Vietnam

Vietnam Net - E | English | News | Jan. 23, 2026 | UndeterminedEconomic Growth

During a recent working session leading up to the 14th Congress, Vietnamese delegates engaged in detailed discussions on draft policy documents shaping the country's future development. Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh highlighted lessons from the previous government term and stressed the importance of institutionalizing the Party’s resolutions to generate new growth drivers. He emphasized economic development as the central goal, with balanced focus on national defense, foreign affairs, security, culture, and social welfare. The Prime Minister pointed to a shift from reactive governance to agile, science-based policy implementation, citing Vietnam’s successful COVID-19 vaccine campaign and responses to global challenges as examples of this new approach. Looking ahead, he reaffirmed the ambition for double-digit economic growth by 2030, requiring bold reforms, strong project execution, and a dynamic mindset.

Deputy Prime Minister Mai Van Chinh underscored “self-reliance and resilience” as key principles underpinning Vietnam’s sustainable rise, aiming to reduce external dependency. He stressed that party documents must be concise, actionable, and clearly assign responsibilities, resources, and outcomes. National defense strategy should clarify allies and challenges while promoting dual-use defense industries to integrate economic and strategic interests. Delegates highlighted the need for concrete growth targets such as per capita income and the Human Development Index, and emphasized strengthening agriculture as a strategic sector with increased public investment to leverage private and foreign capital.

The focus on innovation, sustainability, and technology-driven growth was significant. Delegates from Ho Chi Minh City urged policies to elevate labor productivity, science and technology contributions, and green development. They highlighted Vietnam’s current overreliance on low-value manufacturing and called for digital economy strategies centered on AI, digital governance, and the digital society as new growth engines. Environmental concerns, especially water security and marine resource protection in the Mekong Delta, were also raised. Supporters of shifting towards knowledge-based, innovation-driven growth noted the intensifying global competition in technology and cyberspace and advocated for building strategic autonomy through knowledge power and coordinated diplomacy.

Central to the discussions was the role of the people as the foundation of Vietnam’s strength. Delegates called for clearer policy articulation on empowering citizens as agents of change and for detailed implementation plans to foster national unity and solidarity. Overall, the draft documents were seen as reflecting collective intelligence and will, providing a political foundation as Vietnam embarks on an era characterized by self-reliance, transformative growth, and national pride.

Cục Thuế: Không căn cứ doanh thu 2026 để truy thu thuế khoán các năm trước

VN Express | Local Language | News | Jan. 23, 2026 | Regulation

Starting in 2026, millions of households under the lump-sum tax regime will transition to declaring and paying taxes based on actual revenues. Despite concerns over potential retroactive tax assessments if declared 2026 revenues exceed previous lump-sum amounts, the Tax Department clarified in Official Dispatch 307 dated January 19 that it will not use 2026 declared revenues to retroactively assess or recover tax obligations from prior years. This applies to taxpayers assigned revenues and payment levels by the tax authority through 2025 and earlier, and to those whose taxable revenues changed by 50% or more due to shifts in operational scale.

Deputy Director General Mai Sơn emphasized that administrative sanctions regarding invoices for business households have been designed to be simpler and more appropriate to their scale, confirming that declared revenues in 2026 will not be used to recover lump-sum taxes for past years. The tax authority will also enhance support channels and provide step-by-step guidance to facilitate the declaration process for business households.

However, if fraud or revenue concealment causing tax shortfalls is detected, households or individual businesses will face sanctions under Decree 125/2020. Penalties can include warnings, fines up to 200 million VND for organizations and 100 million VND for individuals, fines on false declarations equaling 20% of the missing tax, and tax evasion fines from one to three times the evaded amount. Additional measures include suspension of invoice printing, full payment of taxes and penalties, and potential criminal prosecution for serious offenses.

By the end of 2024, Vietnam had approximately 3.6 million business households and individuals, with 2.2 million stably operating under lump-sum or declared regimes. These contributed around 26 trillion VND to the budget in 2024, with 17 trillion VND collected in the first half of that year.

Vietnam Net - E | English | News | Jan. 23, 2026 | Corporate Corruption or Fraud

Le Minh Tri, Secretary of the Party Central Committee and Standing Deputy Head of the Central Internal Affairs Commission, revealed that during the 13th Party Congress term, many large-scale, highly organized corruption cases resembling interconnected "ecosystems" were uncovered and addressed. These corruption networks involved banks, securities firms, valuation agencies, and notary offices, with hundreds of affiliated companies manipulating stocks, rigging auctions, distorting public investment, and exploiting crises like the COVID-19 pandemic. The anti-corruption campaign was comprehensive, consistent, and led directly by the Party, significantly strengthening Party discipline, enhancing public trust, and reducing corruption, waste, and misconduct across government levels.

The campaign's success included improved asset recovery and tighter coordination between Party inspection bodies and judicial agencies. Moving forward under the 14th Party Congress, Le Minh Tri emphasized the need to reinforce Party leadership, uphold discipline, and implement a stricter yet humane legal framework that supports economic growth. He stressed the importance of legal and institutional reforms to close loopholes exploited by corrupt actors, eliminate regulatory deadlocks, and align with recent Politburo resolutions focused on legislative innovation and private sector development.

Prevention efforts will focus on strengthening transparency, expanding asset monitoring, and promoting cashless transactions. Empowering prosecutors to initiate lawsuits protecting public interests and encouraging voluntary cooperation for damage recovery are also priorities. The anti-corruption institutions must be efficient, with clear mandates from central to local levels, and policies should protect innovation while sanctioning irresponsibility. Le Minh Tri highlighted the need to foster a culture of integrity through education and to ensure anti-corruption bodies themselves maintain the highest ethical standards to effectively serve as guardians against corruption.