DECREE NO. 310/2025/NĐ-CP ON ADMINISTRATIVE PENALTIES FOR TAX AND INVOICE VIOLATIONS
On December 2, 2025, the Government promulgated Decree No. 310/2025/NĐ-CP (“Decree 310”) amending and supplementing certain provisions of Decree No. 125/2020/NĐ-CP, which shall take effect from January 16, 2026.
Key amendments and supplements under Decree 310:
(1) Expansion and clarification of the concept of “administrative violations in taxation” and addition of “force majeure”
- Decree 310 expands the scope and further clarifies the concept of administrative violations in the field of taxation:
– Administrative violations in taxation: These are fault-based acts committed by organizations or individuals that violate the laws on tax administration, tax laws, and other revenues collected by tax authorities, which are not considered crimes but must be subject to administrative penalties.
– The scope of “other revenues” covers sources of state budget revenue: land use fees, land/water surface rental fees, licensing fees for mineral exploitation, water resources, post-tax profits retained by state-owned enterprises, dividends/profits from state capital contributions in joint-stock companies or multi-member limited liability companies, as well as revenues under the laws on state capital management and investment.
- The Decree supplements cases considered as force majeure in the handling of administrative violations in taxation and invoicing, including:
– Natural disasters, catastrophes, epidemics, fires, unexpected accidents.
– War, riots, strikes.
– Events occurring objectively and unforeseeably.
(2) Expansion of subjects subject to penalties
Decree 310 supplements and clarifies cases in which third parties (not direct taxpayers) are still subject to administrative penalties under this Decree, specifically:
(3) Of penalties for multiple violations committed on the same day and within the same dossier
Decree 310 addresses many practical difficulties of overlapping penalties previously applied by introducing new principles. Specifically:
- Principle of imposing only one penalty for the act subject to the highest penalty framework if multiple violations occur on the same day, applicable to:
– Taxpayers making incorrect declarations of one or more items in tax dossiers.
– Taxpayers late in submitting multiple tax declaration dossiers of the same type of tax.
– Taxpayers late in submitting multiple notices or reports of the same type regarding invoices.
- Principle of imposing only one penalty if multiple errors are committed within the same dossier, applicable to:
- Principles for applying monetary penalties:
– With one mitigating circumstance → reduce 10% of the average level of the penalty framework.
– With one aggravating circumstance → increase 10% of the average level of the penalty framework.
– With two or more mitigating circumstances → apply the minimum level of the penalty framework.
– With two or more aggravating circumstances → apply the maximum level of the penalty framework.
(4) Determination of large-scale violations:
The thresholds for determining large-scale violations (leading to the application of aggravating circumstances) are more clearly defined:
- Tax evasion: From 100 million VND or more.
- Invoice violations (loss, fire, damage, destruction, etc.): From 10 invoices or more.
(5) Changes in tax penalties
5.1 Issuing invoices at the wrong time and failing to issue invoices
@ The above penalties apply to ORGANIZATIONS. For individuals, the penalty is equal to half of the organizational penalty
(6) Other notable points
- Reclassification of violations (tax evasion – incorrect declaration): If it is the first violation, and the taxpayer voluntarily amends the declaration and pays the tax before being penalized.
- Adjustment of statute of limitations for penalties:
– 2 years for procedural violations
– 5 years for acts of tax evasion/incorrect declaration
- Decentralization of penalty authority: expansion and increase of penalty authority levels for each administrative tier.
