"After nearly a month of suspending Math tutoring at home, the teacher has just announced that she has found a tutoring center, the class can resume from this week, the study time is still maintained 2 sessions/week. However, it is accompanied by an announcement that the tuition fee will increase from 100,000 VND to 150,000 VND/extra lesson", said Ms. Bui Thi Thanh Nhan (48 years old, Thai Binh).

According to the teacher's explanation, because she did not meet the conditions to register for a tutoring business according to Circular 29/2024, she had to "collaborate" with the tutoring center to maintain the class for the students, reluctantly increasing the tuition fee.

Originally, Ms. Nhan did not support extra classes, because she was afraid that her child would be stressed and pressured. But this year, her child is in his final year of high school, preparing to enter grade 10, so she is forced to register for extra classes in Math, Literature, and English.

"When the announcement was made to stop extra classes, I was secretly happy. If the whole class stopped taking extra classes, it would be fine, but now the teacher announced that it would reopen, and the students went but their children didn't go. If there were any problems with the exam results, the parents would feel embarrassed and guilty. I could only accept the increase of 50,000 VND/session and let my child return to class," said Ms. Nhan, adding that after Circular 29/2024 of the Ministry of Education and Training, parents were also "not happy", some gritted their teeth and accepted the tuition increase, others were struggling to find new classes for their children.

In a similar situation, Ms. Tran Bich Ngoc (42 years old, Hoang Mai, Hanoi) also had a headache with her child's extra tuition fees skyrocketing, adding several million VND/month.

Her eldest daughter is about to enter 10th grade, her youngest son is in 7th grade. Her parents work from morning to night, so they have to take extra classes at the teacher's house, so the parents can rest assured that they have a place to send their children after school. Now that the regulation prohibits paid extra classes, teachers register to teach at the center, and their children are also taken along.

Previously, studying at the teacher's house, 2 sessions a week, cost about 180,000 VND/session, but now the center, the tuition fee has increased to 250,000 VND. The teacher explained that because she had to "shoot" to the tutoring center, in accordance with the regulations of Circular 29/2024, she was forced to increase the teaching price. Thus, the child took three extra subjects: Math, Literature, English, the tuition fee increased by 140,000 VND/subject each week, the total tuition fee increased by nearly 600,000 VND/month/child.

"I was already not well off raising two children, now the extra tuition fees outside of school have increased, becoming a burden that makes the family's financial situation even more difficult," she said.

No increase is not allowed

With about 50 students, Mr. Dinh Tien Dung, an English teacher in Hanoi, decided to register his business to legalize his tutoring that has been going on for nearly 5 years. As a public school teacher, Mr. Dung could not be named in the registration form for establishing a sole proprietorship, so he had to ask a family member to be the one to register on his behalf.

However, what worries him is that the class has up to 30% of regular students attending. "With the new regulation, I don't know how to deal with these students. I can't bear to let them drop out of school, but teaching for free is also very difficult for me. I tried to find a tutoring center to send students to, but the tuition fee was pushed up 2.5 times higher than the current class fee," said Mr. Dung.

Mr. Dung is considering inviting more teachers to teach these students and renting another location instead of teaching at his home as before.

"If I implement these two options, plus the tax I have to pay after registering my business, I will definitely have to consider increasing the tuition fee," the male teacher said, expressing concern that if it increases, more or less students will stop attending. If it remains the same, the income from teaching will become increasingly limited, making it difficult to maintain the class.

According to Mr. Dung, it is understandable that many teachers increased tuition fees after Circular 29 took effect and he hopes to receive sympathy from parents.

Ms. Pham Thu Hoai, a consultant at a business registration support center in Hanoi, said that since Circular 29 was issued, the center has processed applications for dozens of teachers. Teachers often choose to register as a business household, the model that is easiest to manage, including in the tax payment process.

Except in cases where the district does not allow registration of tutoring business in the form of a business household (because there is no industry code), teachers must accept establishing a company. However, with simple tutoring activities at home, this form is quite complicated and risky.

According to Ms. Hoai, when registering a business household, there are two forms of tax payment: lump-sum tax (full-package tax) and self-declared tax. For the most convenience, most teachers choose the lump-sum tax form.

Regarding tax payment, in case of business registration and enterprise establishment, lawyer Nguyen Sam, Director of Ngoc Linh and Associates Law Firm, said that individuals and organizations need to comply with current regulations on taxes, fees and charges.

Accordingly, individuals and organizations must pay business license fees, corporate income tax or personal income tax depending on the type of business. Regarding value added tax, teaching is not subject to this tax. Individuals and business households that teach extra classes do not have to pay personal income tax or business license fees if their income from extra classes in the calendar year is VND 100 million or less.

Kim Nhung