From January 1, 2026, Decree 296/2025/ND-CP of the Government officially takes effect, replacing Decree 166/2013/ND-CP, detailing the enforcement of administrative violation sanctioning decisions. One of the notable new points is allowing enforcement of the assets of each member in the business household if common assets are not sufficient to enforce sanctioning decisions.
This regulation is considered an important legal completion step, contributing to overcoming the long-standing "loopholes" in coercion work, while increasing the effectiveness of law enforcement in the context of tax management and administrative sanctions being tightened in a more transparent and stricter direction.
No longer apply coercion in rigid order
According to Decree 296, coercive enforcement of sanctioning decisions is only applied when violating individuals and organizations do not voluntarily comply within the legally prescribed time limit. However, a noteworthy new point is that competent authorities are flexibly and simultaneously apply many coercive measures, instead of having to implement them in a rigid order as before.
Specifically, coercive measures include:
- Deducting a portion of salary or income;
- Deduct money from the account;
- Seizure of assets for auction;
- Seizure of assets managed by other individuals and organizations in case of signs of dispersal.
The removal of the regulation "must be implemented in order" helps limit the situation where violators take advantage of waiting time to transfer assets, avoiding the obligation to enforce penalty decisions.
Households with insufficient assets will be pursued for personal property.
A new point that directly affects millions of business households is clarifying the asset responsibilities of members in the household.
According to regulations, if the common assets of the business household are not sufficient to pay the fine, the competent authority is allowed to deduct money or seize assets under the legal ownership of each member in the household to ensure the enforcement of the penalty decision.
This regulation stems from the legal nature of business households as having no legal status, so members must be responsible with their assets for obligations arising from business activities.
In addition to business households, the decree also expands the subjects of application of coercive measures to households, cooperative groups and residential communities, according to the principle: prioritizing handling common assets, if not enough, handling private assets of each member.
Tightening coercion through accounts, blocking loopholes for asset diversion
Another important content of Decree 296 is to expand the scope of deduction of deposits, in order to overcome the limitations of the old regulations.
If previously, deduction was only generally regulated for deposits at "credit institutions in Vietnam", now the scope has been more clearly defined, including:
- Account at a credit institution;
- Account at the State Treasury;
- Account at a foreign bank branch operating in Vietnam.
This regulation helps ensure that whether violators deposit money at domestic banks, foreign banks or the Treasury, functional agencies still have a full legal basis to implement coercion, limiting the situation of avoiding obligations through special financial channels.
Notably, Decree 296 also sets a mandatory timeline: Within 3 working days from the time of request, individuals or organizations subject to coercion must provide account information. In case they do not provide information, functional agencies are entitled to request the bank or the State Treasury to provide information to serve coercion.
This specific time limit helps prevent the situation of "soaking" information, withdrawing money or dissipating assets before being subject to coercive measures.
Tightening financial responsibility
Decree 296/2025/ND-CP clearly stipulates that state agencies, public service units, and armed forces when sanctioned for administrative violations are not allowed to use the state budget to pay fines. The enforcement of sanctioning decisions must be carried out from legal financial sources or the responsibility of related individuals and organizations.
This regulation aims to end the situation of "budget money returning to the budget", while enhancing the responsibility of heads in management, administration and compliance with the law.
Along with that, the promulgation of Decree 296 is assessed as an important step in the legal system on handling administrative violations, in the context of:
- The roadmap for abolishing fixed tax is being implemented;
- Tax management work is strongly shifting to digital data platforms;
- Financial transparency requirements are increasing.
From 2026, violating organizations, business households and individuals will not only be responsible in name but must also be substantively responsible by assets, thereby improving deterrence, limiting delays and increasing the effectiveness of law enforcement.
