The 2025 pardon decision of the President of Vietnam issued? How many years of imprisonment shall be imposed on tax evasion in Vietnam?
The 2025 pardon decision of the President of Vietnam issued?
On March 3, 2025, the President issued Decision 266/2025/QD-CTN... Download concerning the pardon for prisoners serving determinate or life sentences on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Liberation of the South and the reunification of the country (April 30, 2025).
See details of the Presidential pardon decision of 2025... Download
According to Article 2 of Decision 266/2025/QD-CTN, the subjects eligible for pardon include:
- Individuals serving determinate prison sentences.- Individuals sentenced to life imprisonment but who have had their sentences commuted to determinate sentences.- Individuals currently under temporary delay of sentence execution.
The period of sentence execution considered for pardon extends up to April 30, 2025.
The 2025 pardon decision of the President of Vietnam issued? (Image from the Internet)
What are the conditions to be eligible for the 2025 pardon decision by the President of Vietnam?
Pursuant to Article 3 of Decision 266/2025/QD-CTN... Download, the conditions for pardon eligibility are as follows:
(1) Individuals serving determinate prison sentences, or those sentenced to life imprisonment who have had their sentences reduced to determinate sentences, must meet the following conditions for pardon consideration:
- Demonstrated significant progress, exhibited good rehabilitation behavior, and achieved a ranking of good or very good adherence to the regulations on criminal sentence execution;
- Have served at least one-third of their determinate sentence, in cases of sentence reduction previously granted, the reduced period shall not count towards the completed sentence period; have served at least 14 years if their life sentence has been commuted to a determinate sentence, if further reductions are granted post-commutation, the additional reduced period shall not count towards the completed sentence;
- For those convicted of crimes against the implementation of socio-economic policies, unity policies, organizing, coercing, or inciting others to flee or remain abroad to oppose the government; fleeing abroad or remaining abroad to oppose the government; sentenced to 10 years or more for crimes impacting human life, health, dignity, honor as prescribed by the Criminal Code; or those sentenced to 7 years or more for theft, kidnapping with the intent to extort, illegal production or trafficking of drugs, drug appropriation under the Criminal Code, they must have served at least half of the determinate sentence, after any sentence reduction, the reduced period shall not count towards the completed sentence; have served at least 17 years if their life sentence has been commuted to a determinate sentence, further reductions post-commutation shall not count;
- Completed additional monetary penalties, paid court fees;
- Fulfilled obligations to return property, compensate for damages, or other civil obligations in corruption-related convictions;
- Fulfilled or partially fulfilled obligations to return property, compensate for damages, or other civil obligations due to exceptional economic hardship conditions under the civil judgment execution law for non-corruption crimes;
- Any obligations to return property or compensate for damages for assets not owned by the State require the consent of the execution creditor for the fulfilment or waiving of the execution requirement,
- Granting pardon will not adversely impact security, order,
- Does not fall into cases specified in Article 4 of this Decision.
(2) Individuals under temporary suspension of sentence execution must meet the following conditions for pardon consideration:
- Demonstrated significant progress, exhibited good rehabilitation behavior, and achieved a ranking of good or very good adherence to criminal sentence execution regulations before temporary suspension was granted,
- Served the period specified in point b clause 1 of this Article,
- Meet conditions specified in points c, 4, 4, e, and 8 of clause 1 of this Article,
- Strictly observed laws during the temporary suspension of sentence execution.
(3) Individuals serving determinate sentences who have served at least one-fourth of their time, and those sentenced to life but commuted to determinate sentences who have served at least 12 years, or those convicted under one of the crimes specified in point b clause 1 Article 3 of Decision 266/2025/QD-CTN have served at least one-third for determinate sentences, 15 years for life sentences, if they meet conditions in points a, c, d, đ, e, and g clause 1 and points a, c, and d clause 2 of Article 3 of Decision 266/2025/QD-CTN, they may be considered for pardon under the following circumstances:
- Made significant contributions while serving their sentence, acknowledged by the detention facility or competent authority,
- Recognized as a person with meritorious services to the revolution under the laws or awarded titles such as Hero of Labor, People’s Teacher, People’s Doctor, People’s Artist, People’s Artisan, or medals; relatives of martyrs, those nurturing martyrs when young;
- Suffering from terminal illnesses or chronic diseases and cannot care for themselves,
- Was a juvenile at the time of offense, except as specified in clause 4 of this Article;
- Aged 70 or over;
- Has especially difficult family circumstances and is the sole breadwinner;
- Pregnant or having children under 36 months residing with them in prison,
- Having a severe or particularly severe disability under the laws on disability; intellectual or behavioural control difficulties under civil law.
(4) Minors under 18 serving sentences meeting the conditions in points a and g clause 1 Article 3 Decision 266/2025/QD-CTN or those temporarily suspended with conditions in point g clause 1, points a and d clause 2 Article 3 Decision 266/2025/QD-CTN can be considered for pardon after serving at least one-fourth or one-third in cases specified at point b clause 1 Article 3 Decision 266/2025/QD-CTN.
How many years of imprisonment shall be imposed on tax evasion in Vietnam?
According to Article 200 of the Criminal Code 2015 (amended, supplemented by point a clause 47 Article 1 of the Law amending Criminal Code 2017), the threshold for prosecuting tax evasion and potential imprisonment is as follows:
(1) Tax evasion below 100 million VND but with a prior violation record:
- Penalty: A fine ranging from 100 million VND to 500 million VND or imprisonment from 3 months to 1 year.
- Condition: The individual has been administratively sanctioned for tax evasion before, or previously convicted of tax evasion (or related offenses) without having the conviction expunged, yet continues to violate.
(2) Tax evasion from 100 million VND to below 300 million VND:
- Penalty: Fine ranging from 100 million VND to 500 million VND or imprisonment from 3 months to 1 year.
- Condition: Applies to individuals committing tax evasion within this financial range.
(3) Tax evasion from 300 million VND to below 1 billion VND:
- Penalty: Fine ranging from 500 million VND to 1.5 billion VND or imprisonment from 1 year to 3 years.
- Condition: Applies to cases involving organized crime, abuse of position, dangerous recidivism, or repeated offenses.
(4) Tax evasion exceeding 1 billion VND:
- Penalty: Fine ranging from 1.5 billion VND to 4.5 billion VND or imprisonment from 2 years to 7 years.
- This constitutes the highest level, applicable to tax evasion involving particularly large sums.
Note:
- Besides imprisonment or fines, criminals may also face additional penalties such as fines ranging from 20 million to 100 million VND, prohibition from certain positions, occupations for 1 to 5 years, or asset confiscation.
- Whether imprisonment or only fines are imposed depends on the court’s decision, which considers the seriousness, aggravating or mitigating circumstances of the case.
Thus, the minimum tax evasion amount liable for imprisonment starts at 100 million VND (or below 100 million if there’s a prior record), with the lowest imprisonment sentence being 3 months.
