WILL TAXPAYERS WHO FOLLOW INSTRUCTIONS FROM THE TAX AUTHORITY AND MAKE ERRORS BE PENALIZED UNDER DECREE 310? 

Will taxpayers who follow instructions from the tax authority and make errors be penalized? To be fined or not? Are household taxpayers subject to the same penalties for administrative tax and invoice violations as individuals or organizations? Let’s find out more with Pham Consult!

 

 Will taxpayers who follow instructions from the tax authority and make mistakes be penalized? 

 According to Clause 2, Article 9 of Decree 125/2020/ND-CP, amended by Clause 7, Article 1 of Decree 310/2025/ND-CP, the following applies to cases of incorrect tax declarations but voluntary supplementary declarations and full payment: 

 Cases where administrative penalties for tax and invoice violations are not imposed: 

1. No administrative penalties for tax and invoice violations will be imposed in cases where no administrative penalties are imposed according to the law on handling administrative violations.

Taxpayers who are late in completing tax procedures and issuing invoices electronically due to technical problems in the information technology system, as announced on the tax authority’s electronic portal, are considered to have committed violations due to force majeure events as stipulated in Clause 4, Article 11 of the Law on Handling Administrative Violations. 

2. No administrative penalties or late payment interest will be charged to taxpayers who commit administrative tax violations based on guidance documents and decisions issued by the tax authority or other competent state agencies regarding the determination of the taxpayer’s tax obligations (including guidance documents and decisions issued before the effective date of this Decree), except in cases where tax audits at the taxpayer’s premises did not detect errors in the declaration and determination of the amount of tax payable or the amount of tax exempted, reduced, or refunded, but the taxpayer’s administrative tax violation is subsequently discovered.
3. No administrative penalties for tax violations will be imposed in cases of incorrect declarations where the taxpayer has submitted supplementary tax returns in accordance with tax management laws and has voluntarily paid the full amount of tax due before the tax authority announces a tax audit decision, or before another competent authority announces an inspection or audit decision at the taxpayer’s premises, or before the tax authority discovers the violation without conducting a tax audit at the taxpayer’s premises, or before another competent authority discovers the violation.

 Accordingly, no administrative penalties for tax violations will be imposed, and no late payment interest will be charged to taxpayers who commit administrative tax violations due to acting in accordance with guidance documents or decisions of the tax authority or other competent state agencies related to determining the taxpayer’s tax obligations (including guidance documents and decisions issued before the effective date of Decree 125/2020/ND-CP), except in cases of tax audits or inspections at the taxpayer’s premises Taxpayers who have not yet discovered errors in declaring or determining the amount of tax payable or the amount of tax exempted, reduced, or refunded, but whose administrative tax violations are subsequently discovered. 

 For household taxpayers, are the fines applied when imposing administrative penalties for tax and invoice violations the same as for individuals or organizations? 

 Based on point a, clause 4, Article 7 of Decree 125/2020/ND-CP, the following is stipulated: 

 Forms of punishment, remedial measures, and principles for applying fines when imposing administrative penalties for tax and invoice violations 

4. Principles for applying fines
5. a) The fines stipulated in Articles 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, clauses 1 and 2 of Article 19, and Chapter III of this Decree are the fines applicable to organizations.

For taxpayers who are households or business households, the same fines as for individuals apply. 

1. b) Whendetermining the fine for a taxpayer who commits a violation with both aggravating and mitigating circumstances, the aggravating circumstances shall be reduced according to the principle that one mitigating circumstance reduces one aggravating circumstance. 
2. c) Mitigating or aggravating circumstances that have already been used todetermine the fine range shall not be used when determining the specific fine amount under point d of this clause. 

 Therefore, taxpayers who are households are subject to the same fines when imposing administrative penalties for tax and invoice violations as individuals. 

 What constitutes an administrative tax violation? 

 According to Clause 1, Article 2 of Decree 125/2020/ND-CP, amended by Clause 1, Article 1 of Decree 310/2025/ND-CP (effective from January 16, 2026), administrative tax violations are defined as culpable acts committed by organizations or individuals that violate regulations of tax management laws, tax laws, and other revenues belonging to the state budget managed by tax authorities (land use fees; land and water surface lease fees; mineral exploitation rights fees; water resource exploitation rights fees; remaining after-tax profits after the allocation of funds of enterprises wholly owned by the State; dividends and profits distributed to the state-invested capital in joint-stock companies and limited liability companies with two or more members; and revenues as prescribed by law on the management and investment of state capital in enterprises) that do not constitute a crime and are subject to the provisions of the law. A violation of the law must be subject to administrative penalties.