The phenomenon of the time discrepancy between business establishment and dissolution in Ho Chi Minh City is currently in the spotlight. While business registration permits can be completed in just 5 to 7 working days, reality on the ground shows that the business liquidation or dissolution process can actually take years. This has triggered a backlog of files accumulating at the local tax authority.

Data from the Ho Chi Minh City Tax Department as of June 2026 recorded that over 310,000 taxpayers no longer operate at their registered address, while around 153,000 businesses have stopped using invoices but have not yet completed the tax ID closure procedure. This massive administrative burden poses a major obstacle for business owners looking to close their old entities to pursue new opportunities.

Dinh Thi Huyen, Director of Savitax Tax Consulting, highlighted that many business owners are constrained by burdensome multi-year audit and accounting record-keeping requirements, especially for small businesses. "For those who have operated for one to two decades, archiving documents for dissolution requirements presents a very severe technical challenge," she said.

As a solution, the Ho Chi Minh City Tax Consultants and Agents Association proposed a self-declaration mechanism for micro-enterprises with a good compliance track record. The proposal includes establishing clear processing deadlines, such as a maximum of 30 to 45 working days, as well as digitalizing data synchronization between tax and customs authorities so that verification is no longer performed manually.

In response, Deputy Head of the Ho Chi Minh City Tax Department, Giang Van Hien, stated that his agency is formulating risk-based compliance assessment criteria. This strategy is expected to prioritize businesses with a good record to receive streamlined administrative processes. Authorities are committed to regularly reviewing data to classify the operational status of businesses, while ensuring legal entity closure procedures run more efficiently for cooperative entrepreneurs.