Vietnam Has About 2.5 Million Tax Identification Numbers Still to Clear

Since the start of 2026, Vietnam’s tax authorities have cleared 777,000 tax identification numbers, but about 2.5 million remain to be processed. The government has asked the Ministry of Finance to complete a proposal for the National Assembly to consider the conditional cancellation of business license fee arrears and late payment charges, addressing difficulties faced by people who have ceased business operations but cannot close their tax identification numbers. The prime minister has authorized the finance minister to sign the submission for the draft resolution.

The Ministry of Finance previously proposed addressing about VND 1.45 trillion in business license fee arrears owed by 764,000 companies that have been inactive for years. A business owner in Hanoi said her company ceased operations in 2018 but has still not completed the closure of its tax identification number. Beyond the amounts due, compiling the required books and supporting documents is complicated. She said business license fees and penalties for late filing total more than VND 40 million.

The Ministry of Finance has proposed addressing about VND 1.45 trillion in business license fee arrears owed by 764,000 companies that have been inactive for years.（VietVance）

Vũ Thị Bình, the head of a business management consultancy, said addressing business license fee arrears owed by long-inactive companies would help clean up tax data and encourage them to complete closure procedures. She stressed, however, that a tax identification number with status 03 or 06 should not automatically mean all obligations are waived. The policy needs clear eligibility conditions that distinguish companies that have genuinely ceased operations from those suspected of tax evasion, fraud or deliberately avoiding their obligations. Taxpayers should also not assume that other taxes and penalties will be cancelled.

The simplified dissolution process proposed by the Ministry of Finance for companies that have long ceased operating at their registered addresses.（VietVance）

Nguyễn Văn Được, general director of Trọng Tín Accounting and Tax Consulting Co., Ltd., said addressing arrears alone would not solve the problem. According to Ministry of Finance figures, a company that has been inactive for 10 years may need to file about 40 outstanding value-added tax returns and 10 corporate income tax finalization returns. He proposed amending relevant laws so eligible companies could apply to have their dissolution decisions take effect retroactively from the time the tax authority determined they were no longer operating at their registered addresses, reducing the need for overdue filings.

Source: VietVance