From March 1, 2026, business households are no longer allowed to use personal bank accounts in their own names to serve business activities as before. This regulation is established in Circular 25/2025/TT-NHNN of the State Bank of Vietnam, which requires payment accounts used for business activities to bear the correct name of the registered business entity.
According to Circular 25, the name of the payment account must match the information on the business registration certificate; and must not use aliases, nicknames or names that do not correctly reflect the transaction entity. Thus, from the time the circular takes effect, continuing to use personal accounts to receive money from sales and service provision is no longer consistent with regulations on payment account management.
This regulation marks an important shift in standardizing the cash flow of the household business sector, especially in the context of tax management shifting strongly to data-based.
No penalties for "using personal accounts", but related violations arise
It is necessary to clearly distinguish: current law does not impose separate sanctions for the act of "using personal accounts for business". However, when Circular 25 has required business accounts to bear the correct business household name, continuing to use personal accounts may lead to related legal violations, especially in the field of taxes and invoices.
According to the 2025 Law on Tax Administration, business households are obliged to declare revenue truthfully and fully; make invoices at the right time when selling goods and providing services; and provide information to serve tax management when requested. When business cash flow passes through personal accounts, while invoices and tax declarations do not reflect correspondingly, management agencies have grounds to determine invoice or tax declaration violations.
In addition, non-compliance with regulations on payment accounts according to Circular 25 also causes difficulties for business households in transacting with banks, partners and in the process of data comparison.
Specific penalties may be applied to business households
According to Decree 125/2020/ND-CP, amended and supplemented by Decree 310/2025/ND-CP, the penalties that business households may face include:
First, do not make invoices when transactions arise.
Fines are applied based on the number of violating invoices:
- Failure to make 01 invoice: fine 1 – 2 million VND
- Failure to make 02 to less than 10 invoices: fine 2 – 10 million VND
- Not issuing from 10 to less than 20 invoices: fine 10 – 30 million VND
- Not issuing from 20 to less than 50 invoices: fine 30 – 50 million VND
- Failure to make 50 or more invoices: fine 60 – 80 million VND
Second, making invoices at the wrong time.
This behavior is fined from 500,000 VND to 1.5 million VND per invoice, and may increase to 70-100 million VND if violated in large quantities.
Third, failing to declare revenue.
In case revenue through personal accounts is not fully declared, business households may be:
- Recovering the remaining tax
- Fine 20% of the tax declared insufficiently
- Add late payment interest according to regulations
Fourth, not providing or not storing electronic invoices.
The fine for this act ranges from 5 - 10 million VND.
Distinguish errors and violations to avoid heavy penalties
The 2025 Law on Tax Administration emphasizes the principle of distinguishing between individual errors and systematic violations. In case business households prove technical errors, force majeure factors or first-time errors, management agencies may consider not penalizing or applying mitigating circumstances.
Conversely, if the use of personal accounts is prolonged and repeated, leading to a large difference between cash flow, invoices and tax declarations, the penalty level will be applied corresponding to the quantity and severity of the violation.
What business households need to standardize to comply with new regulations
To comply with the law from March 1, 2026, business households need to switch to using bank accounts with the correct registered business name, and at the same time stop using personal accounts for transactions arising from business activities.
At the same time, making full and timely invoices; monitoring and comparing periodic revenue; and promptly updating account information with banks are mandatory requirements in the data-based tax management environment.
Circular 25 does not aim to create more administrative burdens, but aims to standardize and transparentize the cash flow of business households. Proactive early compliance will help business households avoid legal risks and operate stably in the post-contract tax period.
