According to Mai Son, after a 60-day intensive campaign to support business households transitioning from lump-sum to declaration-based tax, the tax agency observed that many small traders were worried about making incorrect declarations. They feared not fully understanding regulations, which could lead to underpayment and administrative penalties. Others were concerned that issuing invoices at the wrong time also carried the risk of penalties.

"These are very real concerns," Son said at a recent seminar titled 'What Business Households Need to Note When Implementing Declaration-Based Tax?', organized by Tuoi Tre Newspaper. "We do not view these worries as stemming from a reluctance to change, but rather as the tax sector's responsibility to provide clearer explanations and closer support to business households."

In the initial half-month of implementing the new tax policy, many business households, particularly older owners, were unfamiliar with tax declarations, using electronic invoices, and maintaining accounting records.

Tax experts identify individual business households in the food and beverage, service, and online business sectors as the most challenging group for fulfilling declaration obligations. This is because most are small-scale, older business owners, less accustomed to keeping accounting records, and hesitant to engage with administrative procedures, especially online ones.

Speaking with VnExpress, Ms. Que, who owns a food and beverage establishment in Binh Trung ward, TP HCM, shared her constant worry about incorrect data entry into the system or submissions not being received by the tax agency due to technical errors. Not being tech-savvy, she meticulously checks every detail when entering data on her phone, fearing that "a single wrong number could result in a fine of ten million dong."

However, Mai Son stated that during the initial transition phase, the tax agency is not heavily focused on inspections and penalties. Instead, it concentrates on guiding and reminding business households to make adjustments. He noted that errors primarily stem from unfamiliarity, unaccustomed operations, and a lack of declaration experience. Therefore, tax officers prioritize support to help business households comply correctly and minimize errors.

Mai Son, Deputy Director of the General Department of Taxation, at the seminar on the afternoon of 15/1. Photo: Organizers provided

According to the tax sector leadership, administrative penalty regulations for invoice violations by business households have been simplified, made easier to apply, and significantly reduced compared to previous provisions, aligning with their scale and operational conditions. Furthermore, the actual declared revenue of business households this year will not be used as a basis to retroactively collect lump-sum tax from previous years.

"We will issue and standardize complete legal bases and guidelines to help people comply correctly and easily," Son pledged. The tax agency leadership also stated it would strengthen channels for receiving questions during the declaration process and provide "step-by-step" documents for business households to easily look up and cross-reference information.

By the end of 2024, there were approximately 3,6 million business households and individuals nationwide. Of these, 2,2 million households were operating stably (under lump-sum and declaration-based systems). They contributed about 26.000 billion dong to the budget, with 17.000 billion dong contributed in the first half of 2025.

Since the beginning of this year, millions of households have transitioned to declaration-based tax. It is now a mandatory requirement to record full information and declare goods (inputs and outputs) according to accounting books.

According to Circular 152, business households and individuals must use accounting books, with specific regulations for each group. Specifically, households with annual revenue below 500 million dong, who are not required to pay VAT and personal income tax, only need to record sales and service revenue using the prescribed form. Groups paying tax based on a percentage of revenue also only need this type of book but must declare according to industry groups with the same tax rate. Households and individuals paying tax on profit (revenue minus expenses) must prepare four accounting books, comprising: a sales and service revenue book; a detailed materials and goods book (imports - exports - inventory); a cash book; and a bank deposit book.

Le Van Tuan, Director of Keytas Tax Accounting Co., Ltd., believes that the new regulations on accounting books for business households and individuals are simpler and more appropriate than before. However, he argues that the template for the detailed materials, tools, products, and goods book is relatively complex and unsuitable for business households to submit alongside monthly, quarterly, or annual tax declarations.

"The regulatory agency should only require households to prepare, conduct actual year-end inventory, store this book template at their premises, and present it during tax inspections," he suggested.

Phuong Dong