Online public service in Tax is changing

Online tax payment – one public service of the finance section that has been applied successfully.

The General Department of Tax’s target in the period 2015 – 2017 is to reform administrative formalities, shorten processes, standardize and reduce the number of documents and simplify the content of tax dossiers in processing electronic dossiers, renovating and enhancing IT applications in managing and making internet based tax management more transparent.

By 2017, some common public services for a large number of people and traders will be supplied at level 4, focusing on tax payments, fees and charges, tax exemption and reduction, drawback and providing e-tax services which assists tax-payers. Besides, document management software should be developed to ensure connection of e-documents among units in the General Department of Tax and a linkage with the Ministry of Finance. Simplification and abolishment of unnecessary administrative formalities, creating all favorable conditions and reducing time and cost for traders and people, especially administrative formalities concerning the UN’s ranking indicators of e-Government.

In the first quarter of 2016, the General Department of Tax deployed 10 IT applications to provide and support public service levels 3 and 4. These applications consist of tax-payers information; questions and answers in terms of tax policies, assistance activities via the internet such as online lodging of declarations for personal income tax accounts, invoices searching, tax dossier submission, invoices and bills lodgement, financial statement, tax payment, registering personal tax codes and subsidiary persons’ codes via the agencies in charge of payment.

Until now, the General Department of Tax has reviewed and assessed the implementation of e-invoices which have been authenticated for 200 enterprises in Ha Noi and Ho Chi Minh City. Besides, the General Department of Tax worked with Ha Noi Tax Department, Bac Ninh province and related units to collect opinions about e-coded invoices issued by tax authorities. Accordingly, basic procedures would be developed; requirements of IT systems, infrastructure, security, database, operation and supervision should be designed for expanding the e-invoice system.

In addition, e-payment projects for house rental fees and real estate transfer fees, registration fees for vehicles, drawback via the internet have been promoted by the General Department of Tax in terms of legal framework completion for operational procedures and IT applications. As planned, the pilot drawback via the internet will be conducted from November 2016.

For the project of fee payment via the internet, the General Department of Tax has submitted to the Ministry of Finance to sign a document to the Ministry of Public Security and Ministry of Transport for agreement on registration fee payments for automobiles and motorbikes. The Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of Transport reached consent on the proposal by the Ministry of Finance and assigned the Transport Police Department, Vietnam Register to work with the General Department of Tax for developing the legal basis and coordination. On the basis of these discussions, related parties agreed on the information to be shared and methods of exchange with the Vietnam Register for registration fee payments for automobiles and motorbikes.

From the source of the Transport Police Department, the Ministry of Public Security is assigning the Transport Police Department to develop and deploy nationwide automobile and motorbike registering activities via the internet (in 2016), meeting the requirements of modernization and carrying out Resolution No. 36a/ NQ-CP. In the light of the Transport Police Department’ proposal, people would make advance declaration through the internet by themselves and send e-mails to the portal of the police administration, then they would bring their means of transport with frame and machine numbers, number panels and submit a declaration in paper attached to the original dossiers to the Police. At present, the Transport Police Department is developing a project to establish infrastructure, facilities as well as applications to satisfy the above mentioned requirements. Under the project, the Transport Police Department would have the technical basis to connect with tax authorities. Thus, the Transport Police Department proposed the General Department of Tax to perform e-registration fee content and payment at the same time while implementing the registering of vehicles via the internet. The General Department of Tax is discussing with the Transport Police Department to reach agreement on the implementation.

In 2016, Tax administration has set targets to achieve administrative reform at the level of ASEAN-4 in three criteria groups: examination before drawback, risk management in inspection, tax examination, time and results of settlement of tax appeals. These are the fundamental foundations to implement e-Government in the field of tax in a smooth and efficient manner.