Promoting review, classification and management of tax debt

Officials of the Import-Export Tax Department review regulations related to tax policy. Photo: H.Nu

Focusing on reviewing and handling debt

Recently, the Customs sector has focused on developing plans on handling and collecting overdue debts for effective and reasonable debt collection and handling solutions; ensure management, enforcement, and debt collection synchronously and consistently, meeting the goal of social justice among taxpayers in fulfilling their obligations to the State.

In particular, the General Department of Customs regularly inspects and urges customs departments of provinces and cities to collect tax debt on the basis of examining the classification of debt groups that can be collected and debt groups that cannot be collected. So that, issue decisions to assign debt collection targets to customs departments of provinces and cities; Direct units to review debt groups, in which each debt group has a detailed assessment of each debt according to each debtor, the actual status of the enterprise, handle all old debts, and prevent new debts from arising.

Customs departments of provinces and cities also closely monitor debts; Regularly monitor the results of implementing tax debt collection and enforcement measures; Synchronously coordinate many measures to urge right from the time tax debts arisen and continuously implement until debt is reduced.

In the first 6 months of 2024, units throughout the sector have implemented measures to handle and collect debt reaching VND 349 billion. Among them, some customs departments of provinces and cities have good tax debt recovery results such as: Hanoi reached VND 59.77 billion; Lao Cai reached VND 56.45 billion; Ho Chi Minh City reached VND 55.93 billion; Bac Ninh reached VND 46.61 billion; Can Tho reached VND 32.79 billion...

In the post-clearance inspection work, the General Department of Customs also established a team to monitor, urge and collect tax debt and issue decisions to assign targets for recovery and handling of overdue tax debt and late tax payment interest, fines for administrative violations for overdue collection debts for management and in-charge units.

Accordingly, from January 1 to June 15, the Customs agency recovered VND 200 million in tax debt during post-customs clearance inspection. The amount of overdue tax debt that still needs to be recovered is over VND 141 billion. This debt arose before 2024, and no new debt arisen in 2024.

Notifying on reclassify the debt groups exactly

According to Mr. Nong Phi Quang, Deputy Director of the Import-Export Tax Department, the solutions has been applied but many difficulties remain. Specifically, debt management and debt review at units are still limited, leading to low debt recovery results.

Through review at the General Department of Customs, there is currently a situation where taxpayers have tax debt on many declarations but the debts have not been classified into two different debt groups (uncollectible debt group and collectible debt group).

In addition, taxpayers were classified as uncollectible debts, but after the business suspension period expired, they returned to their activities but the Customs agency has not reclassified them to the collectible debt group. Also according to Mr. Nong Phi Quang, the customs departments of provinces and cities need to direct their sub-departments regularly review and coordinate with relevant authorities to re-verify the operating status of enterprises to reclassify the debt group exactly.

Besides, review and firmly grasp the tax debt situation; classify debt groups and tax debt status of enterprises; Drastically handle, enforce, and collect tax debt according to the provisions of law, reduce tax debt, and periodically publicize enterprises with tax debts; Do not let new debt arise, do not let debt at December 31, 2024 be higher than December 31, 2023.

The General Department of Customs requires the customs departments of provinces and cities to focus on reviewing debt management records to effectively implement measures to urge, collect and handle tax debt to meet assigned targets.

In particular, the customs departments of provinces and cities direct affiliated and subordinate units to carry out debt management in cases of goods release declarations and bringing goods to storage; Timely check and review goods release declarations awaiting price consultation results, results of analysis, classification, inspection, bringing goods to storage, delay in approving additional declarations or not yet approving additional declarations, carrying out calculating late payment interest and sanctioning administrative violations (if any) according to regulations.

At the same time, units will strengthen the implementation of enforcement measures to collect tax debt according to the provisions of Articles 124 and 125 of the Law on Tax Administration 2019. In case the taxpayer owes overdue debt for more than 90 days from the expiration date. When the tax payment deadline expires, the extension period expires, the partly tax payment period expires, and the time for paying fines of administrative violations expires, the Customs agency must take enforcement measures to execute tax administrative decisions to urge tax debt recovery.

Units review debt management records to implement enforcement measures or enforcement measures have expired but debt has not been recovered or debt recovery is not enough to continue next implementing enforcement measures. In case enforcement measures to execute administrative decisions on tax management are not effective, the Customs agency moves on to the other enforcement measures.

Regarding the handling of temporarily collected tax debt, according to the General Department of Customs, in cases where a taxpayer has a declaration to pay temporarily collected tax but has not yet made tax liquidation according to regulations and owes tax (including import tax and VAT. ..), base on Clause 5, Article 35 of Circular 194/2010/TT-BTC and Article 21 of Circular 38/2015/TT-BTC as amended and supplemented in Clause 10, Article 1 of Circular 39/ 2018/TT-BTC, units handle temporary tax collection and monitor tax debt collected according to regulations.