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What a household business is, and when you must register one

A hộ kinh doanh (a household business) is a form of trading registered by one individual or by the members of a household, who are liable with all of their assets for the business, under Nghị định 168/2025/NĐ-CP (Decree 168/2025).

Anyone opening a shop, a stall or a service outlet at a fixed address, whether retail, repairs, food and drink or services, must register a household business before starting. Exempt are farming, forestry, fishing and salt-making households, street and mobile vendors, seasonal traders and low-income service providers below the threshold set by the provincial People's Committee, unless they carry on a conditional business line (clause 3 of article 82 of Nghị định 168/2025/NĐ-CP). Each individual or household member may register only one household business nationwide (clause 1 of article 83).

A real example: a household business trading in and repairing mobile phones in Phường Quy Nhơn registered two business line codes: retail of information technology and communications equipment (code 4740), and repair and maintenance of computers and communications equipment (code 9510). Choosing the right codes at the outset avoids having to amend the licence later.

The documents to prepare

The household business registration file contains: the application for household business registration; and, if the household members are registering together, a copy of their notarised or certified authorisation appointing one of them as head of the household business (clause 2 of article 99 of Nghị định 168/2025/NĐ-CP). Personal details are checked against the national population database, so no copy of the CCCD (the Vietnamese citizen identity card) is needed unless that link is down (clause 3 of article 92).

You need to settle beforehand: the name of the household business, which must not duplicate or be confusingly similar to another within the same commune or ward; the trading address; the main business line by level-four code (clause 2 of article 89); the intended trading capital; and the number of employees.

Where to file after the administrative reform

Since 1 July 2025 the former Bình Định and Gia Lai provinces have been merged into a single Gia Lai province, with its administrative centre in Quy Nhơn, under Nghị quyết 202/2025/QH15 (Resolution 202/2025). The district level is no longer an intermediate administrative tier. A household business whose address still shows the former administrative unit may keep trading under its existing certificate and is not required to register a change of address (clause 3 of article 101 of Nghị định 168/2025/NĐ-CP).

The household business registration file is filed in person with the commune- or ward-level business registration office where the household business is based (or at any commune-level office in Gia Lai province, though the office where it is based still decides it, under clause 2 of article 88 of Nghị định 168/2025/NĐ-CP), or online through the national household business registration portal (https://hokinhdoanh.dkkd.gov.vn). This differs from enterprise registration for a company, which is granted by Sở Tài chính tỉnh Gia Lai (the Gia Lai provincial Department of Finance).

Timing and what you receive

A household business file is processed within three working days from the date a valid file is submitted. What you receive is the household business registration certificate; the household business's tax code is the owner's personal identification number (clause 1 of article 11 of Luật Quản lý thuế 108/2025/QH15).

Once the licence is issued, the household business has to make its initial tax declaration, and may have a signboard and a name stamp made if it needs them for trading. A change of name, registered address, owner, household members, trading capital or business lines must be registered with the commune-level office within 10 days (clause 1 of article 100 of Nghị định 168/2025/NĐ-CP), even while trading is suspended; a suspension of 15 days or more must be registered at least three working days in advance, for no more than one year at a time (article 103, as amended by Nghị định 296/2026/NĐ-CP).

The all-inclusive service at Tư Vấn Sao Việt

Tư Vấn Sao Việt handles household business registration end to end for a service fee of 1.000.000 đồng, completed within three working days. You need only supply the basic details: you do not draft the file yourself and you do not deal with the authorities.

The service covers advice on choosing the name and the business lines, drafting the file, filing on your behalf, collecting the result and delivering it to you, and guidance on the initial tax declaration.

For clients who need the licence the same day there is an express package, with a surcharge agreed case by case.

The process

1. Advice and information You give us the intended name, the business lines and the trading address; Sao Việt advises free of charge and checks that they are acceptable.
2. Drafting, signed at your premises Sao Việt drafts the complete file on the prescribed forms and brings it to you to sign.
3. Filing with the commune or ward People's Committee We file on your behalf with the commune- or ward-level business registration office where the household business is based.
4. Collecting and handing over the result We collect the household business registration certificate, deliver it to you, and explain the initial tax declaration.