Editorial editorial: Throughout the process of innovation and development, our Party and State have consistently advocated creating all favorable conditions for businesses to develop, considering businesses as an important driving force of the economy. A series of support policies have been and are being implemented, from incentives on taxes, land, credit to strong administrative procedure reform, improving the investment and business environment, improving national competitiveness, effectively attracting domestic and foreign resources. However, support does not mean loosening management. In parallel with incentive policies, the State always sets strict requirements on discipline and order in fulfilling the obligations of businesses, especially tax obligations - important resources to ensure economic development, public investment and social security.
Reality shows that, besides many transparent businesses that comply with the law, there are still many cases of trying to evade taxes, avoid taxes, and even evade taxes, causing budget revenue loss and creating inequality in the business environment. Through the process of investigation and data collection, a group of Lao Dong Newspaper reporters recorded that this situation appears in both foreign-invested enterprises (FDI) and domestic enterprises, with increasingly sophisticated and complex methods.
Many businesses expand production and revenue growth over the years but continuously report low profits, even prolonged losses. Some cases take advantage of linkage transactions, internal purchases and sales, and transfer pricing to shift profits, reducing tax obligations arising in Vietnam. This is no longer an isolated phenomenon but has become a "indicator" that needs to be seriously recognized from a tax management perspective.
Alarming figures
In a market economy, loss-making for businesses is a normal phenomenon. Business risks, market fluctuations, initial investment costs or industry cycles can all cause businesses to lose money. However, when the loss situation occurs on a large scale and lasts for many years, this is not simply a business result but becomes a signal that needs to be carefully considered from a tax management perspective.
According to survey data from Lao Dong Newspaper, in 2023, out of a total of more than 835,000 enterprises with data generated on corporate income tax finalization declarations, more than 497,000 enterprises declared pre-tax losses, accounting for nearly 60%.
In 2024, this rate decreased slightly but remained very high, with more than 483,000 businesses reporting losses out of a total of more than 862,000 businesses generating data, equivalent to more than 56%.
This figure raises a big question: Can it be considered that more than half of the businesses are also losing money as a pure phenomenon of the market? If losses only reflect business difficulties, then why has this situation been maintained at a high level continuously for many years?
More notably, among the businesses declaring losses, a very large proportion did not generate revenue from sales and service provision activities. In 2023, there were more than 181,000 businesses reporting losses but revenue was 0; in 2024, this number increased to more than 188,000 businesses.
According to the assessment of Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ngo Tri Long - former Director of the Institute of Price Research (Ministry of Finance), when revenue is 0 or very low but still incurs a large loss, that loss does not come from activities that create value, but from financial expenses, other expenses, or in other words, loss on books.
The losses of these enterprises do not originate from core production and business activities, but mainly from financial activities or other activities.
In such cases, reporting losses no longer reflects the risks or difficulties of the market, but becomes a sign that the business results shown in the books do not fully reflect the actual operation of the enterprise, this is also an issue that needs to be raised and considered from the perspective of tax management.
56% of FDI enterprises report losses
What is worrying is the situation of reporting losses taking place in both FDI enterprises and domestic enterprises. In which, according to analysis by Lao Dong from data in document No. 13636/BTC-TCDN announced by the Ministry of Finance at the beginning of 2025 on reporting the summary results and financial statements for 2023 of foreign-invested enterprises, it shows: Up to 56% of FDI enterprises operating in Vietnam report losses.
It is worth mentioning that the number of businesses reporting losses, accumulated losses and loss of equity is increasing significantly in both quantity and value in recent years. However, many businesses, despite continuously reporting losses, still expand investment capital, maintain and even increase production and business activities.
By the end of 2023, the whole country had about 28,918 FDI enterprises, of which 16,292 enterprises reported losses, accounting for more than 56%.
The number of enterprises with accumulated losses reached 18,140, an increase of about 15% compared to the previous year; the number of enterprises with loss of equity was 5,091, an increase of 15.2%.
Total losses incurred in 2023 reached about 217,464 billion VND, an increase of more than 32%.
These indicators show that the situation of FDI enterprises reporting losses, accumulated losses and loss of equity has not only not improved but also tends to increase.
Data also shows a notable paradox, the total assets of FDI enterprises with controlling capital reached more than 9,957,039 billion VND, an increase of 6.8% compared to the previous year; owner's equity and owner's investment capital both increased. However, after-tax profit decreased by nearly 16%, leading to a sharp decrease in state budget contributions.
In the context that asset and capital scales are still expanding, but profitability and tax obligations are declining, this phenomenon raises many questions about the nature of financial and tax activities of a part of FDI enterprises.
Consequences for budget
The picture of businesses reporting losses is not just a story of business efficiency. From a tax management perspective, when taxable profits are "thinned", corporate income tax obligations are reduced accordingly; at the same time, tax authorities must spend large resources on post-inspection, inspection, and examination.
According to data from the Ministry of Finance, in 2024, the entire Tax sector inspected and examined 920 enterprises with related transactions. The results of retroactive collection, refund and penalties were more than 1,800 billion VND, and at the same time adjusted to reduce losses by more than 9,100 billion VND. For the FDI enterprise group alone, 253 units were inspected, with a total retroactive collection and penalties of nearly 1,000 billion VND, reducing losses by more than 4,000 billion VND.
From the beginning of 2025 to now, inspections have continued to be strengthened. Tax authorities inspected 239 businesses with related transactions, recovered, refunded and fined more than 1,570 billion VND; reduced losses by more than 7,300 billion VND; adjusted to increase taxable income by more than 7,200 billion VND. The re-determination of market prices in related transactions alone helped recover nearly 960 billion VND and reduce losses by more than 4,700 billion VND.
The figures of "loss reduction", "increased taxable income" reflect an important reality: Not all losses are just difficulties for businesses, but there are losses arising from the way businesses declare, allocate costs, and determine transaction prices. When these factors are adjusted, taxable income changes, leading to changes in tax obligations.
From a legal perspective, Lawyer Bui Thi Mai - DRAGON Law Company Limited, Hanoi Bar Association - said that this reality reflects loopholes in tax management implementation, when management agencies for a long time still have to rely heavily on self-declaration reports of enterprises, while comparing with actual production and business activities is still limited. Taking advantage of that loophole, many FDI enterprises have implemented transfer pricing tricks to reduce taxable profits.
According to lawyer Mai, common tricks include falsely declaring the cost of imported goods, increasing the cost of raw materials, copyright fees, administrative and technical service fees from the parent company; or transferring prices through internal loans. The common point of these methods is to increase costs, "thinen" profits, thereby reducing corporate income tax obligations in Vietnam.
In recent years, many tax evasion tricks that were once considered sophisticated at large enterprises have been detected and handled by functional agencies through tax inspection and examination. One of the typical cases is the case of Coca-Cola Vietnam, attracting great public attention in recent times. The enterprise has been retroactively collected and fined a total of more than 821 billion VND.
Lawyer Mai said that the cases publicly handled by the tax authorities have sent a clear message: A favorable investment environment does not mean that the obligation to comply with the law can be relaxed. When businesses enjoy stable conditions for production and business, the requirement for transparency and full implementation of tax obligations must also be set proportionately.
Typical "tax avoidance" cases have been handled
In recent years, many tax evasion tricks that were once considered sophisticated at large enterprises have been detected and handled by functional agencies through tax inspection and examination. One of the typical cases is the case of Coca-Cola Vietnam, which has attracted great public attention recently.
According to the ruling of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Court on November 27, 2025, the court rejected all lawsuits of Coca-Cola Vietnam Beverage Co., Ltd. and upheld the decision to recover - fine more than 821.4 billion VND. This is an important milestone in the tax management story for FDI enterprises. The lawsuit originated from the inspection conclusion in the period 2007-2015, when the tax authority determined that Coca-Cola declared taxes incorrectly, had to adjust to reduce losses by more than 762 billion VND and recover more than 471 billion VND of tax, plus late payment and administrative fines.
This case is not only a dispute between a business and the tax authority, but also opens up a broader story about the operating model, tax obligations and transparency of many FDI enterprises operating in Vietnam.
Through this, the Tax Department has also issued a warning message to all businesses about complying with tax laws and Vietnamese law, affirming that no one is outside the law, investment in Vietnam must go hand in hand with corresponding tax obligations, and no business is allowed to be outside the law.
Some other cases have been detected and handled quite early, such as the case of Metro Cash & Carry Vietnam. The inspection results showed that this enterprise had many violations related to transfer pricing and cost declaration, forcing it to adjust to reduce losses, reduce deductions and be retroactively collected a total of 507 billion VND in taxes.
Or at Heineken Vietnam, tax authorities have recovered about 917 billion VND of tax and late payment money related to capital transfer transactions worth more than 4,800 billion VND implemented at the end of 2018. The case shows that not only production and business activities, but also capital transfer transactions and business restructuring within the group are key points that tax authorities are reviewing to ensure tax obligations arising in Vietnam.
