Vietnam Refers Nearly 600 Corporate Tax Cases for Investigation

Speaking at a National Assembly question-and-answer session on November 12, Vietnamese Finance Minister Ngô Văn Tuấn said illegal invoice trading and tax evasion persist. Since 2022, tax authorities have referred nearly 600 corporate cases involving suspected tax evasion, tax fraud and invoice trading to investigative agencies.

Vietnamese Finance Minister Ngô Văn Tuấn answers questions at the National Assembly on November 12.（VietVance）

Tuấn said tax authorities issued and circulated more than 10 billion invoices in the first 10 months of 2026, including 5.2 billion electronic invoices and 5.5 billion paper invoices. The Finance Ministry plans to expand its use of digital technology, work with relevant agencies to verify the identities of people registering businesses, and step up checks on actual operations in high-risk sectors and among high-risk businesses to curb the creation of shell companies and the misuse of invoices.

Tax arrears were another focus of the session. Tuấn said new tax arrears as of the end of October stood at 3% of tax revenue for the year, meeting the target of keeping them below 5%. Accumulated tax arrears from previous years remained at 11%, exceeding VND 267 trillion and surpassing the 8% target. Tax authorities said more than half of the accumulated arrears consisted of unpaid land use fees, amid a sluggish real estate market.

The Finance Ministry is assigning tax collection targets to officials at all levels and assessing their results, while planning to improve tax administration rules. Authorities will increase inspections and oversight and apply appropriate penalties to organizations and individuals that can pay their taxes but fail to do so.

Source: VietVance