Household Business Registration (Decree 168/2025): Where to File

Many people starting out in small-scale trading are not sure whether they have to register a household business, and if they do, where to file the dossier and which documents are needed. This article answers under the rules applied since 1 July 2025 and the amendments effective from 23 July 2026.

The short conclusion: individuals and household members who are Vietnamese citizens with full civil legal capacity must register a household business when doing business on a regular basis, except for certain specifically listed groups. The dossier is filed at the commune-level business registration authority and is processed within 03 working days if valid.

Who must register a household business?

Under clauses 1 and 2, Article 82 of Decree 168/2025/NĐ-CP, individuals or household members who are Vietnamese citizens with full civil legal capacity have the right to establish a household business and are liable with all of their assets for the household’s business activities.

A person who is being prosecuted for criminal liability, held in temporary detention, serving a prison sentence, serving an administrative handling measure, or banned by a Court from practicing or from work related to business may not stand as household owner. Foreigners are also not eligible to register a household business — they carry out enterprise establishment procedures under the Law on Enterprises and the Law on Investment (for the conditions of standing as household owner and the risks of having someone else stand in one’s name, see Who can be a household business owner, and how far the owner is liable).

Who is not required to register?

Clause 3, Article 82 of Decree 168/2025/NĐ-CP lists the cases that do not have to register a household business, unless they do business in a conditional investment and business line:

• Households producing in agriculture, forestry, fishery or salt-making.
• Street vendors, snack sellers and itinerant traders.
• Mobile traders and seasonal traders.
• Low-income service providers, at the level set by the provincial People’s Committee.

These cases may register if they wish, for example to issue invoices or sign contracts with enterprises. A point to note: conditional business lines are not within the exempt group, even at low income — for example cooking food to sell on the spot, selling alcohol, or services with food safety requirements still need registration and permission from the corresponding sector.

Exemption from registration does not mean exemption from tax obligations if taxable revenue arises under tax law.

How does a household registration differ from an individual registration?

There are two ways to establish a household:

• One individual registers alone: the dossier consists of the application for household business registration and a copy of the individual’s identity documents.
• Household members establish it together: they must authorize one person to be the household owner; the authorization document must be notarized or certified under the law and filed with the dossier (clause 1, Article 82 and clause 2, Article 99 of Decree 168/2025/NĐ-CP).

Lacking a notarized authorization document when household members contribute capital together is a common reason for a dossier to be returned. The household registration certificate records only the household owner’s name; if a dispute later arises among the members, the authorities rely on the authorization document and the certificate, not on verbal agreements.

What does the household business registration dossier include?

The application for household business registration must clearly state: the name of the household business, the head office address, the business lines (one main line under the four-digit economic sector code), business capital, number of employees, and information on the household owner and household members (if any).

Where to file, and how long does it take?

Under Article 94 of Decree 168/2025/NĐ-CP, the household owner or an authorized person has three ways to file the dossier with the commune-level business registration authority where the household is headquartered:

1. File in person at the commune-level business registration authority.
2. Send by post.
3. File online through the electronic information network, at the National Business Registration Information System or the National Public Service Portal.

The commune-level business registration authority receives the dossier and checks its validity. If the dossier is valid, it issues the Household Business Registration Certificate and at the same time sends the information to the tax authority within 03 working days from the date of receiving the dossier (Article 99 of Decree 168/2025/NĐ-CP). If the dossier is not yet valid, the business registration authority notifies in writing, stating the reason and requesting amendment or supplementation.

Is the household registration certificate a business license for conditional lines?

No. Article 85 of Decree 168/2025/NĐ-CP provides that the Household Business Registration Certificate is also the tax registration document — the household’s tax code is printed directly on the certificate and is used for tax returns, invoices and dealings with e-commerce platforms.

This certificate does not replace licenses or eligibility certificates for conditional business lines. A household opening a restaurant additionally needs a food safety eligibility certificate and must meet fire prevention and fighting conditions corresponding to its scale; a household selling alcohol needs an alcohol retail license; other conditional lines follow their own sector-specific documents, after the household registration certificate has been issued.

From 23 July 2026: authorization requires electronic authentication through VNeID

Decree 296/2026/NĐ-CP, amending and supplementing Decree 168/2025/NĐ-CP and effective from 23 July 2026, adds a requirement: when a household owner authorizes another person to carry out the procedure to register the establishment of a household business, both the authorizing person and the authorized person must complete electronic authentication through the national identification app VNeID.

If the authorizing person does not yet have an electronic identification account to authenticate with, the dossier must include a copy of their valid Identity Card or Citizen Identity Card.

What to prepare before asking someone else to file on your behalf: check whether the household owner’s VNeID account has been activated and is at the appropriate authentication level, so as not to have to return to supplement the dossier.

What to prepare before filing

• Determine the correct household head office address and the corresponding commune-level business registration authority.
• Choose the household name in the prescribed structure, and check whether the name duplicates another within the commune.
• Choose the main business line under the four-digit economic sector code; determine whether the line is a conditional business line so as to prepare the additional sector dossier.
• If household members are establishing together: prepare the notarized or certified authorization document in advance.
• Check that a person stands as owner of only one household nationwide.

What Thái Tín can help with

Thái Tín is the coordinating point that helps individuals and households prepare and file the household business registration dossier with the right authority and in the current forms:

• Review the registration conditions and determine whether the household falls in a line needing an additional sub-license before filing.
• Draft the dossier in the forms of Circular 68/2025/TT-BTC, and prepare the notarized authorization document if it is a household.
• Track progress of processing at the commune-level business registration authority.
• Connect partners for the sub-license portion of conditional lines such as food safety and fire prevention and fighting when the household needs them.

The State authority considers and decides on the dossier.

Questions and answers

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