Creating policies to encourage business households to transform into enterprises will significantly contribute to meeting the target of one million operating enterprises in 2020 set by the Government.

Support policies of the State motivate business households and individuals
to transform into enterprises. Photo: Thuy Linh

Seriously reviewing business households

According to the General Department of Taxation, from 2018 to the end of this September, revenue from business households nationwide reached VND 50,607 billion.

In major tax departments, the review and strengthening of management for business households has been a focus.

In Hanoi, to strictly manage individual business households in the city and to standardise the database of business households, the Hanoi Tax Department has instructed its affiliated tax branches to regularly verify taxpayer's operational status at the addresses registered with tax agencies. Following this directive, Ha Dong Tax branch reviewed and advised the People's Committee of Ha Dong District to assign divisions and units to review the operation ofbusiness households under the business registration licenses. As a result, the tax branch made a list and sent it to the District Finance and Planning Division to revoke 14,976 business household registration licenses because the six-month limit from the issuing date ended but these business households no longer operated at the addresses registered with competent agencies.

Not only that, this shows that the tax sector has issued many measures to strengthen the management of business households and prevent tax losses. For example, in 2019, the tax sector continued to review mechanisms and policies related to business households not only in the tax field but also in others like the Enterprise Law and the Law on Support for Small and Medium Enterprises. Along with that, the General Department of Taxation has issued decisions to pilot tax collection authorisation for business individuals who pay tax using the poll-tax method.

Many support policies for transformation

The Government has set a target that by 2020 the whole country will have1million enterprises. To achieve this target, household businesses are an important factor because there are nearly 5million individual business households in operation, of which 11% use regular employees from 10 people or more. If they are transformed into enterprises, this will be a great resource for the country's development.

Business and production activities of business households and individuals in Vietnam have had many advantages, from the establishment to reform of tax administration by poll-tax without invoices, recording and encouraging them to develop strongly. However, to promote production and business activities towards professionalism, the integration and expansion isan inevitable trend. Therefore, the support and facilitation for business households and individuals to transform into enterprises is an important policy of focus by the State. Support policies from the State drive business households and individuals to develop into businesses.

Regarding the license fee exemption policy, according to Article 16 of the Law on Support for Small and Medium Enterprises, small and medium-sised enterprises that have recently transformed from business households are exempt from license fees for three years from the issuing date of first certificate of business registration.

Regarding tax declaration and accounting, the enterprises can choose the tax declaration method suitable to their production and business activities.

According to the Hanoi Association of Small and Medium Enterprises, transformation into enterprises is like “maturation”. When having legal status, business households have conditions to access preferential capital sources. The VAT refund also helps them plan their finances, helping reduce production and business costs and improving competitiveness. In particular, an unlimited quantity of employees will help business households develop on a larger scale and join associations and access to modern accounting management systems and improve management capacity. Only when transforming into enterprises, business households can join the supply chain and production links, bringing high economic efficiency and sustainable development.

So far, there are 321 of 711 tax branches under 29 provincial and municipal tax departments participating in pilot tax collection authorisation for business households and individuals who pay taxes under poll-tax method and there are three organisations participating in the pilot acceptance of tax collection authorisation.