Ba Ria – Vung Tau Customs: facilitation while raising and controlling revenues

	Ba Ria – Vung Tau Customs: Effective loss revenue prevention in the pandemic
	103 enterprises owe tax debt of more than VND 100 billion at Ba Ria – Vung Tau Customs

Trade facilitation to support enterprises is a key solution to ensure revenues of Ba Ria-Vung Tau Customs Department. Photo: N.H

Many large revenues declined

Total trade turnover in 2022 decreased 3.4% year-on-year to US$25 billion. Especially, import and export activities were gloomy due to a lack of orders and difficulties in export markets. Many enterprises only maintained production and stopped operations, as reported by Ba Ria-Vung Tau Customs Department.

The above movements greatly impacted Ba Ria-Vung Tau Customs Department’s revenue. While revenue from crude oil exports and coal and petroleum imports increased, many others saw a strong decline.

Specifically, crude oil exports reached about 2.29 million tons, worth US$1.94 billion, down 18% in volume and up 25% in value compared to 2021 thanks to the 19% increase in price year-on-year. As a result, the tax revenue from this item rose 18% compared to 2021 to VND 2,927 billion. For coal, import turnover increased by 44% to US$472 million, helping increase tax revenue by 58% to VND 1,532 billion. Petroleum imports also rose by 16% in 2022 to US$78 million, helping to increase tax revenue by 10% to VND 258 billion.

Meanwhile, the imported machinery and equipment to create fixed assets and serve large projects in the province in 2022 declined 73% compared to 2021 to US$248 million; corresponding to 71% in tax revenue to US$652 billion. Similarly, the import turnover of many taxable items such as iron and steel, agricultural products, and nutritional products also dropped, pulling the revenue down. Specifically, revenue from iron and steel decreased by 17%, to only VND4,374 billion; agricultural products by 37%, to VND 2,910 billion, nutritional products by 15%, to only VND 585 billion.

Mr. Lo Trong Ngoc Tuong, Deputy Head of Import-Export Tax Division of Ba Ria - Vung Tau Customs Department, said that in the context of Vietnam's deepening integration in the world and the region with 17 signed FTAs, import tax rates for many items have been revised down.

Further, the implementation of Decree 101/2021/ND-CP reduces the import tax rates for some raw materials for animal feed production such as wheat from 3% to 0%, and corn kernels from 5% to 2%.

In addition, the implementation of tax exemption and reduction policies under Decree 15/2022/ND-CP dated January 28, 2022 and the fiscal and monetary policies to support the social-economic development and recovery program under Resolution 43/2022/QH15 dated January 11, 2022, making tax rates of some items decrease from 10% to 8% from February 1, 2022 and Decree No. 20/2022/UBTVQH15 made the department’s revenues decline.

Therefore, the budget revenue by the end of December 2022 at Ba Ria - Vung Tau Customs Department only reached VND20,392 billion decreasing by 10.5% compared to 2021.

Trade facilitation while controlling revenues

In 2023, it is forecast that the domestic and world economic situation will continue to face difficulties, putting great pressure on the state budget collection of Ba Ria - Vung Tau Customs Department. Facing that situation, to fulfill the assigned target of VND 21,700 billion in 2023, the Director of Ba Ria - Vung Tau Customs Department Nguyen Truong Giang has requested units to focus on implementing trade facilitation measures to support production and business and import and export activities.

Specifically, the department will focus on key tasks of administrative reform, enhancing online public services, ensuring publicity, transparency and creating favorable conditions for import and export activities, proactively applying information technology in administrative reform, customs modernization, meeting tasks and applying the achievements of the industrial revolution 4.0.

The above solutions aim to shorten the time for customs clearance, reduce costs for enterprises, improve the business environment, and enhance national competitiveness and attract enterprises to implement customs procedures at Cai Mep - Thi Vai port cluster.

Ba Ria - Vung Tau Customs Department will also continue to develop the Customs-Business partnership and build a program to support businesses to comply with the law.

In addition to trade facilitation, to improve the effectiveness of state management and combat revenue loss in the state budget collection task in 2023, Director Nguyen Truong Giang also said that the unit would focus on collecting and analyzing data, identifying signs of risks to take appropriate inspection, supervision and control measures; post-customs clearance audit, specialized inspection, fight against smuggling, trade fraud; focus on inspecting quantity, value, code and origin.

103 enterprises owe tax debt of more than VND 100 billion at Ba Ria – Vung Tau Customs

In particular, the unit will strictly control tax refund, organize the implementation of anti-fraud solutions in tax refund work under the direction of the General Department of Customs in Official Letter 4539/TCHQ-TXNK dated September 21, 2021; coordinate with the domestic tax authorities and other authorities to prevent VAT refund fraud, ensuring effectiveness and legality. .