HCMC – From March 1, 2026, business households will be required to use bank accounts bearing the exact name stated on their business registration certificates, instead of the household head’s personal name, under new regulations issued by the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV).
The requirement is stipulated in Circular 25/2025 on the opening and use of payment accounts, recently announced by the SBV. Accordingly, the name of a payment account must fully match the account holder’s legal identity.
For individual accounts, the account name must be identical to the full name shown on valid personal identification documents. For organizational accounts, including business households, the account name must strictly follow the name stated in the establishment license or business registration certificate.
In addition to enhancing transparency, the new regulation aims to reduce fraud risks by prohibiting the use of aliases or nicknames when opening payment accounts for individual customers.
The SBV said the tightening comes amid cases where fraudsters exploited banks’ previous allowance for nicknames or alternative display names to impersonate reputable brands, mislead money transfers, or conduct illegal activities.
The regulation, effective from March 1, 2026, is expected to have a direct impact on business households and individual entrepreneurs. Under the new rules, business households opening accounts for production and trading activities must register the accounts under the household’s official business name, instead of using personal accounts of household heads as commonly practiced.
For regulators, standardizing account names is expected to facilitate tax authorities’ efforts in reconciling cash flows and monitoring actual revenues.
The Ministry of Finance is drafting a decree on tax declaration, calculation and withholding for business households and individual entrepreneurs. The draft requires business households to declare all bank accounts related to their business activities to tax authorities, instead of only reporting electronic tax payment accounts as currently required.
Earlier, from January 1, 2026, business households shifted to tax declaration and payment based on actual revenue, replacing the lump-sum tax regime. Under the revised Law on Personal Income Tax, business households and individuals are subject to value-added tax and personal income tax if their annual revenue exceeds VND500 million.
By the end of 2024, Vietnam had around 3.6 million business households and individual entrepreneurs nationwide. Of these, about 2.2 million operated on a stable basis, contributing approximately VND26 trillion to the state budget.
