Vietnamese Tax Authorities Refer Nearly 600 Suspected Tax Evasion Cases to Investigators

Vietnamese Finance Minister Ngô Văn Tuấn told the National Assembly during a question-and-answer session on November 12 that, since 2022, tax authorities have referred nearly 600 business case files involving suspected tax evasion and illegal invoice trading to investigators. Despite the nationwide rollout of electronic invoices, illegal invoice trading and the establishment of “shell companies” for profit persist.

Lào Cai representative Hà Đức Minh raised voters’ concerns about illegal invoice trading. Ngô Văn Tuấn said the Ministry of Finance would work with relevant agencies to use digital technology to verify the identities of people registered as company heads and step up inspections of businesses’ actual operations and high-risk sectors. According to his figures, tax authorities put more than 10 billion invoices into circulation in the first 10 months of 2026, including 5.2 billion electronic invoices and 5.5 billion paper invoices.

Finance Minister Ngô Văn Tuấn answers questions before the National Assembly on the morning of November 12.（VietVance）

Lâm Đồng representative Dương Khắc Mai raised concerns that delays in value-added tax refunds were affecting businesses’ production cash flow, especially exporters with large amounts of deductible input tax. Ngô Văn Tuấn acknowledged that refunds were still taking longer than required. He said about 80% of businesses, based on their good compliance records, had been placed in a “green channel” that allows refunds before inspections; the remaining roughly 20% must be inspected before receiving refunds.

Lâm Đồng representative Dương Khắc Mai questions the finance minister about value-added tax refunds.（VietVance）

Ngô Văn Tuấn said that, as of the question-and-answer session, refunds in 2026 totaled about 79 trillion Vietnamese dong, nearly 99% of the full-year refund budget and more than 40% higher than in the same period a year earlier. In the green channel, 88% of applications resulted in refunds within seven days, while the rest were processed in about seven to 10 days. All refund applications are now handled electronically. In the first 10 months of 2026, tax authorities rejected refund claims exceeding 10 trillion Vietnamese dong because applications were incomplete or invoice checks found problems.

Source: VietVance