–5 million VND, but also potentially poses greater financial risks if other violations arise.
In the context of tax management increasingly based on data and risk testing, cooperation with tax authorities is no longer a matter of "goodwill" but a mandatory legal obligation. Full preparation of dossiers, books, invoice data and arranging people to work on time will help business households avoid unnecessary penalties.
With a fine of 3 – 5 million VND, the act of not cooperating during tax inspection may cause direct damage, while it can be completely avoided if business households actively comply and coordinate in accordance with regulations.
