VietFinanceNews.com - Systems of co-operation between the General Department of Taxation and provincial tax authorities are being reviewed to better manage corporate tax collections from major enterprises nationwide, a department official has told Viet Nam News.
Tax collections from large enterprise had long been under the primary management of local tax at authorities in the city or province in which the enterprise was headquartered, said the director of the department's major enterprises division, Dang Ngoc Minh.
Such tax collections would now be centralised with the General Department of Taxation, Minh said, noting that the largest companies paid around 80 per cent of corporate income taxes collected.
Centralised and consistent tax procedures were needed to meet the requirements of international integration and administrative reform, he added
Companies classified as major companies are those meeting specified criteria as to earnings, annual tax payments, amount of capital and assets, and number of employees.
About 35 corporations and groups with 450,000 subsidiaries currently fell into this category, including State-owned enterprises like Electricity of Viet Nam, Vietnam Airlines, the VNPT Group, and Vietcombank, as well as private and foreign-owned enterprises like ANZ Bank, Tan Tao Group and Unilever, he said.
"Some companies which do not make a large contribution to the State budget but use a large number of workers – such as textiles and garment firms – are also on the list," said Minh.
"Enterprises can declare tax via the internet and still make tax payments at local tax agencies. But central data is integrated with local systems and we immediately receive it from the local agencies, helping reduce the time enterprises have to work directly with local tax authorities."
The centralisation of data would allow the General Department of Taxation to assess operational efficiency and build an accurate database about these enterprises, Minh said.
"We will supply information to the Ministry of Finance, point out difficulties faced by companies, propose solutions for the difficulties as well as policies to further facilitate the enterprises."
Deputy Minister of Finance Do Hoang Anh Tuan said the department would also co-operate closely with local agencies in estimating tax payments based on companies' monthly, quarterly and annual reports.
The ministry would also be able to make a specific analysis of the tax payments in different sectors, adjusting policies if certain sectors were making larger contributions than others, Tuan said.
With its wider authority and greater resources, the department would also be able to audit compliance with tax obligations more effectively than local authorities, he said.
Vietcombank deputy director Nguyen Thi Tam said that the important thing for enterprises was simple and easy-to-follow tax procedures.
"We think that centralisation of tax management is a good thing, and hopefully it will help enterprises tackle tax difficulties more effectively," Tam said.
Vu Xuan Cu, a representative of military-run mobile phone service provider Viettel, said that the General Department of Taxation and provincial tax agencies needed to clarify their co-operative regime and publicise it to avoid causing confusion for enterprises.
Dam Thi Huyen, deputy director of petroleum products distributor Petrolimex, agreed, saying that companies, would otherwise face new complexity during tax declaration and payment processes.
