Vietnam tax authorities report 4,000 cases of business identity theft

Vietnam's tax authorities have recorded approximately 4,000 reports from citizens claiming their personal information was stolen to establish businesses without their knowledge. Victims often discover they have been impersonated as legal representatives, business owners, or household business heads only when encountering tax obligations, performing administrative procedures, or during exit control processes.

These fraudulent registrations can lead to serious consequences, including tax evasion, illegal invoice trading, smuggling, fraud, and unlawful credit borrowing. Impersonated individuals may face significant legal and financial burdens, requiring them to undergo complex verification processes to prove they are not responsible for the entities' actions.

This issue has surfaced during a “tax code cleaning” campaign conducted by the tax sector. As part of this initiative, authorities identified approximately 325,500 businesses that are no longer operating at their registered addresses and are currently carrying tax debts.