Customs Sector focuses on clearing flow of import and export and completing revenue collection target

	Revenues of 11 customs departments account for 88.4% of total revenue of customs sector
	Modernization is the top priority of the Customs sector
	Deputy Finance Minister gives flowers to celebrate the 77th anniversary of the establishment of Customs sector

Vessels loading and unloading goods at Son Duong port (Vung Ang Economic Zone). Photo: H. Nu

Positive results

Since April, when the Covid-19 epidemic has been controlled. In addition to the strong recovery of enterprises, the Customs has implemented solutions to remove difficulties for the business production of enterprises. The Customs authorities at all levels has taken measures to clear the flow of import and export goods, aiming at regaining growth momentum. The sector has also promoted administrative reform.

According to the statistics, the Customs revenue in the first nine months of the year saw an year-on-year increase by 14.7% to VND328,832 billion, meeting 93.4% of the estimate.

According to Tran Bang Toan Deputy Director of Import and Export Duty Department under the General Department of Vietnam Customs, the Customs sector nearly achieves the revenue target thanks to many factors. The imports and exports surge such as petroleum product, iron and steel and iron and steel products, computers, electronic products, machinery and equipment for construction project.

The Customs sector has improved the Customs-Business partnership by holding dialogue conferences to solve problems and disseminate new legal documents. Thereby, the Customs has promptly answered the difficulties and problems of enterprises. The sector has actively coordinated with operational units to propose solutions on anti-revenue loss to complete the target, Toan said.

Many departments achieve high revenue

The import and export revenue of the top 10 localities shows positive results. HCM City Customs Department tops in the list with the increase in revenue by 20.82% to VND104,264 billion, meeting 89.50% of the estimate.

According to HCM City Customs Department, the import and export turnover of many items soared compared with the same period of the year such as petroleum products up 139%, iron and steel up 6.9%, contributing to the State budget VND4,401 billion, imported chemical products up 15.4%, contributing VND4,080 billion to the State budget.

Hai Phong Customs Department’s revenue rose by 20.59% to VND58,098 billion, meeting 91.31% of the estimate. Hanoi Customs Department’s revenue increased by 19.64% to VND 88.97%, meeting 88.97% of the estimate. Dong Nai Customs Department’s revenue grew by 11,73% to VND18,563billion, reaching 104.28% of the estimate. Binh Duong Customs Department’s revenue soared 1.35% to VND11,217 billion.

Thanh Hoa Customs Department collected VND15,369 billion, up 64.59%, reaching 153.69%. The total revenue from crude oil was over VND12,253 billion, accounting for 82.9% of the total revenue of the department. The revenue of other items reached about VND2,326.6 billion, accounting for 15.8% of the total revenue.

The revenue of Quang Ninh, Bac Ninh, Quang Ngai Customs Departments rose by 61.26%, 10.90% and 28,57% to VND11,281, VND9,647 and VND9,010 billion, respectively.

Ha Tinh Customs Department’s revenue went up 28.65% to VND7,728 billion, meeting 91.4% of the estimate. According to the provincial customs department, the local business community has restored strongly since the epidemic was under control.

Enterprises have escalated implementation of customs procedures for items such as drinks, consumer goods, tapioca starch, electronic goods, sawn timber, wood chips, etc, which the turnover and revenue have surged compared with the same period of the previous year. Ha Tinh Customs Department has attracted 346 enterprises to participate in import-export activities across the area, up 0.28% compared to the same period in 2021.

Hitting the target soon

Mr. Tran Bang Toan said in the first nine months of the year, the revenue is mainly from crude oil and petroleum products, reaching VND19,750 billion. The price of imported coal also rose by 2.2 times compared to the estimate, expanding revenue by about VND 6,300 billion. However, import-export turnover with tax and revenue decreased gradually from July.

The import and export turnover with tax and the revenue in July decreased by 14.8% and 11.1%, respectively. The turnover and the revenue in August fell 1.19% and 1.23%, respectively compared with July. The turnover and the revenue in September went down 9.9% compared with August. Due to the concern about the epidemic outbreak, so in the first six months of the year, enterprises have imported a large volume of goods for production at the end of the year, so the import-export turnover has gone down gradually.

The end of the year is the rainy season, electricity from hydropower plants is abundant. On the other hand, coal prices are still high, the amount of imported coal will fall, renewable energy projects have also been completed. Therefore, the import of machinery and equipment has not occurred.

The 50% reduction in registration fee is not applied and the consumer demand has plunged, so that the revenue from the import of auto assembly components across the Ha Nam Ninh and Quang Nam Customs Departments sharply decreased since July.

Currently, the volume of inventoried iron and steel is still large and the price is high, so enterprises may not increase the import output in the remaining months of the year. In the fourth quarter, the Customs sector will promote import tax refund for auto component importers when exporting products under Decree 101/2021/ND-CP and Decree 18/2021/ ND-CP.

In order to achieve and exceed the set targets, in the fourth quarter, the General Department of Vietnam Customs will actively coordinate with relevant agencies to propose solutions to prevent revenue loss and assess the revenue collection and tax debt in the entire sector, take measures for the collection of revenue and tax debt to complete and exceed the target in 2022. The country’s top customs regulator also monitors and assess the revenue collection 2022, develops a plan for revenue collection in 2023, in the period of 2023 - 2025.

At the online meeting on October 3, the Director General of the General Department of Vietnam Customs Nguyen Van Can requested that during applying policies on tax exemption, reduction and extension under the Resolutions of the National Assembly Standing Committee to implement the goal of the socio-economic development plan and the State budget, creating resources for recovery of socio-economic development, customs units must drastically implement solutions to facilitate trade, improve the efficiency of state management, anti-revenue loss in performing the task of state revenue collection in 2022, and strive to achieve the targets assigned by the Ministry of Finance.

Units must effectively implement policies to support enterprises; strengthen the fight against revenue loss through supervision and inspection of customs procedures, post- clearance audit, specialized inspection, and fight against smuggling and trade fraud; focus on anti-fraud checks on quantity, value, codes, origin, trademarks of goods, etc. Strictly control, promptly detect and prevent illegal transportation and smuggling into inland; Importing goods with counterfeit trademarks, infringing intellectual property rights…; proactively review, classify, collect and handle tax debts incurred before January 1, and prevent new debts in 2022 by inspection and audit.