| THE FINANCIAL TAX DEPARTMENT —– |
SOCIAL REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM Independence - Freedom - Happiness |
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Number: 4287/CT-PC Regarding difficulties in imposing administrative penalties for violations. |
Hanoi, date 08 month 10 year 2025 |
Dear: Hai Phong City Tax.
The Tax Department received Official Letter No. 772/HPH-NVDTPC dated August 22, 2025, from the Hai Phong City Tax Department regarding difficulties in imposing administrative penalties for tax and invoice violations. Regarding this matter, the Tax Department has the following opinion:
– Point d, Clause 1, Article 3 of the Law on Handling Administrative Violations 2012 (amended and supplemented in 2020 and 2025) stipulates:
Article 3. Principles for handling administrative violations
1. The principles for imposing administrative penalties include:
d) Administrative penalties should only be imposed when there is an administrative violation as prescribed by law.
An administrative violation can only be punished once.
When multiple people commit the same administrative violation, each violator will be penalized for that administrative violation.
A person who commits multiple administrative violations or commits administrative violations repeatedly will be penalized for each violation., except in cases where repeated administrative violations are stipulated by the Government as aggravating circumstances:
– Clause 3 of Article 5, point b of clause 3 of Article 12, clause 3 of Article 16, and clause 3 of Article 24 of Decree No. 125/2020/ND-CP stipulate:
Article 5. Principles for imposing administrative penalties for violations related to tax invoices.
3. Organizations and individuals who commit multiple administrative violations shall be penalized for each violation., except for the following cases:
a) In cases where a taxpayer simultaneously declares one or more incorrect items on tax returns for the same tax type, the act of incorrect declaration, which falls under the category of procedural tax penalties, shall only be penalized for the single incorrect item on the tax return with the highest fine among the acts committed as stipulated in this Decree, and the aggravating circumstance of repeated administrative violations shall be applied:
Article 12. Penalties for false or incomplete declarations in tax documents that do not result in a shortfall in tax payable or an increase in tax exemptions, reductions, or refunds.
3. A fine of between VND 5.000.000 and VND 8.000.000 for one of the following acts:
...
b) The acts stipulated in Clause 3 of Article 16; Clause 7 of Article 17 of this Decree.”
Article 16. Penalties for false declarations leading to a shortfall in tax payable or an increase in tax exemptions, reductions, or refunds.
3. In cases where taxpayers make false declarations as prescribed in points a, b, and d of Clause 1 of this Article, but this does not result in a shortfall in tax payable, an increase in tax exemptions or reductions, or a delay in tax refunds, they shall not be penalized according to the provisions of this Article, but shall be penalized according to Clause 3 of Article 12 of this Decree.”
Article 24. Penalties for violations of regulations on issuing invoices when selling goods and services.
3. A fine of VND 3.000.000 to VND 5.000.000 shall be imposed for issuing invoices at the wrong time but not resulting in a delay in fulfilling tax obligations, except in cases stipulated in point a, clause 1 of this Article.”
– Based on Clause 5, Article 9 of Decree No. 68/2025/ND-CP, effective from May 2, 2025, it is stipulated that:
“5. In cases where an individual or organization commits administrative violations multiple times and is penalized for each violation, the circumstance of repeated administrative violations shall not be applied as an aggravating circumstance when considering and deciding on administrative penalties for each individual violation.”
1. Regarding difficulties in imposing administrative penalties for tax violations.
Based on the above legal provisions, if a taxpayer commits multiple acts of incorrect declaration but these do not result in a shortfall in tax payable, an increase in tax exemptions or reductions, or tax not yet refunded, and do not fall under the exclusions stipulated in point a, clause 3, Article 5 of Decree No. 125/2020/ND-CP, the tax authority shall, based on legal provisions, impose penalties for each violation. If the taxpayer committed the violations before Decree No. 68/2025/ND-CP came into effect on May 2, 2025, then from the second violation onwards, it shall be determined as an aggravating circumstance of "repeated administrative violations" as stipulated in point b, clause 1, Article 10 of the Law on Handling Administrative Violations of 2012 (amended and supplemented in 2020).
2. Regarding difficulties in enforcing administrative penalties for invoice violations.
Based on the above legal provisions, if a taxpayer commits multiple acts of issuing invoices at the wrong time, the tax authority will, based on legal regulations, impose penalties for each violation as prescribed. If a taxpayer is penalized for multiple administrative violations related to invoices in a single penalty decision, only one penalty decision will be issued to determine the form and amount of the penalty for each violation committed by that individual or organization. The amount of the fine in the administrative penalty decision is the total amount of the specific fine for each violation and is not limited by the maximum fine stipulated in point c, clause 1, Article 24 of the Law on Handling Administrative Violations.
The Tax Department is responding for the information of the Hai Phong City Tax Department./.