More than 300 firms with at least 1 trillion dong in revenue have posted losses, prompting tax scrutiny

More than 300 large enterprises with revenue of 1 trillion dong or more have been posting losses, prompting intensified scrutiny by tax authorities aimed at curbing transfer pricing, dual-book accounting, and potential revenue losses. The Tax Department has instructed its subordinate units to tighten management and boost inspections for this group of chronically loss-making or low-profit firms.

The department has publicly released a list of 302 companies with revenue of 1,000 billion dong or more that reported losses in 2023–2024. The list was compiled from tax data, focusing on high-revenue enterprises with low or negative profits for review.

Scope of the review

Among the enterprises under review, many operate in steel, chemicals, plastics, textiles, food, automotive, and electronics. Over 100 are managed by the Ho Chi Minh City Tax Department, including Lotteria Vietnam, Mercedes-Benz Vietnam, Nguyen Kim Trading JSC, VNG Corporation, and Sharp Vietnam. About 40 are under the Hanoi Tax Department, including KFC Vietnam JV and Toto Vietnam.

Notably, 19 companies—including Pomina Steel JSC, Pure Seafoods Export JSC, HESMAN Vietnam JSC, and Do Thanh Aluminum JSC—were required to develop dedicated audit topics at their headquarters to review multi-year losses. If on-site inspections cannot be conducted, the firms must provide reasons.

Tax administration approach and expert view

Tax expert Nguyen Ngoc Tu of Hanoi University of Business and Technology said that self-declaration and self-payment of taxes mean tax authorities no longer directly collect taxes as before. Instead, they focus on risk management and supervision. With about 1 million enterprises and 5 million business households, comprehensive management is not feasible without a focused approach.

Tu said tax administration should be risk-based, concentrating on high-risk targets, particularly foreign-invested enterprises (FDI) that may show transfer pricing patterns while expanding business activity. She added that some large domestic firms have also shown similar signs over multiple years.

Tu noted that some enterprises declare revenue in the trillions of dong yet report losses. She said accounting books may be “clean and neat,” sometimes exploiting unclear legal gaps. Without early detection mechanisms, long-running tax inspections can be difficult and may only address the surface. She called for enhanced technology in tax management and the development of risk-warning tools to promptly detect unusual signs.

Technology and dual-book accounting detection

On April 9, during a Q1/2026 press briefing, Le Long, Deputy Director of the Tax Department, said that 42 solution providers have provided information from nearly 43,000 units to help identify enterprises using two or more accounting systems within the same fiscal year.

Long said maintaining two sets of books is a serious tax evasion practice that distorts financial statements and affects the business environment. He described it as a systemic practice that is often concealed and difficult to detect, noting that authorities have already uncovered several major cases related to this behavior.

Ongoing enforcement focus and key figures

The tax authorities said they will continue tightening management, focusing on cash flows and large transactions, increasing technology use, and applying risk analysis to identify firms showing signs of dual-book accounting.

Long also cited statistics indicating that more than 400 enterprises with revenue of 1,000 billion dong or more report little or negative profit.

He added that some loss-making enterprises continue to expand, raising questions about the honesty of their declarations.