Business households selling rooftop electricity (rooftop solar power) Is it necessary to register a business household?

What is a business household?

Pursuant to Article 79 of Decree 01/2021/ND-CP on business households specifically as follows:

– A business household is registered by an individual or household members and is responsible for all of their assets for the household’s business activities. In case household members register a business household, one member shall be authorized to act as the business representative. The individual who registers the business household, the person authorized by the household members to act as the business household representative, is the business household owner.

– Households engaged in agricultural, forestry, fishery, salt making and street vendors, snacks, traders, mobile businesses, seasonal businesses, and low-income service providers do not have to register as business households, except in the case of doing business in conditional business investment sectors. The People’s Committees of provinces and centrally run cities regulate low income levels applicable locally.

Does rooftop solar power business (rooftop solar power) need to register as a business household?

Pursuant to the provisions in Clause 1, Article 3 of Decree 39/2007/ND-CP, specifically as follows:

– An individual engaged in commercial activities is an individual who daily carries out one, several or all of the activities permitted by law in terms of buying and selling goods, providing services and other profitable activities but is not subject to business registration according to the provisions of the law on business registration and is not called a “trader” according to the provisions of the Commercial Law. Specifically, this includes individuals performing the following commercial activities:

+ Street trading (street trading) is buying and selling activities without a fixed location (street buying, street selling or both street buying and street selling), including receiving books, newspapers, magazines, and cultural products from traders who are allowed to trade in these products according to the provisions of law for peddling;

+ Petty trading is the activity of buying and selling small items with or without a fixed location;

+ Selling snacks is the activity of selling gifts, cakes, food, and drinks (drinks) with or without a fixed location;

+ Freight trading is the activity of buying goods from other places in each trip to sell to wholesale buyers or retailers;

+ Providing services: shoe shining, lottery ticket sales, lock repair, car repair, car parking, car washing, hair cutting, painting, photography and other services with or without a fixed location;

+ Regular, independent commercial activities without other business registration.

From the above basis, households doing business in rooftop solar power (rooftop solar power) still have the obligation to register business households in accordance with the provisions of law.

Legal regulations on business household registration

The right to establish a business household and the obligation to register a business household are specified in Article 80 of Decree 01/2021/ND-CP specifically as follows:

– Individuals and household members who are Vietnamese citizens with full civil act capacity according to the provisions of the Civil Code have the right to establish business households according to the provisions of this Chapter, except for the following cases:

+ Minors, people with limited civil capacity; people who have lost their civil act capacity; people with difficulty in cognition and behavior control;

+ People who are being prosecuted for criminal liability, detained, are serving prison sentences, are serving administrative measures at compulsory drug treatment facilities, compulsory education establishments or are banned by the Court from holding certain positions, practicing professions or doing certain jobs;

+ Other cases as prescribed by relevant laws.

– Individuals and household members specified in Clause 1 of this Article are only allowed to register one business household nationwide and are entitled to contribute capital, buy shares, and purchase capital contributions in the enterprise as individuals.

– An individual or household member registering a business cannot simultaneously be the owner of a private enterprise or a general partner of a partnership unless otherwise agreed by the remaining partners.

Pursuant to Article 87 of Decree 01/2021/ND-CP on business household registration, specifically as follows:

– Business household registration is done at the district business registration authority where the business household’s headquarters is located.

– Business household registration documents include:

+ Application for business household registration;

+ Personal legal documents for business household owners and household members registering business households in case household members register business households;

+ A copy of the meeting minutes of household members on the establishment of a business household in case household members register a business household;

+ Copy of the household member’s authorization document for a member to be the owner of the business household in case household members register the business household.

– Upon receiving the dossier, the district business registration authority shall issue a receipt and issue a business household registration certificate to the business household within 03 working days from the date of receipt of the valid dossier. In case the dossier is invalid, within 03 working days from the date of receipt of the dossier, the district business registration authority must notify the applicant or business household founder in writing. The notice must clearly state the reason and requests for document amendments and supplements (if any).

– If after 03 working days from the date of submitting the application for household business registration, you do not receive the Certificate of household business registration or do not receive a notice requesting amendments or supplements to the household business registration dossier, the person who established the business household or business household has the right to complain and denounce according to the provisions of law on complaints and denunciations.

– Periodically in the first working week of every month, the district-level Business Registration Authority sends a list of business households registered last month to the Tax Authority at the same level, the Business Registration Office and provincial-level specialized management agencies.