Circular No. 94/2026/TT-BTC dated July 1, 2026, issued by the Ministry of Finance, stipulates regulations on compliance management and risk management in tax administration.

On July 1, 2026, the Ministry of Finance issued Circular No. 94/2026/TT-BTC regulating compliance management and risk management in tax administration.

This Circular includes several important changes related to classification criteria and risk management mechanisms in tax administration as follows:

1. Risk Level Classification

• Risk levels are classified into three levels: High risk, Medium risk, Low risk (Article 13, Clause 1).
• Basis for classification: Based on risk assessment criteria appropriate to the specific characteristics of each tax management operation; these criteria are selected from the system of criteria stipulated in Appendices II and III attached to the Circular; combined with the results of tax law compliance assessment in Article 10 of this Circular (Article 13, Clause 2).

2. Risk Assessment Methods

• The Circular clearly stipulates the methods used to assess the level of compliance with tax laws and the level of risk of taxpayers. These methods can be applied independently or in combination:

• Scoring and classification method: Assessing taxpayers based on scores of criteria and indicators regarding their operational processes and compliance with tax laws (Article 5, Clause 1; Article 3, Clause 16).
• Machine learning method: Using computational and statistical algorithms on computers to determine models, functions, and indicators to classify and predict the level of risk (Article 5, Clause 2; Article 3, Clause 14).
• Category ranking method: Assessing taxpayers by comparing them with criteria and indicators regarding their operational processes and compliance with tax laws, arranged into groups corresponding to each ranking level (Article 5, Clause 3; Article 3, Clause 15).

3. Applying Risk Management in Specific Tax Administration Operations

• The Circular details the application of risk management to each tax administration operation, based on risk classification results:

• Tax Registration Management: Stipulates measures to be applied depending on the risk level (high, medium, low) for cases of changes in tax registration information, temporary suspension of operations, termination of tax identification number validity, and restoration of tax identification number (Article 14).
• Inspection of tax declarations and other revenue at the tax authority’s headquarters (Article 15):
  • High risk: Conduct document analysis and plan inspections at the tax authority’s headquarters.
  • Medium and low risk: No inspection at the headquarters is conducted; assessment will continue for the next period.
• Tax Refunds and Other Revenues (Article 16):
  • Clearly defines cases of high-risk VAT refunds (pre-inspection, post-refund) and medium/low-risk VAT refunds (pre-refund, post-inspection).
  • Mechanism for handling tax amounts showing signs of risk (temporarily suspending tax refunds for inspection).
  • Regulations on the time limit for post-refund inspections for different risk levels: 1 year for high risk, 3 years for medium risk, 5 years for low risk.
• On-site inspections at the taxpayer’s premises (Article 17):
  • Principles for selecting inspection cases: At least 90% based on risk analysis results, maximum 10% random selection.
  • Process for selecting taxpayers for inspection plans based on risk level from high to low.
• Management of tax debt, other revenues, and enforcement of administrative decisions on tax management (Article 18):
  • High risk: Increased monitoring, urging, application of enforcement measures, temporary travel ban.
  • Medium risk: Periodic monitoring, urging and reminding, application of enforcement measures in sequence.
  • Low risk: Urging, reminding, advising, considering not applying coercive measures, or temporarily suspending exit from the country.
• Managing tax exemptions and reductions (Article 19):
  • High risk: Conducting inspections at the taxpayer’s premises.
  • Medium and low risk: Receiving and processing applications, and monitoring and inspecting them after processing.
• Managing invoices, documents, and other transactions (Article 20):
  • High risk in invoice management: Refusing to accept registration for the use of electronic invoices, discontinuing the use of electronic invoices, or other measures.
  • Medium and low risk in invoice management: Reviewing and checking according to templates, strengthening monitoring, and supporting taxpayers in compliance.

4. Evaluation Criteria System

• The Circular refers to Appendices I, II, and III to specify the criteria for classifying the level of compliance with tax laws and the criteria for classifying the level of risk for different taxpayer categories (organizations, business households, individual businesses, and individuals) (Article 10, Clause 2; Article 13, Clause 2; Appendices I, II, and III).

5. Enhancing the role of information technology and data

• The Circular emphasizes the application of the Tax Compliance and Risk Management Subsystem and technologies such as data analytics, big data, machine learning, and artificial intelligence to support risk assessment and classification (Article 7, Clause 4).

6. Key control and monitoring

• The Circular clearly stipulates the cases of taxpayers subject to key monitoring, including cases with high risk indicators, non-compliance with tax laws, or failure to provide information as required (Article 9).