OFFICIAL LETTER NO. 5299/CT-NVT ON ACCELERATING THE TAX IDENTIFICATION NUMBER CLEAN-UP CAMPAIGN – REMOVING BOTTLENECKS IN BUSINESS OPERATIONS
On 28 July 2026, the Department of Taxation issued Official Letter 5299/CT-NVT providing guidance on handling taxpayers with tax identification number status 03 – ceased operations but not yet terminated the tax identification number (“TIN”) and status 06 – not operating at the registered address, in order to accelerate the handling and clean-up of tax data. Specifically:
- Adjustment of campaign targets: The Department of Taxation has adjusted and supplemented certain handling targets for taxpayers with tax identification number status 03 and 06:
- Taxpayers that have ceased operations but have not yet terminated their TIN (Status 03):
- 100% of cases not classified as high-risk shall have their fulfilment of tax obligations confirmed so as to proceed with dissolution and termination procedures with the business registration authority before 31 December 2026.
- Taxpayers not operating at the registered address (Status 06):
- The tax authorities shall request the business registration authority to handle violations and revoke the Enterprise Registration Certificate of taxpayers that have not been operating at their registered address for 01 year or more, except for those in the process of TIN reactivation.
- For cases eligible for enforcement under Article 73 of Decree No. 252/2026/ND-CP, the tax authorities must regularly request licence revocation to clean up dormant data on the TMS system (Centralised Tax Administration Application).
- Confirmation of tax obligations with the customs authorities upon TIN termination
- When processing applications for TIN termination, the tax authorities shall coordinate with the customs authorities to confirm tax obligations in accordance with regulations
- Notably: Where the taxpayer has no import-export activities, the tax authorities will not seek confirmation from the customs authorities and will not require the taxpayer to contact the customs authorities to confirm its outstanding debt status or the fulfilment of its customs obligations.
- Updating the TIN status of enterprises whose Enterprise Registration Certificates have been revoked:
- Where there are sufficient grounds that an enterprise has had its licence revoked, the tax authorities shall immediately update its status to 06 (Reason 13 – “The taxpayer is not operating at the registered address and its operating licence has been revoked”).
- Acceptance of outstanding tax declaration dossiers from taxpayers with status 03 and 06:
- For taxpayers with status 03 or 06 that are no longer eligible for electronic transactions, the tax authorities shall accept paper dossiers via the one-stop-shop division and update them into the TMS application, instead of rejecting them due to system errors.
