Some important notes regarding tax and invoice penalties you should know

Official Letter No. 216/TCT-PC 2025 dated January 15, 2025 from the General Department of Taxation on the Penalties for Administrative Violations Concerning Taxes and Invoices

Regarding the penalties for administrative violations relating to taxes and invoices, the General Department of Taxation has issued the following notes:

1. For Tax and Invoice Violations:
Under Decree No. 125/2020/ND-CP (amended by Decree No. 102/2021/ND-CP), specific provisions detail the prohibited acts and the corresponding penalty framework for each violation. In cases where a taxpayer commits multiple procedural violations regarding taxes and invoices in a single enforcement action, only one penalty decision shall be issued to determine the form and level of penalty for each violation. The authority to impose fines is determined based on the maximum fine stipulated for each specific violation. The total penalty amount stated in the decision is the sum of the specific fines for each violation and is not limited by the maximum fine stipulated in subparagraph c, subparagraph d, clause 1 of Article 24 of the Administrative Violations Handling Law of 2012

2. Regarding the Aggravating Circumstance of "Large-Scale Administrative Violation":
This circumstance is considered when penalizing a violation that involves a large number or significant value. Clause 2 of Article 6 of Decree No. 125/2020/ND-CP clarifies that for invoice violations, "large scale" means any violation involving 10 or more invoices. Accordingly, if in the same enforcement action a taxpayer commits multiple invoice violations and is penalized separately for each, the aggravating circumstance of a "large-scale administrative violation" does not apply. However, if the taxpayer commits a single invoice violation (with the number of offending invoices being 10 or more), then the violation is treated as one violation and the aggravating circumstance of "large-scale administrative violation" is applied.

3. Regarding the Aggravating Circumstance of "Repeated Administrative Violations":
This is applied when an individual or organization commits a violation that they have previously committed but for which no penalty has yet been imposed and the penalty statute of limitations has not expired. According to Clause 1 of Article 6 of Decree No. 125/2020/ND-CP, if a taxpayer commits multiple identical violations and is penalized for each, then from the second violation onward the case is deemed to involve the aggravating circumstance of "repeated administrative violations," as stipulated in point (b), clause 1 of Article 10 of the Administrative Violations Handling Law of 2012.