Vietnam

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.

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.

Phân cấp thực hiện thủ tục hành chính về hóa chất

Bao Dien Tu | Local Language | News | Jan. 23, 2026 | Regulation

Circular No. 01/2026/TT-BCT outlines regulations for decentralizing administrative procedures related to permits for production, business, and combined production-and-business of chemicals requiring special control in groups 1 and 2. It covers the issuance, reissuance, amendment, and extension of export and import permits, chemical safety forms, logbooks for monitoring chemical activities, and the establishment of a Sectoral Chemical Database. The Circular also includes templates and deadlines for chemical management, as well as regulations on hazardous chemicals that must be publicly reported under the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s authority.

Under the decentralization framework, Provincial People's Committees are responsible for managing permits related to group 2 chemicals for organizations with their principal business location in the province. They handle dossiers for production, business, or storage activities limited to their locale and coordinate with other provinces if the organization operates in multiple localities. The Department of Chemicals manages permits for prohibited chemicals, group 1 chemicals, both groups 1 and 2, and oversees activities like certificate issuance for chemical storage services and new chemical appraisals.

The Circular specifies timelines for processing and coordination between Provincial People's Committees when organizations operate in multiple localities. It mandates updating permits on the Sectoral Chemical Database within seven working days after issuance for proper monitoring. It also states that organizations holding valid permits for group 2 chemicals must apply to the Department of Chemicals for permits if they intend to operate with group 1 chemicals.

Additionally, the Circular reiterates that prohibited chemicals, as defined by the Law on Investment, are not allowed for use in the industry and trade sector unless authorized by a competent authority. The Circular aims to streamline permit administration and enhance state chemical management through decentralization and digital transformation.