Delegating the power to the government to waive, lower, or manage late tax penalties is suitable

National Assembly deputies participate in group discussions on draft laws. Photo: HD

Resolving the issue of using public assets in joint ventures and associations

According to delegate Pham Trong Nghia (Lang Son delegation), at this session, many draft laws are expected to be passed through a fast-track procedure to quickly complete the institutional framework and meet the demands of socio-economic development, national defense, and security.

However, commenting on the amendment and supplementation of the Law on the State Budget, the delegate suggested that the drafting agency consider supplementing the authority of the Provincial People's Council to issue resolutions stipulating local revenues, in addition to the existing provisions.

The reason is that according to the Law on the State Budget 2015 and the Law on Fees and Charges, the Provincial People's Council only has the authority to issue rates for fees and charges within the list of fees and charges under the authority of the locality. Therefore, legalizing this mechanism would aim to increase revenue for the State Budget.

Regarding the Law on Management and Use of Public Property, Delegate Pham Thuy Chinh (Ha Giang delegation), Deputy Director of the Finance and Budget Committee of the National Assembly, emphasized that the law amendment has very clearly demonstrated the decentralization of responsibilities for agencies and units entrusted with the management and use of public property.

With the completely new regulations on decentralization and authority, the draft Law, when applied, will resolve the difficulties that have been raised in the National Assembly's supervisions on the management and use of public property.

Delegate Pham Thuy Chinh cited the example of the approval authority for the use of public property in joint ventures and cooperation of public non-business units, which has been addressed in this draft law.

Through the supervision reports, the delegate believes that this is a fundamental solution to help public non-business units use and maximize the effectiveness of the assets they are using or are involved in joint ventures and cooperation

Need to be more proactive in handling late tax payments

Regarding the amendments to the Law on Tax Management, Delegate Ly Tiet Hanh (Binh Dinh delegation) said that the draft Law has proposed six main policy mechanisms.

Through this, it enhances the effectiveness of tax management, strengthens public service responsibilities to ensure fairness, equality, transparency, and consistency in the legal system.

However, according to the delegate, regarding the issue of late tax payments, the draft Law has only amended and supplemented the rules for determining the calculation period for late payment fees, but in practice, some contents still need to be revised.

Specifically, some contents related to the exemption, reduction, and handling of late payment fees are being decentralized, with the authority to handle them assigned to the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, the General Director of Taxation, the Director General of Vietnam Customs, the Minister of Finance, and the Prime Minister.

However, Delegate Ly Tiet Hanh believes that the handling of late payments needs to be handled promptly and decisively, because if it is due to procedures or regulations that prolong the time, the penalty will increase.

Therefore, the delegate proposed that the Government should specify the decentralization of authority to exempt, reduce taxes, and handle late payment penalties... to be more proactive and suitable to the actual situation.

At the same time, the delegate also proposed specific regulations on cases of tax exemption, reduction, and late payment penalties due to objective reasons, such as investors who have served a fixed-term prison sentence; or due to incorrect guidance from a state agency, leading to late payment; bankrupt businesses...

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Ho Duc Phoc speaks at the group discussion session.

Speaking at the group session, regarding the content of handling late payment fees, Delegate Prime Minister, Minister of Finance Ho Duc Phoc agreed with the proposal of Delegate Ly Tiet Hanh.

According to the Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Finance, this is a very important amount of money, but the current Law on Tax Management does not have this content, and it can wait until the comprehensive law revision, but it would also be very appropriate to amend it now under the "1 law amending 7 laws" project.

The Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Finance, said that transferring the authority of the National Assembly to the Government to resolve the exemption, reduction, and handling of late payment penalties will more promptly address the interests of businesses and individuals involved.

The Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Finance, cited some examples of cases, due to objective reasons such as business bankruptcy or inappropriate mechanisms from the management agency... the assignment of the Government to handle this issue is timely and reasonable.