Important turning point in tax management from 2026
According to the roadmap of the 2025 Tax Administration Law and Resolution 68-NQ/TW, from 2026, all business households and individual businesses will officially switch from paying fixed tax to self-declaration, self-calculation, and self-payment methods.
This change raises a major concern: When self-declaring actual revenue (usually higher than the old quota), will the tax authority use it as a basis for retroactive collection or penalties for previous years?
To answer this question, the Tax Department has just issued Official Dispatch 307/CT-PC dated January 19, 2026 with a clear message: No retroactivity to handle disadvantages for people.
Responsibility "cross-region" mechanism: No retroactivity
Based on Resolution 198/2025/QH15 and current regulations, the tax authority is committed to implementing the principle of protecting the legitimate rights and interests of business households during the transfer period.
Specifically, for cases where business households have paid fixed tax from 2025 or earlier (even when actual revenue fluctuates largely above 50%) and have been taxed according to regulations, the tax authority will apply the following 03 "golden" principles when switching to declaration from January 1, 2026:
- Do not re-examine tax dossiers in the old contract period if tax determination regulations have been correctly implemented.
- Do not use newly declared revenue of 2026 to deduce and re-impose revenue on previous years.
- Not retroactively handling tax obligations that have been completed according to the contract method.
This regulation is likened to a legal "shield", helping business households feel secure in transparentizing books and invoices when entering the new financial year without fear of being wrongly penalized for obligations completed in the past.
Exemption" does not mean tolerance of fraud
Although applying a non-retroactive mechanism, Official Dispatch 307/CT-PC also emphasizes the red boundary that business households are absolutely not allowed to violate.
Functional agencies will still handle it strictly, even transfer the file to the investigating agency if they detect:
The act of intentionally cheating and concealing revenue leads to a shortage of tax payable.
Systematic tax evasion (according to Article 17 of Decree 125/2020/ND-CP).
In case of serious violations, business household owners may be criminally prosecuted for tax evasion under Article 200 of the Penal Code.
Must-know changes from July 1, 2026
The 2025 Tax Administration Law (effective as a whole from July 1, 2026, with declaration regulations applied from January 1, 2026) brings a revolution in administrative procedures for business households:
Self-declaration - Self-submission: Eliminate the "asking - giving" mechanism in setting quotas. Business households self-determine revenue and tax payable.
Tax code is Personal Identification Number: Management will be synchronized with population data, the tax code of the business household is the citizen identification/personal identification number.
Revenue transparency: If trading in non-taxable goods, business households still have to notify actual revenue.
Understanding these regulations not only helps business households avoid legal risks but also takes advantage of preferential policies in the strong digital transformation period of the tax industry.
