Registration of an individual business household in Vietnam

According to Article 66 of Decree No. 78/2015/NĐ-CP of Vietnam’s Government:

Business household owned by an individual, a group of individuals being Vietnamese citizens from 18 years of age or older, have full civil capacity, or owned by a household may only register one business location, employs fewer than 10 employees, and take responsibility for the business operation with all of their property. If a business household employs more than 10 employees, it must convert to operating in the form of an enterprise prescribed in the Enterprise Law, including: private enterprise, limited liability company, joint stock company, partnership company. This is a characteristic that distinguishes it from other types of businesses.

Households engaged in agriculture, forestry, aquaculture, salt productions, street vendors, nomadic businesspeople, and service providers earning low revenues are not required to register, except for conditional business lines.

Individuals and households registering to establish a business household should note the followings:

- Each individual and household may register only one business household nationwide.

- The individuals mentioned above are entitled to contribute capital and buy shares of enterprises as individuals.

- Individuals who establish and contribute capital to a business household must not concurrently hold the position of owner of a private enterprise, general partner of a partnership, unless otherwise agreed by the other general partners.

The application for business household registration shall be sent to the business registration authority of district, which is the Finance – Planning Department of the People’s Committee of the district, including:

- The application form, including the following contents: (1) Name, address, phone number; (2) Business lines; (3) Capital; (4) Quantity of employees; (5) Personal information of individuals establishing the business household (if the business household is established by a group of individual) or of the individual (if the business household is established by a individual), or representative of the household (if the business household is established by a household);

- Legitimate copies of the unexpired ID cards or passports of individuals in the business household or representative of the household

- Legitimate copy of the minutes of meeting of the group of individuals on establishment of the business household (in case the business household is established by a group of individuals).

The business registration authority of the district shall give a receipt to the applicant and issue the certificate of business household registration within 03 working days from the receipt of the application. The business household is entitled to do business from the issuance date of the business household, except for conditional business lines. If the application is not satisfactory, within 03 working days from the receipt of the application, the business registration authority of the district shall inform the applicant of necessary revisions or supplementation. After 03 working days from the date of submission of the application for business household registration, if the certificate of business household registration is not issued or no request for revision or supplementation of the application is given, the applicant is entitled to lodge a complaint as prescribed by regulations of law on complaints and denunciation.

In their business activities, business households need to pay attention to naming to avoid duplication, confusion, and intellectual property violations. According to Article 73 of Decree No. 78/2015/NĐ-CP of Vietnam’s Government:

- Each business household has its own name, which consists of two elements:

+ The phrase “Hộ kinh doanh”;

+ The proper name. The proper name consists of letters in the Vietnamese alphabet, the letters F, J, Z, W, digits, and symbols.

- It is prohibited to use words or symbols that contradict Vietnam’s tradition, history, culture, and ethics in the business household’s proper name.

- The business household’s name must not consists of the phrase “công ty” or “doanh nghiệp”;

- The business household’s proper name must not coincide with the name of another registered business household in the same district.

View detailed form used in business household registration at Circular No. 20/2015/TT-BKHĐT of the Ministry of Planning and Investment of Vietnam guiding on business registration.

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