Businesses will soon be assisted for extension of tax and land rent payment

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Nguyen Thi Kim Cuc, Chairwoman of the Vietnam Tax Consultants’ Association,

The Government recently issued Decree 41/2020/ND-CP extending deadline of tax and land rent fee payment to support businesses and individuals affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. Thus, after s short time drafting and gathering comments, the decree was issued soon, meeting expectations of the business community. Could you tell us about this issue?

Based on the Prime Minister's Directive 11, the Ministry of Finance drafted and consulted with other ministries quickly to submit Decree 41 to the Prime Minister, and the decree was issued promptly.

In my opinion, the support package in Decree 41 has met requirements and is consistent with the current situation. Despite the current difficult situation, businesses still desire to be more exempted, the Government and the Ministry of Finance have considered comprehensively to ensure both budget revenue and support businesses to overcome current difficulties. Especially, in the complex development of the Covid-19 pandemic, expenditure on prevention of the disease is prioritised such as: quarantine, machinery, equipment for prevention, treatment and health protection of doctors, medical staff and citizens.

The support package worth 180 trillion for five beneficiary groups, Decree 41, is expected to have an impact on 98% of businesses. How do you assess the significance of the support policies in Decree 41?

I think the different point of the decree is that the deadline for VAT payment is also extended and the late payment interest is exempted. If the former policies on tax extension and exemption were not included this tax because it was included in the price of products and services. Only when goods and services were not sold and provided, the VAT payment was not required; if businesses sold goods or provided services, whether they suffered from losses or profits, they must pay VAT as prescribed by law.

In this package, the Government has extended five-month VAT payment for businesses affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, including sectors and industries such as manufacturing, construction and transportation; accommodation and catering services; education; healthcare, tourism and other cultural activities; sports, entertainment; movie screenings; credit institutions and foreign bank branches implementing solutions to support customers that are enterprises, organisations and individuals affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. This is an unprecedented issue. Thereby, Decree 41 has helped many organisations and individuals to enjoy benefits from this package.

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I am also a member of the Advisory Group of the National Council for Sustainable Development and Competitiveness of the Government and I recognise that all the Council's proposals are recognised by the Ministry of Finance and the General Department of Taxation and implemented promptly.

In addition to the timely promulgation of the decree, the large scale of support package, however, the performance is still the key issue. Are you concerned about this?

I can also understand that businesses are quite worryied when the decree is issued quickly but how it will be implemented in localities. However, this decree also specifies the implementation. Besides, the General Department of Taxation as well as local tax departments have taken specific measures.

After the decree was issued, Directors of Ha Noi city and Ho Chi Minh City tax departments answered specifically about how to carry out the procedures for an extension in the simplest way. The General Department of Taxation has synchronously performed in the entire sector to minimise the time spent by businesses.

Taxpayers who are subject to the extension must submit a single request for extension of taxes and land rental fee payment to tax authorities. Tax authorities are not required to notify taxpayers of the acceptance of extension of tax and land rent payment. This is very important because the decree was issued but if it is not promptly implemented, enterprises will not enjoy benefits.

I hope and believe that businesses will receive support packages in the timeliest manner.