In 2024, the HCMC Tax Department’s domestic revenue collection surpassed VND373 trillion (US$14.6 billion), achieving 106.2 percent of the projected target and representing a 16.6-percent year-on-year increase.
Notably, revenue from production and business activities is estimated to have exceeded VND216 trillion ($8.49 billion) for the fiscal year, marking a 9-percent rise compared to this time last year. The vast majority of tax categories and tax departments/sub-departments exceeded their respective annual targets.
Director General Mai Xuan Thanh of the General Department of Taxation praised these accomplishments, observing that the HCMC tax sector had demonstrated considerable resilience and dynamism in 2024, achieving noteworthy positive outcomes after enduring a protracted period of challenges over the past two years.
The Director General commended the HCMC Tax Department’s proactive approach in processing tens of thousands of land and housing records, as well as personal income tax refund applications, thereby garnering substantial approval ratings from both citizens and businesses.
Acknowledging the ambitious revenue collection mandate for 2025, the Director General urged the HCMC Tax Department to carefully reassess revenue streams exhibiting latent potential. He cited the state-owned economic sector, which currently demonstrates a growth rate of only 7.2 percent, significantly lagging behind the overall average of 16.6 percent.
On the other hand, the non-state sector, contributing over 47 percent of total revenue and exhibiting robust growth of 17.3 percent, necessitates judicious support and regulatory frameworks.
He then particularly stressed the imperative for the HCMC tax sector to inspect businesses consistently reporting losses or minimal profits over extended periods during the forthcoming declaration cycle.
“It’s impossible to keep reporting losses for 5-7 consecutive years, or only a little over 0-percent profit, while continuing to expand investments; that is a paradox that must be reviewed.”
Director General Mai Xuan Thanh
Regarding illicit invoice trading, he directed the HCMC Tax Department to accelerate the referral of confirmed instances of unlawful activity to law enforcement agencies for appropriate action.
As to tax refunds, the Director General announced the implementation of automated personal income tax refunds in 2025. Leveraging system data, taxpayers will no longer be required to submit declarations. Instead, at the designated refund period, the tax authority will furnish a pre-filled statement for taxpayer verification, with subsequent automatic transfer of refunded amounts to their respective accounts.
Vice Chairman Nguyen Van Dung of the HCMC People’s Committee stated that the city has been assigned a 2025 budget collection target of VND506 trillion ($19.9 billion), with the HCMC Tax Department tasked with generating VND389 trillion ($15.3 billion) of this total. He acknowledged the formidable nature of this objective, emphasizing the need for concerted and sustained effort to achieve it.
The Vice Chairman urged the Tax Department to maintain its collaborative support for businesses, with a particular focus on salient areas such as e-commerce and transfer pricing, while simultaneously accelerating digital transformation and streamlining administrative procedures.
In response, Director Nguyen Nam Binh of the HCMC Tax Department affirmed the department’s commitment to prioritizing tax education and support initiatives in 2025, deploying a diverse array of communication platforms and support channels to ensure the timely dissemination of new policies, especially those designed to assist businesses.
In his speech at the conference, Head Nguyen Hoa Bac of the Division for Management of Individual Business Households and Other Revenue shared that in 2024, the HCMC Tax Department oversaw 58,264 taxpayers, comprising 12,959 businesses and 45,305 individual business households, generating a total transaction value of VND28.7 trillion ($1.13 billion). Subsequent inspections resulted in action against 14,581 organizations and individuals, yielding VND286.1 billion ($11.2 million) in recovered back taxes and penalties, a 31.6-percent increase compared to 2023.
In 2024, the HCMC Tax Department collaborated with six major e-commerce platforms to facilitate regulatory compliance in information reporting.
The department targeted prominent individuals and livestream sellers on social media, resulting in many of 35 reviewed artists and celebrities paying over VND1 billion ($39,300) each, with one pageant winner paying VND4.7 billion ($184,700) and a streamer paying VND1.9 billion ($74,680). Outreach also prompted voluntary tax declarations from businesses, including one e-commerce business in District 1 that remitted over VND11.5 billion ($452,000).
Presenting a report on the management of electronic invoice risks, Head Nguyen Van Hong of Tax Inspection Division No. 9 reported numerous newly established businesses using identical email addresses, with one instance of 80 businesses sharing a single email. Consequently, 60 tax identification numbers were revoked, and the remaining 20 are undergoing closure procedures after deactivating their invoices.
The division also received complaints regarding misappropriated personal information used to create fraudulent businesses. Upon receiving these complaints, the department promptly blocked invoices, revoked tax identification numbers, and referred the cases to the HCMC Department of Planning and Investment and law enforcement.
