Enterprises should be considered as a driving force in tax administration reform

Transaction at the Single Window section in Thai Nguyen Province Tax Department. Photo: T.H.

Many administrative formalities have been abolished

With the aim of simplifying administrative formalities, shortening processing procedures, modernizing and applying information technology to tax management activities, reducing the time for undergoing administrative formalities, ensuring transparency and raising responsibilities of a so called state agency, the General Department of Taxation has conducted many tasks with 37 measures and 90 deliverables in a systematic and synchronous manner from the headquarters down to the roots. Therefore, the General Department of Taxation has submitted to the Ministry of Finance to cease 32 administrative formalities and streamline 40 others. Together with the above mentioned achievements, procedures, rules and regulations on tax management have been further reviewed and amended, resulting in 51 of 70 procedures and rules adjusted and amended.

Moreover, the General Department of Taxation has also paid attention to expanding the system of tax declaration via the internet. Due to their efforts, achievements have been significant. According to a report, 99.47% of enterprises that are subjected to tax management declared their taxes via the internet by June 30, 2016. E-tax payment service was has carried out at all 63 provinces and cities; the rate of enterprises that registered to join the service reached 95.31%. The number of enterprises having used the e-tax payment service accounted for over 80% with 208 thousand billion VND of tax contributing to the State Budget from the beginning of the year to now (equivalent to more than 52% of the total revenue). The General Department of Taxation is studying to apply e-drawback.

Notably, the General Department of Taxation is focusing on the project of e-declaration and e-tax payment applied to house rentals, real estate transfers (personal income tax and registration fees) and the project of e-tax payment for automobile and motorbike registration fees so that the reform of administrative formalities can be performed in a comprehensive and consistent way. The General Department of Taxation has assisted 210 enterprises to implement e-registration and releasing certified invoices via electronic means at Ha Noi Department of Taxation and Ho Chi Minh City Department of Taxation. At the same time, coordination with related agencies has been conducted to make plans of hiring an IT service for e –invoice with codes certified by the tax administration.

Enterprises should be regarded as a driving force for the reform

As one of the units having good achievements in reforming tax formalities, Ha Noi Department of Taxation has applied advanced IT to their daily operation in a comprehensive manner for the purpose of enterprises’ benefits, minimizing tax payers’ costs and enhancing effectiveness and efficiency in tax management.

Mr. Mai Son, Deputy Director of Ha Noi Department of Taxation revealed: “Administrative formalities reform has contributed greatly to supporting and enabling tax payers, while assuring transparency and equity. Ha Noi Department of Taxation has upgraded the application of connection with associated agencies to modernize revenue collection, minimizing mediation procedures and phases, and enabling enterprises to pay tax at a variety of places places (banks or treasuries). The Department of Taxation has extended the forms of e-declaration and e- payment with prominent facilities which has been attractive to many tax payers”

Mr. Mai Son added: “up till now, 100% of staff have used emails in processing their work, in exchanging information with tax payers as preparation for exchanging e-documents with digital signatures later. Simultaneously, guidance to traders through emailing has been promoted to decrease frequency of movement. Besides, the tax administration regularly considers feedback from enterprises in terms of tax officials’ behavior via the hotline so that faults can be treated in a timely manner”.

Mr. Mai Son committed that Ha Noi Department of Taxation would further consider enterprises as a driving force for administrative reform, facilitating tax payers to benefit sufficiently from preferential mechanisms and to comply tax policies and legislation.

Assessing recent tax administration reform, Ms. Nguyen Thi Thuy Nga, the Chairwoman of the Finance Consulting and Accounting Ltd. Company (FAC) said: “From the view of an enterprise, I highly appreciated Tax administration’s effort giving us a hand through tax administration reform and staff’s behavioral changes. I believe that tax policies will reach a turning point in terms of transparency and convenience by 2017. The reality has proved that tax policies are enabling enterprises in tax declaration and transactions. Time saving is also money saving. Tax administration’s reform help enterprises to concentrate on their manufacture and commercial activities, bringing efficiency and profits to them. This is the premise to make up stable and last-long resources for State revenue”

For further tax administration reform and modernization, propaganda and assistance to tax payers so they understand and support tax policy implementation, it is essential to pay attention to tax agents’ roles. Ms. Nguyen Thi Thuy Nga shared that tax agents were considered mediation agents connecting the tax administration and enterprises, to h benefit of the State and tax payers. Thus, it would be easier for tax agents rather than tax authorities to promote tax policies. She added: “Tax policies have been changed a lot. If enterprises do not update the policies in a timely way, they will face more difficulties. Some enterprises dd not know about changes in tax policies until they meet tax management staff, they failed to update information. Meanwhile, others felt assured because they relied on tax agents”

Being aware of tax agents’ roles, Mr. Mai Son informed that the Ha Noi Department of Taxation would concentrate on developing tax agents in the following direction: Pushing assistance given to tax payers so the number of tax agents and their service quality should be raised. Accordingly, development and diversification of tax agent’s service would aim at making the agents bridges connecting Tax administration and tax payers.