How Will the 2026 Tax Law Impact Household Businesses on E-commerce Platforms?

The 2026 Tax Law fundamentally reshapes how taxes are collected on Shopee, TikTok Shop, and Lazada. Online sellers need to understand these changes to avoid tax reassessment and optimize profits.

How Does the 2026 Tax Law Affect Household Businesses on E-commerce Platforms?

Many business owners only realize the importance of accounting and tax compliance after facing issues such as tax reassessment, late-payment penalties, or invoicing errors. From these gaps, 1ketoan was built as a comprehensive accounting–tax support ecosystem that helps businesses operate confidently right from their earliest stages.

Overview of Vietnam’s E-commerce Landscape

Vietnam’s e-commerce has entered a rapid-growth phase both in market size and in regulatory oversight. According to Metric, the total revenue of the five largest e-commerce platforms (Shopee, Lazada, TikTok Shop, Tiki, Sendo) reached approximately VND 318.9 trillion in 2024—an increase of more than 37% compared to 2023. Total transaction value exceeded USD 13.8 billion.

Alongside this growth is significant pressure on tax administration. For years, online selling existed in a “grey zone” regarding revenue declaration, invoicing, and tax payment. However, from 2024–2025, tax authorities have:

• Integrated data with banks
• Integrated data with e-wallets
• Worked directly with e-commerce platforms
• Implemented a platform-based tax withholding mechanism

This leads to one clear reality: from 2026 onward, online selling will no longer operate “off the books” for tax purposes.

Do Online Sellers Have to Pay Taxes?

Under Clause 1, Article 2 of Circular 40/2021/TT-BTC, individuals and household businesses generating income from production, business, sale of goods, or provision of services—including e-commerce activities—are required to fulfill tax obligations, including:

• Value Added Tax (VAT)
• Personal Income Tax (PIT)

Previously, the taxable revenue threshold was over VND 100 million per year. However, from January 1, 2026, under the amended VAT Law, this threshold increases to VND 200 million per year.

What does this mean?

• Small-scale sellers with low revenue face reduced tax pressure.
• However, most sellers on platforms such as Shopee and TikTok Shop still fall within the taxable group.

Current Tax Rates Applied to E-commerce Platforms

According to Article 10, Circular 40/2021/TT-BTC, household businesses and individual sellers operating on e-commerce platforms are subject to fixed tax rates on revenue:

Type of Activity	VAT	PIT
Sale of goods	1%	0.5%
Services	5%	2%
Transportation	3%	1.5%

Taxable revenue includes:

• Goods/service revenues
• Commissions
• Sales bonuses
• Subsidies or discounts
• Compensation
• Any additional fees collected

Important Note:
Taxable revenue does not depend on whether you have withdrawn funds to your bank account.
Once a transaction is completed on the platform, tax liability arises.

Methods for Declaring and Paying E-commerce Taxes

1. Self-declaration and self-payment

Applied to sellers not using platforms with payment functions (e.g., Facebook, Zalo, private websites).

Required documents:

• Tax return: Form 01/CNKD
• Filing portal: thuedientu.gdt.gov.vn
• Filing period: Monthly or per transaction

2. Platforms Withholding and Paying Taxes on Behalf of Sellers

Under Decree 117/2025/ND-CP (effective July 1, 2025), platforms such as Shopee, Lazada, TikTok Shop, Tiki must:

• Automatically withhold VAT and PIT per transaction
• Declare and pay taxes on behalf of sellers

Sellers must still:

• Provide ID/Tax code to the platform
• Monitor withheld tax for reconciliation

3. Businesses Selling via E-commerce

If the seller has established a company:

• VAT returns filed via Form 01/GTGT
• Corporate income tax declared quarterly and annually

Detailed E-commerce Tax Declaration Process

1. Register for an electronic tax account
2. Prepare tax returns
3. Pay taxes
4. Store and retrieve receipts

New E-commerce Tax Policies for 2025–2026 – Key Changes Sellers Must Note

1. Platforms Start Tax Withholding From July 1, 2025

Platforms with payment functions must withhold and remit taxes.

Type of Activity	VAT	PIT
Sale of goods	1%	0.5%
Services	5%	2%
Transportation	3%	1.5%

Taxes are deducted once the order is completed and paid.

2. Household Businesses With Revenue Under VND 500 Million/Year Are Exempt From PIT Starting 2026

The National Assembly has raised the taxable revenue threshold from VND 200 million to VND 500 million per year.

This amount also becomes the deductible revenue before calculating PIT based on revenue.

3. The VAT Reduction to 8% Only Applies Until June 30, 2025

Under Decree 180/2024/ND-CP and Resolution 174/2024/QH15, the VAT reduction from 10% to 8% expires on June 30, 2025.

This may affect input costs for sellers when purchasing inventory afterward.

4. Ending Tax Exemption for Low-value Imports Starting February 18, 2025

Low-value imports under VND 1 million sent via express delivery will no longer be exempt from VAT and import duties.

Heavily affected models include:

• Dropshipping
• Print-on-Demand (POD)
• Low-cost Chinese imports

This will increase input costs and require recalculations of pricing and margins.

Practical Impacts of the 2026 Tax Law on Household Businesses

The tax reforms for 2025–2026 introduce significant changes to managing e-commerce activity. With platforms withholding and declaring taxes, revenue is automatically recorded per transaction, reducing discrepancies between actual and declared revenue. This requires transparent inventory and cash-flow management.

Tracking inventory and proving the origin of goods becomes essential, ensuring consistency between sales revenue and stock movement through proper invoices and documents.

For high-revenue e-commerce sellers, classification into Group 3 (requiring bookkeeping similar to enterprises) is becoming more likely, increasing operational requirements.

• Sellers with VND 200 million – 3 billion annual revenue may continue operating as household businesses with periodic declarations.
• Sellers with over VND 3 billion revenue may need to transition to enterprise status if tax authorities determine sustained high turnover.

Transitioning to a company can unlock tax incentives, B2B partnerships, and more formal financial management.

Advice from TOPA’s Chief Accountant

If you’re selling online, now is the time to review your revenue, confirm whether platforms are withholding taxes correctly, and assess whether you should remain a household business or transition into a company. Many only seek help from 1ketoan when risks arise—though they could have prepared much earlier.

Our detailed analysis is available in the article “What Household Businesses Need to Prepare After the Elimination of Presumptive Tax.”

E-commerce Accounting Services at TOPA / 1ketoan

After 2025, for online sellers, the question is no longer “Do I have to pay taxes?” but “How do I pay taxes correctly while protecting my cash flow and profit?”

For well-established sellers on Shopee, TikTok Shop, Lazada, etc., risks often arise not from lack of information but from increasingly transparent revenue and extensive transaction data stored by platforms.

However, this is also the ideal time to restructure your operations:

• Decide whether to remain a household business or gradually transition to a company
• Optimize input–output tax
• Work with larger partners
• Build a more sustainable, structured business model

TOPA / 1ketoan approaches e-commerce accounting as a long-term partnership—not merely preparing compulsory declarations, but supporting sellers in building strong financial foundations.