Tax Authority official: Some firms with multi-year losses still expand and raise capital, raising questions about the honesty of tax declarations

At the Q1 2026 regular press briefing organized by the Ministry of Finance in Hanoi on the afternoon of April 9, Mr. Le Long, Deputy Director of the Tax Department, said that using two parallel accounting systems—one to monitor production and business activities and another to provide to state management agencies—constitutes a serious violation of law intended to evade taxes or commit fraud in the preparation and issuance of financial statements.

Two accounting systems viewed as tax evasion and financial statement fraud

Mr. Le Long said the practice reduces state revenue and harms the business environment. He noted that setting up two accounting systems can be done systematically and is difficult to detect without audits or in-depth investigation.

He cited cases detected by authorities. Hoang Long Company established two accounting books to conceal revenue, resulting in tax losses of more than VND 241 billion. In another case, Bao Tin Minh Chau Co., Ltd. used two software systems to manage and declare taxes, causing losses of about VND 150 billion. The tax official said these cases indicate that the scale and severity of violations are increasing.

Underlying causes

According to the head of the Tax Department, the situation is driven by limited respect for the law and business ethics, along with incentives to maximize profits and reduce tax obligations. Some enterprises, he said, do not fully recognize legal risks or believe the conduct can be concealed.

Directive on electronic invoicing solution providers

In response, tax authorities issued a directive requiring organizations providing electronic invoicing solutions to compile a list of customers using accounting software. The list was required to be compiled by March 31, submitted by April 8, and updated monthly.

The tax agency said the collected information will help it understand the number of enterprises, organizations, and individual households using accounting software, supporting the rollout of declaration support, tax payment, and tax obligation management.

Progress as of April 7, 2026

As of April 7, 2026, the tax agency had received lists from 42 organizations covering 12,809 customers using accounting software. The data will continue to be compiled nationwide.

Planned review and warnings from April 2026

Based on the collected data, the tax authority will review and issue warnings to organizations, enterprises, or households showing signs of using multiple accounting books from April 2026 onward to support tax management.

Large-revenue firms declaring losses

Regarding the issue of large-revenue enterprises declaring losses, Mr. Le Long said that after review, more than 400 firms with annual revenue of 1,000 billion VND or more declared losses.

A representative of the tax agency said loss declarations can result from various causes. However, some firms have operated at a loss for many years while expanding their scale and increasing capital, raising questions about the honesty of tax declarations.

Risk management, inspections, and sanctions

To address these concerns, the tax sector has implemented risk management, increased transparency, promoted truthful declaration obligations, and warned of sanctions for inaccurate declarations. It has also stepped up review and payment checks, and will guide enterprises to correct errors promptly if found.

The tax agency has launched a specialized inspection program for enterprises with sustained losses and thin profits, assigning local tax authorities to implement it. At the same time, it has compiled a list of enterprises with revenues of 1,000 billion VND or more that recorded two consecutive years of losses for inclusion in the 2026 inspection plan.