Dissolving companies requires more than a tax authority “campaign”

A tax authority campaign may clear Vietnam's backlog of company dissolution files, but it will not solve the problem if the procedures that created the backlog remain unchanged.

Companies enter the market when they see opportunity and potential. They also need a lawful way to leave when business becomes ineffective, competition grows too strong or owners no longer want to continue. That is a normal part of a market economy. The law therefore needs to make both entry and exit quick, transparent and compliant.

The article points to a major imbalance between the two processes. The 2020 Enterprise Law devotes one chapter and 26 articles to establishing companies, with Decree 168/2025 providing guidance. Company dissolution, by contrast, is mainly covered by five articles, from Article 207 to Article 211.

The figures show the scale of the issue. In the first eight months of 2026, 40,820 companies completed dissolution procedures, an increase of 125.5% from the same period in 2025. During the same period, 138,097 new companies were established, up 7.7%. The rise in dissolutions can indicate stronger competitive pressure and market cleansing, but it also reflects tax authorities' active processing of files that had remained unresolved.

Under the Enterprise Law, a company must send its dissolution decision to relevant authorities and parties within seven working days. After debts and dissolution costs are paid, the business registration authority can update the company's legal status if no written objection arrives within 180 days of receiving the decision.

In practice, however, companies must first complete a difficult tax procedure. Circular 90/2026 from the Ministry of Finance says tax authorities must check a company's tax status within five working days after receiving its dissolution file. If no tax debt remains, the authority issues a notice ending the validity of the tax identification number. Only then can the company complete the final registration steps. The article warns that without fixing this bottleneck, new backlogs could appear after the campaign ends.