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What a business location is

Under article 44 of Luật Doanh nghiệp 2020 (the Law on Enterprises), a địa điểm kinh doanh (a business location) is a place where the enterprise carries out specific trading. It has no capacity to act as legal representative, as a branch does, no tax code of its own, and needs no seal of its own.

Under Điều 30 Nghị định 168/2025/NĐ-CP (article 30 of Decree 168/2025), an enterprise may open a business location at an address other than its head office or other than a branch. An enterprise wanting to expand within the same province as the parent company usually chooses this rather than opening a branch or a representative office.

The enterprise must send a notice of establishment of the business location to the business registration authority where the location is, within ten days of the decision to open it. The notice is signed by the enterprise's legal representative if the location belongs to the enterprise, or by the legal representative or the head of the branch if it belongs to a branch.

How it differs from a branch and a representative office

Setting up a business location is simpler: no separate tax code, no separate VAT invoices, no separate seal.

Closing one is also much lighter than closing a branch or a representative office: no separate tax clearance, and no seal to return.

In exchange, a business location cannot act as legal representative and must trade only in the lines already registered by the parent company. It may not register lines of its own.

The rules on naming a business location

Under article 40 of Luật Doanh nghiệp 2020, the name of a business location must be written in the letters of the Vietnamese alphabet, plus F, J, Z and W, numerals and symbols. It must contain the enterprise's name followed by the phrase "Địa điểm kinh doanh", and it must be written or displayed at the premises.

Under Điều 16 Nghị định 168/2025/NĐ-CP (article 16 of Decree 168/2025), besides the Vietnamese name you may register a foreign-language name, translated from the Vietnamese into the Latin alphabet, and an abbreviation. The proper name may not contain the words "công ty" (company) or "doanh nghiệp" (enterprise).

What the registration file contains

The enterprise needs: the notice of establishment of the business location, on Mẫu số 17 - Phụ lục I (form 17 of annex I) issued with Thông tư số 68/2025/TT-BTC (Circular 68/2025 of the Minister of Finance, dated 1 July 2025); a copy of the CCCD (the Vietnamese citizen identity card) or passport of the head of the location only where no personal identification number has been declared (article 11 of Nghị định 168/2025/NĐ-CP, Decree 168/2025); and a power of attorney where there is one.

Where to file and how long the result takes

The file is submitted through the national business registration portal (https://dangkyquamang.dkkd.gov.vn), and the file is handled by the Phòng Doanh nghiệp và Kinh tế tập thể (the Enterprise and Collective Economy Division) at Sở Tài chính tỉnh Gia Lai, at 181-183 Lê Hồng Phong, Phường Quy Nhơn, telephone 0256.3903666.

After Bình Định and Gia Lai were merged under Nghị quyết 202/2025/QH15, in force from 1 July 2025, the former Sở Kế hoạch và Đầu tư was merged into Sở Tài chính. That is the authority which now receives enterprise registration files, and it is no longer Sở Kế hoạch và Đầu tư.

Within three working days of receiving a valid file, the registry records the business location in the national enterprise registration database; a business location registration certificate is issued if the enterprise asks for one (clause 3 of article 30 of Nghị định 168/2025/NĐ-CP, Decree 168/2025).

How to state the head office address on the file

The head office address must be identified by the administrative boundaries currently in force. Since 1 July 2025 Bình Định and Gia Lai have been merged into Gia Lai province, with the administrative centre in Quy Nhơn; the district level no longer exists as an intermediate tier, and the commune-level units are 110 xã and 25 phường.

When filling in the file, write the house number and street (or the group, area or hamlet where there is no house number), the commune or ward name, and Gia Lai province. For example: Số 52 đường Hoàng Văn Thụ, Phường Quy Nhơn, tỉnh Gia Lai. Telephone, fax, email and website are not compulsory.

Which tax a business location pays

A business location is a unit with dependent accounts under the parent company. It does not pay the lệ phí môn bài (the annual business licence fee): collection of the licence fee ceased nationwide on 1 January 2026 (clause 7 of article 10 of Nghị quyết 198/2025/QH15), so the 1.000.000 đồng a year per business location no longer applies.

The process

1. Prepare the file Draft the notice of establishment of the business location on Mẫu số 17 - Phụ lục I of Thông tư số 68/2025/TT-BTC of 1 July 2025, with a copy of the CCCD or passport of the head of the location where no personal identification number is declared, and a power of attorney if needed.
2. File online File through the national business registration portal; the file goes to the Phòng Doanh nghiệp và Kinh tế tập thể at Sở Tài chính tỉnh Gia Lai.
3. Collect the result Collect the business location registration certificate at the Phòng Doanh nghiệp và Kinh tế tập thể, if the enterprise has asked for one.