National Assembly Delegate Doan Nghe An proposed to clarify 3 contents when allowing the establishment of an independent inspection agency at the general and department level tax management agencies.

National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue chaired the working session on the morning of October 25 at Dien Hong Hall, National Assembly House. Photo: Quang Khanh

On behalf of the National Assembly Standing Committee, reporting on the explanation, acceptance and revision of the draft Law on Inspection (amended), Chairman of the Law Committee Hoang Thanh Tung said that, basically, the National Assembly deputies all agreed with the necessity of promulgating the Law on Inspection (amended) and agreed with the basic contents of the draft Law.

The Chairman of the National Assembly's Law Committee also explained a number of contents related to the provisions of the draft law on: District Inspectorate; the establishment of General Department and Department Inspectorates under the Ministry; Department Inspectorates under the General Department; Department Inspectorates; procedures for conducting inspection activities; handling overlaps and duplications in inspection activities and between inspection and auditing activities; responsibilities of heads of state management agencies, inspection agencies and inspection teams.

Chairman of the National Assembly's Law Committee Hoang Thanh Tung presented a report explaining, accepting and revising the draft Law on Inspection (amended). Photo: Quang Khanh

Speaking at the discussion on the above draft Law, Mr. Tran Nhat Minh - full-time National Assembly delegate of Nghe An Delegation gave his opinion on a number of contents. First of all, regarding the regulation allowing the establishment of an independent Inspection Agency at the General Department under the Ministry and the Department under the General Department for revenue management agencies such as: Tax, Customs... according to the provisions of the current Law, it is still performing the inspection function and arranging a team of civil servants to do inspection work, but there is no independent inspection organization; according to the draft Law on Inspection (amended) this time, it will be converted into an independent inspection organization, not causing major changes in the arrangement of staff and civil servants.

However, according to delegate Tran Nhat Minh, the drafting agency needs to clarify to consider appropriately on a number of aspects such as: Clarifying the content of authority and responsibility between the head of the Inspection organization under the revenue management agency and the Head of the revenue management agency at the General Department and Department level for the content of the inspected cases; as well as needing to clarify the retention of a part of the recovered money when these are agencies performing the collection function and have enjoyed an increased salary coefficient according to a special mechanism; expenses incurred to pay allowances for Inspectors of these Inspection agencies (if any).

Mr. Tran Nhat Minh - full-time delegate of Nghe An Delegation spoke at the discussion of the draft Law on Inspection (amended). Photo: Quang Khanh

Second, regarding the permission for inspection agencies to deduct a portion of the amount recovered through inspection, the draft law is stipulating "according to Government regulations", specifically according to Circular 327 dated December 26, 2016 of the Ministry of Finance, the current deduction level is from 10 - 30% depending on the amount recovered.

Regarding this content, delegate Tran Nhat Minh suggested that the deduction rate should be clearly stipulated in the Law to ensure clarity and consistency and should be stipulated at a compatible level, ensuring fairness between forces. For example, currently according to Resolution No. 325/2016 dated December 29, 2016 of the National Assembly Standing Committee, the State Audit Office is allowed to deduct 5%.

Speaking at the discussion, the delegate of Nghe An Delegation also pointed out some overlapping and contradictory provisions in the draft Law. For example, the Chief Inspector of the Ministry and the Chief Inspector of the province are both assigned the duties and powers of "reviewing and handling issues related to inspection work that the Chief Inspector of the Department does not agree with the Director of the Department".

According to the delegate, the above regulation is unclear, there is overlap in authority between the Chief Inspector of the Ministry and the Chief Inspector of the province, difficult to implement; thereby, it is recommended that the drafting agency stipulate more clearly the authority to handle in this case, specifically only assigning the Chief Inspector of the province to have the authority to handle; this is consistent with the provisions of Decree 24 dated April 4, 2014 of the Government regulating the organization of specialized agencies of the People's Committees of provinces and centrally-run cities regarding the position and functions of the department.

Chairman of the National Assembly's Committee on Science, Technology and Environment Le Quang Huy presents the Report on the review of the draft Law on Electronic Transactions (amended). Photo: Quang Khanh

Along with that, regarding the handling of overlaps and duplications in inspection activities, Mr. Tran Nhat Minh said: When there are cases of overlaps and duplications between the activities of inspection agencies of Government agencies, Ministry Inspectorates, General Department Inspectorates, Departments with Provincial Inspectorates, Department Inspectorates or District Inspectorates, it is appropriate and within the authority to only stipulate that the Chief Inspectors of those agencies discuss with the Chief Inspector of the province, focusing on one focal point at the local level for ease of implementation, avoiding procedural complexity.

On the other hand, if there is overlap or duplication between the activities of the General Inspectorate and the Department within the same Ministry; between the activities of the Provincial Inspectorate, the Department Inspectorate, and the District Inspectorate, the Ministry Inspectorate and the Provincial Inspectorate must be responsible for handling it in the process of guiding the development and promulgation of the general inspection plan of the Ministry and the province.

Panorama of the working session on the morning of October 25 at Dien Hong Hall, National Assembly House. Photo: Quang Khanh

Previously, the National Assembly listened to Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Manh Hung, authorized by the Prime Minister, present the Report on the draft Law on Electronic Transactions (amended); Chairman of the National Assembly's Committee on Science, Technology and Environment Le Quang Huy presented the Report on the review of the draft Law on Electronic Transactions (amended)./.