From January 1, 2025, many new regulations have been issued that are expected to directly impact the exit of legal representatives of enterprises as well as individual businesses. Notably, there are provisions regarding the temporary exit suspension for cases of tax arrears, along with amendments and additions to the conditions for verifying entry and exit. Therefore, it is important to clearly understand the specific issues in order to ensure compliance with the law and avoid potential disruptions to business activities.
Legal representatives of enterprises and individual businesses who are subject to temporary exit suspension due to tax arrears will receive prior notice
Quote from Clause 9, Article 6 of Law No. 56/2024/QH15 amending the Securities Law, Accounting Law, Independent Auditing Law, State Budget Law, Law on Management and Use of Public Assets, Tax Administration Law, Personal Income Tax Law, National Reserve Law, and the Law on Administrative Violations Handling 2024:
“1. Before exiting Vietnam, individual businesses, heads of household businesses, individuals who are legal representatives of enterprises, cooperatives or cooperative unions subject to compulsory enforcement of administrative decisions on tax administration, Vietnamese citizens exiting Vietnam to reside abroad, and Vietnamese people residing abroad and foreigners shall be required to fulfill their tax liability. Otherwise, they shall be suspended from exit in accordance with regulations of law on immigration if their tax debt exceeds the corresponding tax debt threshold for a time limit prescribed by the Government. The tax authority shall give an advance notice of exit suspension to the subject taxpayer.”
Accordingly, the measure of temporary exit suspension for the legal representatives of enterprises will be applied as follows:
The temporary exit suspension will be applied if the tax obligations have not been fulfilled; however, it will specifically determine the cases based on the tax arrears amount and the duration of the arrears according to the thresholds set by the government, instead of the seemed-to-be vague term “unfulfilled tax obligations” as stated in the 2019 Tax Administration Law.
Contemporaneously, if a taxpayer “unfortunately” falls into this situation, the tax authority will notify the taxpayer in advance to allow timely measures to be taken for resolution and rectification.
Previously, the law has not provided specific guidance regarding the “threshold” for tax arrears that would trigger the temporary exit suspension measure, and information about the application of this measure was only communicated to the immigration authorities. The newly introduced regulation aims to improve transparency and fairness in tax administration, while also enabling taxpayers to take a more proactive approach in understanding and fulfilling their obligations.

The requirement for document verification will not be required at border gates for exit and entry if the checkpoint is connected to the National Immigration Database
This is a new regulation, applicable to cases involving individual businesses and legal representatives of enterprises who are Vietnamese citizens.
Pursuant to Clause 2, Article 1 of Circular 59/2024/TT-BCA amending Circular 74/2020/TT-BCA regulating the control of exit and entry for Vietnamese citizens at border gates, issued by the Minister of Public Security:
“dd. Append immigration clearance stamps on entry and exit documents of citizens exiting or entering the country through port border checkpoints and land border checkpoints that are not connected to the National Immigration Database.
Refuse to append immigration clearance stamps on entry and exit documents of Vietnamese citizens exiting or entering the country through air border checkpoints and land border checkpoints that have been connected to the National Immigration Database.“
Thus, in cases where individuals are exiting or entering via air borders or land border gates, provided that the border gate is connected to the National Immigration Database, the immigration control unit will not stamp the verification on the documents. In other cases, the stamping will be carried out as per the regulations.
Information about the exit and entry process in the National Immigration Database shall serve as a substitute for the verification stamp on the exit and entry documents of citizens.
In addition, at border gates, the portrait photo and fingerprints of individuals to exit or enter the country will also be collected in accordance with regulations for the purpose of verification and authentication.
The regulation is expected to optimize the process, reduce paperwork, and improve management efficiency. At the same time, the storage of information on the digital system significantly ensures greater transparency and the ability to trace the entry and exit history of individuals.
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Legal basis:
- Law No. 56/2024/QH15 amending the Law on Securities, Law on Accounting, Law on Independent Audit, Law on State Budget, Law on Management and Use of Public Assets, Law on Tax Administration, Law on Personal Income Tax, Law on National Reserves, Law on Handling of Administrative Violations 2024.
- Circular 59/2024/TT-BCA amending Circular 74/2020/TT-BCA regulating immigration control for Vietnamese citizens at border gates promulgated by the Minister of Public Security on November 7, 2024.
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