The Ministry of Home Affairs in Vietnam has put forward a proposal to allocate budget support for four specific groups contributing to mandatory social insurance (BHXH). This initiative is part of the draft amendment to the Social Insurance Law currently under review.

The four groups eligible for this support include: household business owners registered for business, managers of enterprises and cooperatives who do not receive salaries, members of boards of directors, general directors, and other elected management positions within cooperatives, as well as Vietnamese workers employed abroad and their spouses who do not receive a salary but are sent for work assignments alongside representatives of Vietnamese state agencies overseas.

Currently, these groups are fully responsible for their social insurance contributions without any employer contribution. For instance, registered household business owners will be required to start mandatory contributions from July 1, 2025, while other household owners will follow suit from July 1, 2029. As of 2024, approximately 80,000 household businesses are expected to pay taxes based on declared income, alongside over two million businesses using the fixed tax method.

The contribution rate for household business owners is set at 25% of the average monthly salary, which includes 22% for retirement and survivorship funds, 3% for sickness and maternity funds, and an additional 4.5% for health insurance. This means that household business owners could be paying over one million VND monthly based on an average salary of 3.5 million VND.

Despite being mandatory contributors, the Ministry explains that their obligations are similar to those of voluntary contributors, which has led to comparisons, especially since voluntary contributors receive state budget support. Currently, the government provides 20-50% of voluntary social insurance contributions based on rural poverty standards, with support available for up to 120 months.

The proposed law is expected to be presented to the National Assembly for discussion and approval in October, with an effective date set for March 1, 2027. By the end of 2025, it is projected that around 21.5 million people will be participating in social insurance, representing 45% of the working-age population, with approximately 18.9 million in the mandatory sector and 2.6 million in the voluntary sector.

As the coverage expands, the number of individuals receiving pensions, monthly social insurance benefits, and unemployment benefits is also expected to increase.