Setting up a company in Vietnam appears to be increasingly simplified due to the government’s policies to promote investment and support. However, enterprises must comply with many regulations during their operation, especially periodic reports to state agencies.
PLF will synthesize several reports commonly encountered during the business operation and the penalties for reference and implementation by enterprises in order to minimize legal risks.
I. Common reports to be submitted by FDI enterprises
1. Employment usage report (Decree No. 145/2020/ND-CP)
- Timeline
- Report for the first 6 months of the year: before June.
- Annual report: before December.
- Applicable objects
- For enterprises located outside industrial parks and economic zones: The reports will be sent through the National Public Service portal or in writing to the Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs, and will also be notified to district social insurance agency.
- For enterprises located in industrial parks and economic zones: The reports will be sent to the Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs, to the district social insurance agency and to the Management Board of industrial parks and economic zones.
- Penalties (Article 8 of Decree No. 12/2022/ND-CP):
- A fine ranging from VND 1,000,000 to VND 3,000,000 shall be imposed on the employer for failing to declare the employment as prescribed by the L
- A fine ranging from VND 5,000,000 to VND 10,000,000 shall be imposed on the employer for failing to report the change in labour as prescribed by the L
2. Employment accident report (Decree No. 39/2016/ND-CP)
- Timeline
- Report for the first 6 months of the year: Before July.
- Annual report: before January 10th of the following year.
- The reports shall be sent to the Department of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs.
- Penalties: a fine from VND 5,000,000 to 10,000,000 shall be imposed on the employer who commits one of the following acts: failing to make statistics; failure to periodically report or report incompletely or incorrectly or on time on occupational accidents and diseases; failing to periodically report or report incompletely or incorrectly or on time to report technical incidents causing serious occupational safety and health insecurity as prescribed by the Law (Clause 3, Article 20 of Decree 12/2022/ND-CP).
3. Reports related to investment (Decree 31/2021/ND-CP)
3.1. Report on the implementation of an investment project
- Quarterly report: before the 10th of the first month of the following quarter, including the following contents: implemented investment capital, net revenue, export, import, labour, tax and budget payments, land and water use situation.
- Annual report: before March 31st of the following year, including the targets of the quarterly report and the targets of profit, income of employees, expenditures and investments for scientific research and technology development, environmental treatment and protection, and the used technology origin.
The reports shall be sent online to the investment registration authority through the account provided on the national investment information system.
3.2. Investment monitoring and evaluation report
- Timeline
- Report for the first 6 months of the year: before July 10th of the reporting year.
- Annual report: before February 10th of the following year.
- Report before adjusting the project.
- The reports in writing shall be sent to the investment registration authority.
- Penalties: A fine between 20,000,000 and 30,000,000 VND shall be imposed for “making an investment monitoring and evaluation report on time or with incomplete contents as prescribed” and a fine between 30,000,000 and 50,000,000 VND for “Failing to implement the regime of periodic investment monitoring and evaluation reports as prescribed; Making untruthful and inaccurate investment monitoring and evaluation reports.” (Article 15 of Decree 122/2021/ND-CP)
II. Reports in other business areas
1. Reports for enterprises operating in the field of employment services
- Timeline
- Report for the first 6 months of the year: Before June 20th
- Annual report: Before December 20th
- The reports shall be sent to the Department of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs where the enterprise’s head office is located.
2. Reports for enterprises operating in the field of labor outsourcing
- Timeline
- Report for the first 6 months of the year: before June 20th
- Annual report: before December 20th
- The reports shall be sent to the Chairman of the People’s Committee of the province, the Department of Labor, Ward Invalids and Social Affairs where the enterprise’s head office is located, and concurrently, the Department of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs where the enterprise conducts labour outsourcing, in case the enterprises conduct such activities in another province-level area.
- Penalties: A fine from VND 1,000,000 to VND 3,000,000 shall be imposed on the enterprise operating in the field of labour outsourcing that fails to report the labour outsourcing situation as prescribed Clause 3, Article 13 of Decree 122/2021/ND-CP.
3. Reports for enterprises trading in products and services related to cyberinformation security
- Annual report: before December 31st of each year
- The reports shall be sent to Ministry of Information and Communications.
- Penalties: A fine between 20,000,000 and 30,000,000 VND shall be imposed for failure to report to Ministry of Information and Communications about trading, exporting, importing products and services related to cyberinformation security as prescribed by Article 92 of Decree 15/2020/ND-CP.
4. Annual reports for enterprises providing e-commerce services
- Timeline
Annual report: before January 15th of each E-commerce providers must submit reports containing statistical data on the operation of the previous year to the Ministry of Industry and Trade.
- The reports shall be sent to the Ministry of Industry and Trade via the enterprise’s account at the e-commerce management portal or in writing by post.
- Penalties: Failure to perform statistical and reporting obligations as prescribed will be fined between 10,000,000 and 20,000,000 VND (Article 63 of Decree No. 98/2020/ND-CP).
5. Reports on the purchase and sale of goods, and activities directly related to the purchase and sale of goods such as business licenses, retail licenses (trading licenses)
- Timeline
Annual report: before January 31st. The enterprise shall be responsible for submitting reports on the purchase and sale of goods, and activities directly related to the purchase and sale of goods to the licensing authority. - Penalties: Failure to report, provide documents or explain matters related to the operation of the enterprise to the competent state management authority as prescribed shall be fined between 10,000,000 and 20,000,000 VND (Article 70 of Decree No. 98/2020/ND-CP).
III. Operation reports for representative office/branch of foreign trader in Vietnam
- Timeline
Annual report: before January 30th. The representative office/branch is responsible for sending the report to the licensing authority.Representative offices and branches of foreign traders are dependent units of foreign companies established in Vietnam. Therefore, during their operation, these units must carry out reporting activities in accordance with the provisions of Vietnamese Law.
- Penalties: A fine between 10,000,000 and 20,000,000 VND shall be imposed for failure to make periodical reports or to report dishonestly on the operation of the representative office to the competent licensing authority. For branch, the fine is between 20,000,000 and 30,000,000 VND (Article 67, Article 69 of Decree No. 98/2020/ND-CP).
