What are 5 cases of exceptions to tax or invoice-related administrative penalties in Vietnam in 2025?

What are 5 cases of exceptions to tax or invoice-related administrative penalties in Vietnam in 2025?

Based on Article 9 of Decree 125/2020/ND-CP, the regulations on the 5 cases of exceptions to tax or invoice-related administrative penalties are as follows:

(1) No administrative penalties on taxes and invoices for instances where administrative penalties are not applied as per the law on handling administrative violations.

A taxpayer who delays tax and invoice procedures electronically due to technical issues within the information technology system, which are announced on the tax authority's electronic portal, is considered an act of violation caused by a force majeure event as stipulated in Clause 4, Article 11 of the Law on Handling Administrative Violations 2012.

(2) No administrative penalty on taxes and no interest for late tax payment for taxpayers committing tax-related administrative violations as instructed by written guidance, processing decisions by the tax authority or other competent state bodies related to tax obligations (including documents and decisions issued before the effective date of this Decree), except for the case where tax audits and inspections at the taxpayer's office have not detected errors in the declaration and determination of tax payable, exempted, reduced, or refunded, but later the violation is discovered.

(3) No administrative penalty on taxes if the taxpayer has incorrectly declared, voluntarily corrected tax declaration documents, and fully paid the due taxes before the tax authority announces a decision to inspect or audit at the taxpayer's premises or before discovery by the tax authority not through a tax audit or inspection at the taxpayer's premises, or before discovery by another competent authority.

(4) No penalty for tax procedure violations for individuals directly finalizing personal income tax being late in submitting finalization documents when there arises a refundable tax amount; business households, individual businesses having been taxed determined under Article 51 of the Tax Administration Law 2019.

(5) No penalty for violations of the deadline for submitting tax declaration documents during the period the taxpayer is granted an extension for submitting those tax declaration documents.

What are 5 cases of exceptions to tax or invoice-related administrative penalties in Vietnam in 2025? (Image from the Internet)

What are the principles of handling administrative violations on taxes and invoices in Vietnam?

Based on Article 5 of Decree 125/2020/ND-CP (supplemented by Point a, Clause 1, Article 6 of Decree 102/2021/ND-CP) the principles of handling administrative violations on taxes and invoices are as follows:

- Handling administrative violations on taxes and invoices is conducted according to regulations on tax administration and administrative violation handling law.

- Organizations and individuals are only penalized for administrative violations on taxes and invoices when there is an act of violation as stipulated in this Decree.

- If an organization or individual commits multiple administrative violations, penalties are imposed for each act of violation, except for the following cases:

+ At the same time, if a taxpayer incorrectly declares one or more items on tax records of the same tax type, the incorrect declaration act punished under tax procedural violations is penalized for a single incorrect declaration with the highest fine among the acts conducted according to Decree 125/2020/ND-CP and applies the aggravating circumstance of repeated violations.

+ At the same time, if a taxpayer is late in submitting multiple tax declaration dossiers for various tax periods for the same tax type, they are penalized for a single late submission with the highest fine among the acts conducted according to this Decree and applies the aggravating circumstance of repeated violations.

In cases where among late-submitted tax dossiers there is one involving tax evasion, it is separated for handling for tax evasion acts;

+ At the same time, if a taxpayer is late in submitting multiple notifications, reports of the same type about invoices, the taxpayer is penalized for a single late submission of notification or report on invoices with the highest fine among the acts conducted according to Decree 125/2020/ND-CP and applies the aggravating circumstance of repeated violations.

+ Violations regarding the unlawful use of invoices fall under the penalty provisions of Article 16, Article 17 of Decree 125/2020/ND-CP, and not under Article 28.

- If an administrative procedure involves many components with more than one administrative violation, the organization or individual is penalized for each violation.

- For identical administrative violations on taxes and invoices, the penalty for organizations is twice the penalty for individuals, except for penalties stipulated in Article 16, Article 17, and Article 18 of Decree 125/2020/ND-CP.

How many forms of penalties are there in handling administrative violations on taxes and invoices in Vietnam?

Based on Clause 1, Article 7 of Decree 125/2020/ND-CP, the primary forms of penalties in handling administrative violations on taxes and invoices are as follows:

(1) Warning

A warning is applied for non-serious tax procedure and invoice violations that have mitigating circumstances and for which warnings are applicable according to this Decree.

(2) Fine

- The maximum fine is no more than 100,000,000 VND for organizations committing invoice-related administrative violations. The maximum fine is no more than 50,000,000 VND for individuals committing invoice-related administrative violations.

- The maximum fine is no more than 200,000,000 VND for organizations committing tax procedure violations. The maximum fine is no more than 100,000,000 VND for individuals committing tax procedure violations.

- A 20% penalty is applied to the deficient tax amount or the excessive exemption, reduction, or refund in cases of incorrect declarations leading to a deficit in payable tax or an increase in exemptions, reductions, or refunds.

- Penalties range from 1 to 3 times the tax evasion amount for tax evasion acts.

- Fines corresponding to amounts not allocated to the state budget account are imposed for violations as stipulated in Clause 1, Article 18 of Decree 125/2020/ND-CP.

Thus, there are two primary forms of penalties in handling administrative violations on taxes and invoices, which include warnings and fines.