Responding to public concerns that tax authorities were imposing travel bans over very small tax debts, Mai Son, deputy director general of the General Department of Taxation under the Ministry of Finance, said the case involved a taxpayer whose debt originated in 2023 and who had stopped operating at the registered business address without notifying authorities.

According to Son, tax authorities coordinated with local authorities and relevant agencies to verify that the business no longer operated at the registered location. Multiple enforcement measures were carried out in accordance with regulations before the temporary exit suspension was imposed.

After the taxpayer resumed fulfilling tax obligations in 2024, the enforcement measure was immediately lifted in line with procedures.

“However, the information shared publicly was incomplete, leading to misunderstandings about the policy,” Son said.

Tax officials emphasized that tax debt management has always been carried out in compliance with regulations and in close coordination with immigration authorities, with regular data reviews to ensure accuracy.

Authorities have also implemented multiple electronic notification channels, including phone messages, Zalo, email and the eTax Mobile application. Most taxpayers proactively settle outstanding obligations after receiving reminders.

According to Son, problematic cases mainly involve individuals or entities that are no longer operating at their registered addresses but fail to complete procedures for dissolution or business termination, effectively “disappearing from their business locations.”

The tax authority also plans to report to higher-level agencies in May to further simplify procedures for lifting enforcement measures in coordination with immigration authorities.

Under the proposed system upgrade, tax applications will be processed in real time. Once taxpayers complete their obligations, the system would immediately update their status, allowing them to leave the country shortly afterward.

“In cases where taxpayers discover outstanding tax reminders while already traveling to the airport, they could still complete payment in time for their business trips,” Son said.

Four groups subject to temporary exit suspension

At the same press conference, Nguyen Duc Huy, deputy head of the Tax Operations Division at the General Department of Taxation, said the implementation of temporary exit suspension measures follows the Law on Tax Administration No. 38/2019/QH14, later amended under Law No. 56/2024/QH15.

On February 28, 2025, the government issued Decree No. 49, which specifies debt thresholds for applying temporary exit suspension measures to different categories of taxpayers.

Under the decree, four groups are subject to possible exit suspension.

The first group includes business individuals and household business owners subject to tax debt enforcement with debts exceeding VND50 million ($1,923) overdue by more than 120 days.

The second group includes legal representatives of companies, cooperatives and cooperative unions facing enforced tax debts exceeding VND500 million ($19,230) overdue by more than 120 days.

The third group covers business individuals, household business owners and legal representatives of enterprises or cooperatives that are no longer operating at their registered addresses and still have overdue tax debts 30 days after tax authorities issue notices regarding temporary exit suspension measures.

The fourth group includes Vietnamese citizens emigrating abroad, overseas Vietnamese and foreign nationals leaving Vietnam without fully settling tax obligations.

Huy said notifications between tax authorities and immigration agencies are already transmitted in real time. However, the tax sector is continuing to upgrade systems to shorten processing times for updating tax obligations and lifting enforcement measures.

Regarding future policy revisions, current regulations under Decree 49 stipulate that taxpayers no longer operating at registered addresses may face exit suspension once tax debts arise.

However, a review by tax authorities found that more than 50% of taxpayers classified as inactive at registered addresses owed less than VND1 million ($38.46), accounting for only around 0.2% of total tax debt.

As a result, under a draft decree guiding the implementation of Tax Administration Law No. 108, tax authorities have proposed applying temporary exit suspension measures only to business individuals, household business owners, company owners and legal representatives of enterprises or cooperatives with tax debts of at least VND1 million ($38.46) remaining unpaid for more than 30 days after notification.

According to Huy, introducing the VND1 million threshold would help exclude cases involving very small debts or technical and data update errors while ensuring enforcement measures remain proportionate to the seriousness of violations.

Tax authority data show that more than 105,000 temporary exit suspension notices have been issued to date, involving total outstanding tax debts exceeding VND61 trillion ($2.35 billion).

Among these, approximately 65,000 cases involved taxpayers no longer operating at registered addresses, with total debts of around VND6.9 trillion ($265 million).

Authorities said they have so far recovered more than VND4 trillion ($154 million) from around 13,000 taxpayers subject to exit suspension measures. Of that amount, more than VND100 billion ($3.85 million) was collected from approximately 7,100 taxpayers who had ceased operating at their registered addresses.

Nguyen Le