Official Letter No. 216/TCT-PC in 2025 on Administrative Penalties for Tax and Invoice Violations Issued by the General Department of Taxation.

MINISTRY OF FINANCE GENERAL DEPARTMENT OF TAXATION -------	SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM Independence - Freedom - Happiness ---------------
No. 216/TCT-PC Regarding Administrative Penalties for Tax and Invoice Violations	Hanoi, January 15, 2025

 

To:	Tax Department of Ninh Bình Province; Tax Department of Khánh Hòa Province; Tax Department of Hue City; Tax Department of Can Tho City; Tax Department of Hanoi City; Tax Department of Bình Dương Province; Tax Department of Hưng Yên Province; Tax Department of Yên Bái Province.

The General Department of Taxation has received the following official letters:

• Official letter No. 2787/CTNBI-TTKT3 dated June 14, 2023 from the Tax Department of Ninh Bình Province,
• Official letter No. 5081/CTKHH-NVDTPC dated July 13, 2023 from the Tax Department of Khánh Hòa Province,
• Official letter No. 1059/CTTTH-TTK1 dated July 10, 2023 from the Tax Department of Thừa Thiên Huế Province,
• Official letter No. 5047/CTYBA-TTKT dated October 23, 2023 from the Tax Department of Can Tho City,
• Official letter No. 3172/CTYBA-TTKT dated October 25, 2023 from the Tax Department of Yên Bái Province,
• Official letter No. 84350/CTHN-TTKT2 dated November 30, 2023 from the Tax Department of Hanoi City,
• Official letter No. 2683/CTBDU-TTKT4 dated July 3, 2024 from the Tax Department of Bình Dương Province,
• Official letter No. 2965/CTHYE-TTKT3 dated July 16, 2024 from the Tax Department of Hưng Yên Province.

These letters address issues regarding administrative penalties for violations related to taxes and invoices. Regarding this matter, the General Department of Taxation has the following opinions:

• The Law on Administrative Violations Handling in 2012 (amended and supplemented in 2020) stipulates:
  “Article 2. Explanation of Terms
  6. Repeated Administrative Violations means cases where individuals or organizations commit an administrative violation that they had previously committed but had not been penalized or the statute of limitations for penalties has not yet expired.”

  “Article 4. Authority to Determine Penalties for Administrative Violations and Measures for Administrative Sanctions

  1. Based on this Law, the Government specifies the following:
     a) Administrative violations; concluded administrative violations and ongoing administrative violations; forms of penalties, penalty levels, and corrective measures for each type of violation; penalized subjects; the authority to impose penalties, specific penalty amounts by position, and authority to issue records for administrative violations; the execution of penalties and corrective measures in each state management field;”

  “Article 10. Aggravating Circumstances

  1. The following circumstances are aggravating:
     b) Repeated administrative violations; repeat offenders;
     l) Administrative violations on a large scale, involving large quantities or high value of goods;”

  “Article 23. Fines
  2. The Government specifies the penalty framework or fine amount for specific administrative violations in one of the following ways, but the highest fine must not exceed the maximum fine specified in Article 24 of this Law.”

  “Article 24. Maximum Fine in Various Sectors

  1. The maximum fine in state management fields for individuals is as follows:
     c) Up to 50,000,000 VND: fire prevention, encryption, border management, child protection, public welfare, and more;
     d) Up to 100,000,000 VND: flood control, healthcare, advertising, telecommunications, customs, tax procedures, and others.”

  “Article 52. Principles for Determining and Dividing Authority to Handle Administrative Violations and Apply Corrective Measures

  1. The authority to handle administrative violations of individuals, organizations is as specified in Articles 38 to 51 of this Law and applies to each violation of an individual. In the case of fines, the authority to fine organizations is twice that of individuals and is determined by a percentage as specified for each position.”

  “Article 67. Issuing Administrative Violation Penalty Decisions

  1. When an individual or organization commits multiple administrative violations, a single penalty decision is issued, specifying the forms and levels of penalties for each violation.”

• Decree No. 125/2020/ND-CP dated December 5, 2020, by the Government, which regulates penalties for administrative violations related to taxes and invoices, specifies:

  “Article 5. Principles for Imposing Administrative Penalties for Taxes and Invoices
  3. Organizations and individuals committing multiple administrative violations shall be penalized for each violation, except for the following cases:”

  “Article 6. Mitigating and Aggravating Circumstances in Taxes and Invoices

  1. Aggravating and mitigating circumstances as prescribed by the law on handling administrative violations.
  2. Violations involving a tax amount (underpaid tax, evaded tax, or excessive tax exemption, reduction, or refund) of 100,000,000 VND or more, or goods/services valued at 500,000,000 VND or more, are considered large-scale violations according to Point l, Clause 1, Article 10 of the Law on Administrative Violations Handling. Violations involving 10 or more invoices are considered large-scale invoice violations under the same provision.”

  “Article 35. Principles for Determining and Dividing Authority to Handle Administrative Violations Related to Taxes and Invoices

  1. The authority to handle tax procedure violations and administrative violations related to invoices is as specified in Articles 32, 33, 34 of this Decree for each violation of an organization. In the case of fines for individuals violating tax procedures or related to invoices, the authority is half that of organizations...”

1. The Law on Administrative Violations Handling stipulates that the fine for a specific administrative violation is determined by the Government, but the maximum fine cannot exceed the highest fine specified for each state management field in Article 24 of this Law. Regarding penalties for tax and invoice violations, Decree No. 125/2020/ND-CP specifies the violations and corresponding penalty ranges. If a taxpayer is penalized for multiple violations of tax procedures or invoices in a single penalty decision, only one decision is issued, specifying the form and amount for each violation of the individual or organization. According to Clause 2, Article 52 of the Law on Administrative Violations Handling, the authority to impose fines is based on the maximum penalty range for each specific violation. The fine in the penalty decision is the total fine for each violation and is not limited by the maximum fine specified in Article 24 of the Law on Administrative Violations Handling (amended in 2020).

2. The Law on Administrative Violations Handling specifies that “large-scale administrative violations” should be considered when penalizing a violation involving a large quantity or value. According to Clause 2, Article 6 of Decree No. 125/2020/ND-CP, “large-scale” refers to violations involving 10 or more invoices.

Therefore, if a taxpayer commits multiple administrative violations regarding invoices and is penalized for each violation in a single penalty, the “large-scale” aggravating circumstance will not apply. However, if a taxpayer commits a violation related to invoices involving 10 or more invoices, they will be penalized for one violation and the “large-scale” aggravating circumstance will apply.

3. The Law on Administrative Violations Handling (2012, amended in 2020) stipulates that “repeated administrative violations” are an aggravating circumstance, applied when an individual or organization commits a violation that they have committed previously without being penalized and before the statute of limitations expires. Clause 1, Article 6 of Decree No. 125/2020/ND-CP specifies that aggravating and mitigating circumstances are applied as prescribed by the law on administrative violations handling. Therefore, if a taxpayer commits multiple identical violations and is penalized for each, starting from the second violation, it is considered a case of repeated violations under Article 10, Clause 1, Law on Administrative Violations Handling (amended in 2020).

The General Department of Taxation responds for the Tax Departments to be informed and implement accordingly.

 

Recipients: As above; Vice General Director Mai Sơn (for reporting); Tax Services, PC, Inspection (Finance Ministry); Tax Planning Department, Audit Department, Customs Department, Tax Filing Department; Archive: VT, PC(2b).

On behalf of the General Director of the General Department of Taxation Head of the Legal Department Deputy Head Le Van Hai

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