by Tax & Accounting Consulting Department Vinasc Accounting and Tax Consulting Co., Ltd. on November 28, 2025
Dear Businesses and Partners,
The Social Insurance Law No. 41/2024/QH15 was passed by the National Assembly and officially took effect from July 1, 2025. This is a major reform with many fundamental changes, directly affecting human resource strategies, operating costs and compliance obligations of businesses as well as business households.
Through consulting work, Vinasc has noticed a core change that is easily overlooked: the addition of mandatory social insurance participants. This means additional financial obligations and collection risks if the unit does not update in time.
Here is an analysis of the key changes and recommendations from Vinasc:
Impact analysis from Vinasc
A. Expanding the number of participants in compulsory social insurance (Special note)
The 2024 Social Insurance Law has added groups of subjects that are required to participate, instead of voluntarily or not regulated as before.
- Subject 1: Business owner
- New regulation: Business owners of registered business households are required to participate in social insurance.
- Impact: Previously, this group often participated in voluntary social insurance or did not participate at all. The new regulation forces business households to recalculate the cost problem, because they have to pay social insurance for the household owner, in addition to lump-sum taxes.
- Subject 2: Unsalaried business managers
- New regulation: Enterprise managers, controllers, representatives of state capital, representatives of enterprise capital at the company and parent company, managers and executives of cooperatives and cooperative unions who do not receive salaries are also subject to compulsory social insurance participation.
- Risk: Many private enterprises and family companies often have Directors/Board Members who do not receive salaries to reduce personal income tax or optimize costs. From July 1, 2025, this group will have to pay social insurance, businesses need to pay attention to avoid being charged back.
- Subject 3: Part-time workers with monthly salary equal to or higher than the reference level.
B. Reduce pension eligibility to 15 years
Regulation: Reduce the minimum social insurance payment period to receive pension from 20 years to 15 years .
Vinasc’s perspective: This is an opportunity for new groups (business owners, unpaid managers) to easily access pensions even if they join late.
C. Change the basis for calculating contributions and benefits: From "Basic salary" to "Reference level" (New)
Here are the most important technical changes affecting C&B (Compensation & Benefits):
- Regulation: Abolish the "Basic salary" (currently 2.34 million VND). Instead, the Law uses the "Reference level" as the basis for calculating the maximum social insurance contribution level and the level of enjoyment of some regimes (such as death benefits, maternity benefits...).
- Mechanism: The reference level will be decided and adjusted by the Government based on the consumer price index (CPI) and economic growth, no longer rigidly fixed.
- Impact: Businesses need to update the parameters in their accounting/human resources software. Allowances previously calculated based on "Basic Salary" (for example, one-time maternity allowance equal to 2 times the basic salary) will be converted to "Reference Level".
D. Strong sanctions against late payment and evasion
Late payment penalty: Must pay an amount equal to 0.03%/day calculated on the amount of late payment or payment evasion.
Enforcement measures: Authorities may require the use of invoices to be stopped.
Personal risk: The legal representative may be delayed in leaving the country if the enterprise evades social insurance payments for 12 months or more.
Recommendations from Vinasc
To ensure legal compliance and cost optimization, Vinasc recommends:
- Reviewing social insurance payment subjects: For individual business households and enterprises with management members who do not receive salaries, it is necessary to plan a budget for additional social insurance expenses arising from July 2025.
- Internal Communications: HR needs to clearly explain to former employees (joined before July 1, 2025) that their one-time withdrawal rights are still reserved.
- Compliance with payment obligations: With the regulation on postponing exit , the Board of Directors needs to direct the Accounting department to prioritize cash flow for social insurance obligations, avoiding legal risks affecting operations and personal reputation.
In summary: The Social Insurance Law 2024 expands the safety net but also increases compliance responsibilities. The risk lies not only in fines, but also in missing new mandatory subjects (Business Owners, Unpaid Managers) leading to large arrears in the future.
If you have any questions about identifying participants or reviewing compliance, do not hesitate to contact us for timely support.
Best regards,
Legal basis for reference: Law on Social Insurance No. 41/2024/QH15 (Article 2 on Participants; Chapter IV on One-time Social Insurance; Chapter IX on Handling of Violations).