24/7 tax payment project - Continue to reform tax payment procedures

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Customs operations at Yen Phong Customs Branch (Bac Ninh Customs Department) Photo: T. Trang

Change into a new form

Instead of paying taxes at commercial banks for those banks to transfer tax payment information to the Customs authorities and State treasury for confirmation and approval for Customs clearance, now taxpayers are permitted to pay tax obligation directly on the Customs E-Payment Portal at anytime, anywhere and by any devices connected with internet and are verified the payment by banks after receiving the tax payment request and then the goods shall be cleared immediately.

According to Deputy Director of Import Export Duty Department Le Manh Hung, the tax payment and other payments for imported and exported goods have implemented according to provision at Circular No. 184/2015/TT-BTC at Customs authorities, State Treasury and via credit organizations. Over the past time, the payment via credit organizations, especially banks signing a cooperation agreement on a collection with the General Department of Vietnam Customs has been effective and supported many taxpayers. Currently, though the amount paid electronically via banks and at State Treasury accounts for high rate (about 92%) of the total tax amount paid to the State budget, the support for taxpayers to pay taxes after cut-off time is still restricted. The Customs authorities have to assign their staff to serve cash collection.

In addition, the bank transactions which do not inquiry information or have inquired but the information was not consistent with the Customs database, so the e-payment via Customs E-payment Portal cannot be implemented. Reason was due to the inconsistency between information declared by enterprises and payment information provided by the Customs E-payment Portal, but banks are not allowed to correct it without approval of taxpayers, resulting in wrong and misleading and carrying out e-payment for taxpayers, that affects the Customs clearance time and does not meet the clearance speed of the VNACCS

Therefore, to meet the requirements of administrative reform, the Customs is requested to upgrade its E-payment Portal to implement targets: creating maximum favorable conditions for taxpayers to pay taxes at anytime, anywhere and any devices; minimizing cash payment; ensuring payment information to be liquidated promptly and accurately; reducing tax payment time and clearing goods right after paying taxes. Thereby, shortening Customs processing time for imported and exported goods to the average level of ASEAN-4 according to the Government’s direction. Recently, the General Department of Vietnam Customs has approved the project “E-tax payment via banks and Customs clearance 24/7”. This is a major project of the Customs in 2017 to support enterprises on directly paying taxes at the Customs E-Payment Portal (24/7).

Raising the initiative for enterprises

According to a representative of Import-Export Duty Department, the new form of taxpayers will further simplify the tax payment procedures, save time and costs for enterprises and open more payment channels for taxpayers. Furthermore, enterprises can take initiative in paying taxes at anywhere having internet cover, at any time and any devices. The tax payment will no longer depend on working time, working places of collecting agencies such as: banks, State treasury or Customs

Especially, the new form will guarantee information of taxpayers during transactions on the system and overcome restrictions on payment information fields for the exchange of one or more payment receipts via interbank and overcome shortcomings in transaction time of commercial banks.

For management agencies, the 24/7 tax payment form will save the human resource, keep security in the management and simplify the tax payment procedures. Ensuring the accurate deduction of tax debts in a timely fashion right after tax payment of enterprises put an end to wrong enforcement for enterprises after paying taxes. Minimizing the correction of vouchers of insufficient and wrong information. This will increase the satisfaction of the business community and foreign investors.

This form will help commercial banks signing a cooperation agreement on a collection with the General Department develop and improve the payment service for customers, attract many potential customers and limit errors in the payment documents.

How to implement?

It is known that according to the progress of the project, taxpayers will have to provide information about digital signatures signed in VNACCS; Register authorization of account debit for 24/7 tax payment and Customs clearance services; and Register with the commercial banks where their accounts were opened and provide for the Customs in July 2017.

On the implementation of this project, the Customs Department will amend and supplement the procedures promulgated together with Decision 384 / QD-TCHQ regulating the information exchange on e-Customs declaration, tax payment and collection, late payment, fines, fees, charges and other levies, tax guarantees for imported and exported goods; and developing information technology system and guiding documents on the use and implementation of the system for taxpayers.

Along with that, to implement the project, the Customs authorities will sign additional cooperation agreements with the commercial banks that have signed the cooperation agreement on tax collection. Accordingly, these banks will agree with the General Department of Customs the official message in information exchange.

The General Department of Vietnam Customs officially deployed the electronic tax payment and Customs clearance project 24/7 VCN – From the beginning of November 2017, the Customs shall pilot the exchange of information and ...

The commercial banks signing a cooperation agreement on the collection will sign an unconditional and irrevocable authorization with taxpayers to allow for commercial banks to deduct money from the payment account of taxpayers at those commercial bank branches to carry out transactions of tax payment and clearance 24/7. At the same time, transferring the list and written commitments of the taxpayers and unconditional and irrevocable authorization to the General Department of Vietnam Customs. Besides, supplementing and upgrading the information exchange software to receive the message from the General Department of Vietnam Customs to transfer the payment order of the taxpayers (check and verify the digital signatures of taxpayers and Customs as well as the account balance of taxpayers).