Regarding the city’s efforts to ensure State budget revenue from the beginning of the year, as well as difficulties and determinations to prevent tax fraud and increase State budget revenue in 2013, Vietnam Business Forum interviewed Mr Phi Van Tuan, Director of the Hanoi Tax Department. Huong Ly and Trinh Hai report.
Could you tell us about State budget collection results of Hanoi tax agencies since the start of this year?
State budget collection in 2013 is a pressing challenge for the taxation sector. Despite enormous efforts, the tax revenue in Hanoi, however, reached only VND80.28 trillion as of September, up 3.4 percent over the same period of 2012 and equal 53.6 percent of full-year estimates.
The disappointing tax revenue was attributed to worse economic performance in 2013 than 2012, while the budgetary estimation did not take this degree of bad development into account (estimated to increase State budget revenue by VND28 trillion, equal to 30.2 percent of the income in 2012). State budget collection will be largely affected by economic activities in the remaining months of the year.
Many companies have actually fallen into real difficulty and they cannot access credit sources to resume and revive production and business activities. Bad debt increased 30 percent over the same period from a year earlier. In the first nine months, Hanoi saw 9,056 companies end operations, causing a tax reduction of VND1 trillion, while 12,658 new business establishments have no taxable incomes. This is a major challenge for State budget collection in 2013.
How have the Hanoi taxation authorities supported and facilitated companies?
Since early this year, tax offices in Hanoi have promptly answered questions and problems from tens of thousands of taxpayers by various forms (face to face meetings, in writing, or by telephone). Hanoi tax agencies have organised dozens of workshops and dialogues on new tax policies for taxpayers, further deployed online tax declarations and facilitated taxpayers to declare taxes. So far, more than 84,000 businesses have registered online tax declarations, accounting for 80 percent of Hanoi-based businesses).
But, Hanoi tax authorities pursue companies deliberately delaying tax payment or evading taxes. Coercive measures are taken on companies with taxes more than three months overdue.
Many tax frauds are quite complicated. Taxpayers use falsified invoices to appropriate and reduce tax or earn tax refunds. What measures have Hanoi tax authorities taken to prevent this?
While intensifying support for enterprises, the Hanoi tax authorities have also tightened management, increasing income, preventing losses and reducing tax arrears. These are always the key tasks of the Hanoi tax authorities.
In the first eight months of 2013, we issued 452,097 notices of tax debt and tax arrears, issued 1,957 decisions on coercive measures to collect VND881 billion of taxes for the State Budget.
The construction of taxpayers’ invoice database has brought initial positive results and helped prevent illegal invoice trading and use.
In the remaining three months of 2013, we continue sharing difficulties with the business community, and accelerate administrative reform, while intensifying measures to prevent tax losses to achieve the highest result (estimated at VND125,852 billion, equal to 84 percent of initial estimation). We will also strengthen internal control to timely detect and treat individuals and collectives having signs of troubling enterprises and ensure proper and sufficient collection of taxes for the State Budget.
Hanoi tax authorities have issued a list of 7,451 companies using more than 60,000 invoices as having signs of illegality, and deducted VND141 billion of value-added tax.
Thus far, 6,514 out of the 7,451 companies have revised their declared data, resulting in a reduction of VAT to VND85 billion.
Đăng ký: VietNam News