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Many organizations and individuals take advantage of e-commerce business to conduct acts of producing and trading smuggled goods and counterfeit goods.

Coordinate to exchange information for tax collection

According to the National Steering Committee 389, e-commerce growth rate in Vietnam is quite high, over 25% in 2017, and over 30% in 2018. In addition to the positive aspects, this activity is generating many risks of losing consumer confidence, potentially causing adverse impacts on the sustainable development of the economy and people's lives. Many organizations and individuals take advantage of trading goods through e-commerce to carry out acts of producing and trading smuggled goods, counterfeit goods, intellectual property-infringing goods, poor-quality goods and conditional business goods, expired goods, goods of unknown origin and other violations. Many fake business websites provide false information about goods and services that deceive consumers. In particular, now many websites, social networks and foreign financial institutions... dominate the Vietnamese market but have not been fully controlled, causing tax losses.

Deputy Director of Inspection and Inspection Department (General Department of Taxation) Vu Manh Cuong, said that the General Department of Taxation reported to the National Steering Committee 389 about the specific results collected from Google and Facebook of companies using value-added online services. As in 2018, the General Department of Taxation collected more than 150 billion VND of tax, this is a modest number.

Deputy Director Vu Manh Cuong said, e-commerce business mostly make payment through banks. Recently, the Anti – Money Laundering Department under the Banking Supervision Inspection Agency has transferred valuable information to the General Department of Taxation for tax administration. Thereby, the General Department of Taxation has directed lower-level tax agencies to organize inspections. As a result, the Tax Authority found out the number of online businesses was very large. From 2014 to November 2017, the Tax Authority reviewed 598 organizations, the total amount of review was 512 billion VND; 17,130 individuals, with a total amount of 580 billion VND.

Wanting to manage taxation requires information, but e-commerce business has its own characteristics that do not show specific stores, offices, and business locations. On the other hand, compared to the traditional business model, e-commerce business is increasly done through services on the internet. Obviously, it is difficult to collect taxes if not doing business registration.

Clearly identify locations where fake goods are gathered

Recently, the Standing Office of the National Steering Committee 389 held a meeting with the relevant functional forces to develop a plan to strengthen prevention and combat the misuse of e-commerce activities to carry out trafficking, commercial fraud and counterfeit goods. Representatives of units are also concerned, because in e-commerce business, there is a situation of advertising genuine goods, but selling fake goods by domestic companies. On the other hand, this type of trading also has many potential risks of loss of information security, illegal payment across borders.

The Head of Online Customs Supervision Department (Anti-Smuggling Investigation Department, General Department of Customs) Nguyen Minh Tuan analyzed, management mechanism for import and export goods is regardless to goods exchanged through e-commerce. Customs authorities in the process of implementing procedures accept all e-commerce documents. However, due to the characteristics off small transactions, the subjects mainly take advantage of the delivery services of post offices and express delivery. According to current regulations, goods carried out by these two types are simplified in terms of procedures, simplified declaration (not declaring tax codes compared to ordinary imported goods), so there is the situation of reducing the value of goods in order to avoid paying taxes. On the other hand, compared to imported goods, goods under these two types are mostly exempted from specialized inspection. Currently, the General Department of Customs is reporting to the Ministry of Finance to propose amendments and supplements to current regulations to tighten management of express delivery goods, as well as delivery by post offices.

Also according to Mr. Nguyen Minh Tuan, in order to control e-commerce business, it is necessary to clearly identify the objects, groups, places of gathering, storage of goods, as well as fake goods production establishments at domestic delivery to intermediate transaction locations. There are two groups: Individuals and organizations have demands for orders from overseas through e-commerce through logistics services, this is an intermediary service of delivering and receiving goods and is responsible for carrying out procedures; those who directly trade these goods can order from abroad (near date), even produce counterfeit goods in the country to profit.

"In order to sieze counterfeit goods, you must know the location of storage and gathering of goods and production facilities. During the inspection process, if detecting imported goods, the Customs agency is responsible for checking procedures. On the other hand, in the case of detecting manufactured goods from inland, market management forces and police need to inspect production facilities,” Mr. Nguyen Minh Tuan shared.