The Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), while expressing its support for tax reform, affirmed that any reform must undergo different stages in an overall roadmap to ensure success.

Under Decree 70, starting from June 2025, business households and individuals with annual revenues of VND1 billion or more must use e-invoices issued through a cash register system connected to the tax authority.

Currently, business households in Vietnam are very diverse, from street vendors and small restaurant owners to manufacturing and wholesale establishments with annual revenue of billions of VND. A uniform tax policy, applied rigidly, will either be too lenient on large groups, or cause a burden on small groups.

This is a step in the right direction, moving towards modernizing administration, preventing tax losses, and promoting transparency. However, it comes with an unintended side effect and puts difficulties for business households and individuals. Noodle vendors, dessert sellers and petty merchants have to suddenly become "tech engineers" overnight to implement the new regulation.

A VCCI survey conducted in June 2025 on 1,368 business households showed that 68 percent only vaguely understood the law, while 21 percent had no idea what they were supposed to do. Meanwhile, 73 percent reported difficulties due to lack of technological knowledge. The public remains bewildered by digital transformation.

If the government imposes strict penalties on violations from the beginning (such as issuing invoices at the wrong time, filling in incorrect fields, or making operational mistakes), small vendors may end up stopping their business because they don’t have necessary technological skills. The cash register could become a source of anxiety rather than a helpful tool.

Holding off on penalties to nurture tax revenue sources

VCCI recommends that in the early phase which may last at least two years, no administrative fines should be applied for procedural errors. It should be enough for business owners to correct the mistakes and pay any owed taxes.

This is not a matter of "begging", but a way of behaving with consideration for the people. Because if the traders find the law too strict, they will avoid it. And when the people "retreat into the shadows", the State cannot collect taxes and also loses the trust of people.

On the contrary, if guided and facilitated to "get used to" the new regulation, business households will voluntarily comply. If so, the state can nurture a stable, long-term source of revenue for the budget.

Presumptive tax for small households?

Not only VCCI, even Deputy Prime Minister Ho Duc Phoc also proposed to apply presumptive tax with small businesses with revenue under 1 billion VND/year. At the National Assembly forum on June 20, he warned that if these households are required to issue invoices, they will suffer a great loss because they do not have input invoices and will not be refunded tax.

Experts affirmed that presumptive tax application does not mean lax management, but it is a flexible method that ensures revenue while giving low-income earners peace of mind. For businesses with stable shops and large income, invoicing makes sense. But for street vendors and small drink stalls, mandatory e-invoicing could turn them into "lawbreakers" simply because they don’t know how to use the software.

Don’t let ‘technical mistakes’ turn citizens into law violators

Most mistakes made by small businesses are procedural: issuing invoices at the wrong time, or selecting wrong fields. These errors do not lead to tax reductions, tax  fraud, and do not harm the budget. In many cases, the issue lies with the software or lack of skills, not with malicious intent.

The law should not treat accidental errors the same as deliberate fraud. The right approach is to handle these lightly, just giving a warning, for example, during the transition period.

Tax reform and modernization are irreversible, but they should not be a shock. Small business owners should not become "victims" just because they didn’t have time to understand the law. They need to see that the state not only sets rules but also guides and enables.

The cash register and e-invoicing system should become the tools that help traders operate transparently and confidently, not something that ties their hands.

A good policy is not one with the harshest penalties, but one that supports and nurtures. Fines should encourage correction, not force people to give up. When citizens are no longer afraid of the law, they will grow into enterprises and trusted partners in national development.

Tu Giang