What Does the Cost of Company Dissolution Include?

The first question most business owners ask when considering dissolution is: how much will it cost? The direct answer: there is no single figure for dissolution costs, because they comprise three different parts, and the largest is usually the company’s own outstanding obligations.

This article explains what each part includes, who it is paid to, which part is fixed and which changes with the company’s status. Understanding this structure makes it easier to read a quote and to compare options fairly.

What three parts make up dissolution costs?

A clear dissolution quote should be split into three parts. Each has a different recipient and is determined differently.

Part 3 is not a service fee. It is an obligation the company must fulfil before it can be dissolved (clause 2, Article 207 of the 2020 Law on Enterprises), whether the company handles it itself or hires a support provider.

Part 1: What does the service fee depend on?

The service fee corresponds to the volume of work required. This volume changes based on the following factors:

• Company type and ownership structure: single-member, multi-member, or joint stock company; domestic or foreign ownership.
• Status of the tax code: operating normally, temporarily suspended, or recorded as not operating at its registered address.
• Number of branches, representative offices, business locations: each unit must cease operation before the dissolution dossier is filed.
• Number of employees and social insurance status: a company with many employees needs additional work to finalize records and settle entitlements.
• Status of books and reports: complete, or missing for many periods.

A fixed price list for every company can therefore easily lead to additional costs later. A more transparent approach is to check first, finalize the scope, then quote.

Part 2: Third-party fees and government fees

Dissolution registration fee: exempt

Registering company dissolution is exempt from the business registration fee (clause 2, Article 5 of Circular 47/2019/TT-BTC). This exemption also applies to temporary business suspension and to ceasing operation of a branch, representative office or business location.

Fee regulations may be amended, so this basis should be re-checked against the review date at the end of this article.

Accounting and tax partner fees

This is usually the most significant amount within Part 2. A dissolving company must file its tax finalization dossier no later than the 45th day from the date of the dissolution decision (point b, clause 5, Article 10 of Decree 252/2026/ND-CP). For finalization to be accurate, the books must match the reports already filed.

This fee is quoted by the accounting and tax partner based on the workload: the number of years to review, the number of documents, and the number of missing reporting periods. A company with complete books will clearly need less work.

Other costs depending on the dossier

• Newspaper announcement: when dissolution follows revocation of the Certificate or a Court decision, if the law requires it, the dissolution decision must be published (clause 2, Article 209 of the 2020 Law on Enterprises).
• Translation, consular legalization: common for companies with foreign owners or members — this needs to be checked against the specific dossier.
• Notarization, certification, document delivery: depends on how the dossier is filed and which documents are required.

Part 3: The company’s own outstanding obligations

This is the part many companies underestimate when asking “how much in total.” The law sets the payment order on dissolution (clause 5, Article 208 of the 2020 Law on Enterprises):

1. Unpaid wages, severance pay, social insurance, health insurance, unemployment insurance and other entitlements of employees.
2. Tax debts.
3. Other debts.

Only after dissolution costs and debts have been paid is the remaining amount distributed to owners, members or shareholders (clause 6, Article 208).

On the business license fee: collection of this fee ceased from 1 January 2026 (clause 7, Article 10 of Resolution 198/2025/QH15). Any business license fee owed from previous years, if the company still owes it, is determined when reconciling obligations with the tax authority.

The dossier can only move to “dissolved” status once the tax authority raises no objection that the company has not completed its tax obligations (clause 5, Article 64 of Decree 168/2025/ND-CP). Determining Part 3 early therefore helps avoid the dossier being returned. See the detailed payment order in Paying Debts During Company Dissolution.

Why can’t a single figure be quoted before checking?

Two companies of the same type can have very different costs. Illustrative example (not an actual case):

• Company A: operated briefly, no employees, complete books, tax code normal, no branches. The main work is preparing the decision, finalizing tax, and filing the dossier.
• Company B: inactive for a long time, missing reports for many periods, still has employees with unfinalized insurance, and has two branches. It needs to review its books, supplement reports, cease branch operations and finalize insurance first.

Quoting a single figure for Company B without reviewing its dossier would either fall short or require adding costs later. Checking in advance gives a more accurate and stable quote.

How to keep dissolution costs reasonable

• Decide early: the more recent the books, the easier the documents are to find.
• Keep tax reports up to date until the dissolution decision is issued.
• Cease unused branches and business locations early, rather than leaving them for later.
• Settle employee entitlements and social insurance according to a clear plan.
• Gather all documents from the outset: the Certificate, Charter, books, contracts, list of creditors.

Time and cost go together; see also How Long Does Company Dissolution Take? and Tax Finalization When Dissolving a Company.

How Thái Tín quotes for dissolution

Thái Tín provides a quote after checking the company’s status:

• Conduct a preliminary check of legal status, tax code, books, labor and branches.
• Provide a quote itemized into three parts: Thái Tín’s service fee; professional-partner fees and government fees if any; and the company’s outstanding obligations.
• State clearly the conditions that may give rise to additional costs, so you know in advance who each amount is paid to and why.
• Coordinate accounting and tax partners and track progress until the agreed scope is completed.

We can advise large companies with many employees, complex social insurance records, and companies with foreign investment capital. To receive a quote, prepare your company’s tax code and a short description of its current status. An overview of the procedure is on the Dissolution page.

Questions and answers

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