Mass Exodus: Over 8,000 Tax Officials Resign

At the seminar titled “Perfecting Tax and Customs Policies to Drive Business Development,” organized by the Finance and Economics Magazine under the Ministry of Finance today (October 16), Mr. Đặng Ngọc Minh, Deputy Director of the Tax Department, highlighted that 2025 is a pivotal year. The tax sector must not only meet its budget collection targets but also implement significant reforms in institutional frameworks, policies, and organizational structures.

As of October 14, the total budget revenue managed by the tax sector exceeded 1.74 million billion VND, surpassing the assigned plan by 1.5%. Notably, revenue from the production and business sector progressed well, while land-related revenue doubled compared to the same period in 2024.

One of the key highlights is the draft amendment to the Personal Income Tax Law, which is set to be presented to the National Assembly in the October session. Additionally, tax policies for business households are under scrutiny.

According to the Tax Department’s leadership, the shift from the “lump-sum tax” mechanism to a simplified declaration and accounting system will level the playing field for business households. Households with revenue exceeding 3 billion VND will be encouraged to use electronic invoices, adopt simple accounting practices, and apply a 17% tax rate similar to small enterprises.

The draft Personal Income Tax Law also considers adjusting the family circumstance deduction to 21.7 million VND per month (covering both the taxpayer and dependents). This adjustment aims to alleviate the tax burden on workers, ensuring fairness and alignment with current income levels.

Mr. Đặng Ngọc Minh revealed that this year, the tax sector is implementing two major organizational restructuring phases. In March, the sector streamlined its structure from 63 regional Tax Departments to 20. By July, in line with the two-tier local government model, the sector further reorganized into 34 provincial and city Tax Departments and approximately 350 grassroots units.

This restructuring has reduced the sector’s workforce by over 8,000 employees. Mr. Minh emphasized that, amidst reduced manpower and increasing workloads, digital transformation is the core solution to maintain management efficiency and enhance taxpayer services.