Developing detailed plan, striving to accomplish targets of revenue collection in 2021

Deputy Director General of Vietnam Customs Luu Manh Tuong made a speech at the conference. Photo: N.Linh

At this meeting, two important directions were grasped and deployed in the whole sector, including Directive 215/CT-TCHQ dated January 15, 2021 on the synchronous and drastic implementation of solutions on trade facilitation, improving the effectiveness of State management, combatting revenue loss in implementing State budget revenue tasks in 2021 and Official Letter 119/TCHQ-GSQL dated January 11, 2021 on enhancing the effectiveness of customs inspection and control.

Deputy Director General Luu Manh Tuong said in 2021, the General Department of Vietnam Customs was assigned an estimate of State revenue by the National Assembly under Resolution No. 128/2020/QH14 at VND 315,000 billion. This estimate is set based on the GDP growth of 6%; crude oil price is $45/barrel; free trade agreements (FTAs) continued in the period of deep reduction, with a number of new FTAs ​​signed. The Ministry of Finance assigned the target to strive for collecting State revenue in 2021, up 5% compared with the estimate (VND 331,000 billion).

This is an important task to be performed amid many difficulties arising from the reduction of tariffs under FTAs, to the application of tax exemption, reduction and refund policies leading to the revenue collected from import and export revenue was affected.

Besides that, the Covid-19 pandemic continued to be complex. Therefore, to build plans to complete target of State revenue collection, the General Department of Vietnam Customs issued Directive 215/CT-TCHQ.

The Deputy Director General said that this directive focuses on all duties of the Customs sector that need to be implemented. "To collect revenue, the units need to synchronously implement the stages from procedures, tax collection, inspection, supervision, control, risk management, anti-smuggling, trade fraud,"- Deputy Director General Luu Manh Tuong said on the important contents in the directive.

Directive 215/CT-TCHQ guides two groups of tasks, including facilitating and inspecting, monitoring, controlling and combating smuggling.

For facilitation, the units should focus on implementing the Government's Resolution No. 01/NQ-CP dated January 1, 2021 on main tasks and solutions to implement the Socio-Economic Development Plan and State budget estimates for 2021. Continue to implement measures to reform and modernise to facilitate enterprises; at the same time, focusing on solving problems so businesses can understand the policy regime.

"Avoiding the situation where a new policy is issued but still follows the old regulations, causing complaints and lawsuits later," Deputy Director General noted.

With the task of inspection, supervision, control, anti-smuggling and examination, units need to strengthen inspection and control against loss of revenue, HS code, price, C/O, and goods policy; tax exemption, reduction and refund. In the fight against smuggling, it is necessary to strengthen professional measures on drug control in all stages, levels and localities. Closely working with competent forces in the customs area in accordance with the functions, duties and authority, improving the efficiency of information collection, exchange and processing with foreign organisations and individuals, especially being information about cases and violations of specific subjects and shipments, drug trafficking, banned goods, goods infringing intellectual property rights.

Besides performing revenue collection, Deputy Director General Luu Manh Tuong requested the units perform well the debt settlement, classification and completion of all documents eligible for debt cancellation to send to the General Department of Vietnam Customs or the Provincial People's Committee to process debt relief procedures. For recoverable debts, units have drastically implemented measures to correctly and fully collect them.

Deploying the tasks of revenue collection, customs departments of the provinces and cities should monitor and follow the situation and promptly reflect changes in their management areas. Departments needed to base on the striving targets, allocate them to the branches to ensure the completion of the target together with the whole sector.

“On the basis of the contents of Directive 215/CT-TCHQ requesting the Customs Departments of provinces and cities to develop specific plans on the implementation of State revenue targets. In particular, they should be assessing the ability to collect revenue collection; analyse advantages and disadvantages when implementing assigned targets, propose a group of specific solutions to implement, report monthly to the General Department of Vietnam Customs; at the same time deploying measures to combat smuggling, trade fraud and tax debt collection to manage revenue,” Deputy General Director Luu Manh Tuong said.

Along with a thorough understanding of Directive 215/CT-TCHQ, at the meeting, the General Department of Vietnam Customs thoroughly explained to the units in the sector the Official Dispatch 119/TCHQ-GSQL dated January 11, 2021 on enhancing the effectiveness of customs inspection and control. Focusing on declaring information before goods arrive at border gates of land or inland waterways, customs procedures, customs inspection, supervision and control for imported grocery and consumer goods and customs management and supervision of goods in transit and temporary import and re-export.

The Deputy Director General asked the Customs Departments of provinces and cities to communicate to the business community the content in the official dispatch. “This was the existing regulation from legal documents of customs, synthesise and pay attention to the regulations, procedures need to be done in this official dispatch,” Deputy General Director Luu Manh Tuong said.

The units should work based on the official dispatch to implement specifically at border gates, to ensure to meet the import and export requirements of goods and management requirements under the current situation, avoiding fraud of types of goods; quantity; HS code and value. The units implement the official dispatch with a spirit of seriousness and compliance, avoid causing difficulties for the enterprise.