Does tax evasion 30 million have to face a penalty of imprisonment in Vietnam? How many years of imprisonment for illegal street race involves betting in Vietnam?

Does tax evasion 30 million have to face a penalty of imprisonment in Vietnam?

I see many cases where individuals who evade taxes are only fined administratively. So, if an individual evades 30 million in taxes, will he face a penalty of imprisonment?

Answer: Clause 1, Article 200 of the 2015 Penal Code (amended by Point a, Clause 47, Article 1 of the 2017 Penal Code Amendment Law) stipulates the crime of tax evasion as follows:

1. Any person who commits any of the following acts of tax evasion with an amount of evaded tax from VND 100,000,000 to under VND 300,000,000 or under VND 100,000,000 while having incurred an administrative penalty for tax evasion or having an unspent conviction for any of the offences specified in Article 188, 189, 190, 191, 192, 193, 194, 195, 196, 202, 250, 251, 253, 254, 304, 305, 306, 309 and 311 hereof shall be liable to a fine of from VND 100,000,000 to VND 500,000,000 or face a penalty of 03 - 12 months' imprisonment:

a) Failure to submit the application for tax registration; failure to submit the tax declaration; submitting a tax declaration after 90 days from the deadline for submitting the tax declaration or after the extended deadline for submitting the tax declaration as prescribed by law;

b) Failure to record revenues related to the determination of tax payables in accounting books;

c) Failure to issue invoices after selling goods/services or write lower values on invoices than actual values of goods/services sold;

d) Use illegal invoices or vouchers to record purchased goods and raw materials that results in reduction of tax payable or increase exempt, reduced, deductible or refundable tax;

dd) Use of other illegal documents to falsify the amount of tax payable or increase exempt, reduced, deductible or refundable tax;

e) Making incorrect declaration of exported or imported goods without making an additional declaration after customs clearance are granted, except in the circumstances specified in Article 188 and Article 189 hereof;

g) Failure to declare or to correctly declare taxes on exported or imported goods, except in the circumstances specified in Article 188 and Article 189 hereof;

h) Collaborating with the consignor to illegally import goods, except in the circumstances specified in Article 188 and Article 189 hereof;

i) Using tax-free goods, goods eligible for tax exemption or conditional tax exemption for improper purposes without notifying the change of purposes to the tax authority.

According to this regulation in Vietnam, individuals who evade tax of 30 million VND can still be imprisoned if they fall into the following cases:

Has been administratively sanctioned for tax evasion or has been incurred an administrative penalty for tax evasion or having an unspent conviction for any of the offences specified in Article 188, 189, 190, 191, 192, 193, 194, 195, 196, 202, 250, 251, 253, 254, 304, 305, 306, 309 and 311 of the Penal Code, which have not yet been cleared of criminal records but still commit violations.

However, it should be noted that individuals must perform the acts listed above to evade 30 million tax dollars before they can be prosecuted for penal liability in Vietnam.

How many years of imprisonment for illegal street race involves betting in Vietnam?

For the act of organizing illegal street race involves betting, how many years do you have to go to jail?

Answer: Clause 77, Article 1 of the 2017 Penal Code Amendment Law (amended Article 265 of the Penal Code 2015) stipulates organizing illegal street races as follows:

1. Any person who illegally organizes a street race which involves automobiles, motorbikes or other motor vehicles shall be liable to a fine of from VND 30,000,000 to VND 100,000,000 or face a penalty of up to 03 years' community sentence or 01 - 05 years' imprisonment.

2. This offence committed in any of the following circumstances carries a fine of from VND 100,000,000 to VND 500,000,000 or a penalty of 04 - 10 years' imprisonment:

a) The street race is participated by ≥ 10 vehicles at the same time or the offender organizes ≥ 02 street races at the same time;

b) The street race involves betting;

c) The offender resists people in charge of road traffic safety and order or people in charge of dismissing the street race;

d) The street race is held in a crowded area;

dd) Safety equipment is removed from the racing vehicles;

e) The offence results in the death of a person;

g) The offence causes ≥ 61% WPI for another person;

h) The offence causes a total WPI of 61% - 121% for more than one person;

i) The property damage caused by the offence is assessed at from VND 100,000,000 to under VND 500,000,000;

k) This offence or street racing is recommitted.

...

According to this Article, in case of illegal street race involves betting in Vietnam, a fine of between VND 100,000,000 and 500,000,000 shall be imposed or a prison term of between 04 years and 10 years. Thus, this act can be punished by imprisonment from 4 to 10 years.

In which case motorbike owners who hand over them to underage persons have to face a penalty of imprisonment in Vietnam? 

There are many cases where motorbike owners give underage people to run, so is the owner of the vehicle going to jail for this reason? Legal grounds.

Answer: Clause 76, Article 1 of the 2017 Penal Code Amendment Law (amended Article 264 of the Penal Code 2015) stipulates the crime of giving an unqualified person to drive a vehicle participating in road traffic as follows:

1. Any person who allows another person to operate a vehicle on public roads in the knowledge that he/she does not have a driver license or is under the influence of alcohol with blood or breath alcohol content above the limit, under the influence of drugs or other strong stimulants or otherwise unqualified and as a results causes damage for another person in any of the following circumstances shall be liable to a fine of from VND 10,000,000 to VND 50,000,000 or face a penalty of up to 03 years' community sentence:

a) The offence results in the death of a person;

b) The offence causes ≥ 61% WPI for another person;

c) The offence causes a total WPI of 61% - 121% for more than one person.

d) The property damage caused by the offence is assessed at from VND 100,000,000 to under VND 500,000,000.

2. This offence committed in any of the following circumstances shall carry a fine of from VND 50,000,000 to VND 200,000,000 or a penalty of 06 - 36 months' imprisonment:

a) The offence results in the death of 02 people;

b) The offence causes a total WPI of 122% - 200% for more than one person;

c) The property damage caused by the offence is assessed at from VND 500,000,000 to under VND 1,500,000,000.

3. This offence committed in any of the following circumstances carries a penalty of 02 - 07 years' imprisonment:

a) The offence results in the death of ≥ 03 people;

b) The offence causes a total WPI of ≥ 201% for ≥ 03 people;

c) The offence results in property damage assessed at ≥ VND 1,500,000,000.

4. The offender might also be liable to a fine of from VND 10,000,000 to VND 30,000,000.

=> Thus, in some of the following cases in Vietnam, a motorbike owner who hands over a vehicle to an underage person may be prosecuted for criminal liability if it causes consequences when participating in traffic:

- Causing death;

- Inflicting injury or causing harm to the health of others with the injury rate as prescribed above;

- Causing property damage of VND 100,000,000 or more.

Best regards!