Benefits of businesses when paying taxes electronically

(Baonghean) - Since September 2014, many businesses in Nghe An have implemented electronic tax payment. With the new form, taxpayers can pay taxes directly to the State Budget anytime, anywhere, including holidays. Nghe An Newspaper reporters discussed with Mr. Nguyen Hong Hai - Deputy Director of Nghe An Tax Department about issues related to this field.

PV:Could you please tell us about the progress of electronic tax payment in Nghe An province?

Accountant of Thien Nhien Ky Company Limited (Le Loi Ward - Vinh City) performs electronic tax payment.

Mr. Nguyen Hong Hai:Following the direction of the Prime Minister, the Ministry of Finance has urgently deployed electronic tax payment services to reform administrative procedures, shorten tax declaration and payment time, and serve people and businesses.

Mr. Nguyen Hong Hai (left) was interviewed at Nghe An Newspaper Studio.

Electronic tax payment is one of the utilities that helps businesses continue administrative reform, shortening the time for tax declaration and payment. Nghe An Tax Department has coordinated with commercial banks, in nearly 2 months of implementation (mainly through the Investment and Development Bank) with the number of over 560 businesses. In terms of quantity, Nghe An is now one of the pioneering provinces and the leader in the country in the number of businesses paying taxes electronically through commercial banks.

PV:Can you tell us more about the necessary conditions for businesses to participate in electronic tax payment?

Mr. Nguyen Hong Hai:Enterprises that have submitted tax declarations online, only need to register through the General Department of Taxation's information portal to be able to switch to electronic tax payment. However, to confirm that the enterprise has paid tax, there must be an additional declaration and registration form sent to a commercial bank. That registration is only submitted once, after that, the enterprise can pay tax electronically anywhere with Internet access.

PV:To pay taxes electronically, what steps do businesses need to take?

Mr. Nguyen Hong Hai:To implement electronic tax payment, the core issue is whether businesses want to shorten the time for tax declaration, tax calculation, and tax payment; Nghe An is one of the localities with a communication infrastructure that allows businesses and people in Nghe An province to conduct electronic transactions with state agencies. The issue is whether businesses want to pay taxes electronically or not, businesses only need a computer, an internet connection, and a digital signature (digital signature replaces signature and stamp, and most businesses in Nghe An have done it). Businesses that have declared taxes online now switch to paying taxes electronically, just need to confirm on the electronic information portal of the Tax sector and that's it.

PV:Sir, what are the differences between this new electronic tax payment method and the old tax payment method and what advantages does it have that businesses need to take advantage of?

Mr. Nguyen Hong Hai:Electronic tax declaration, tax calculation, tax payment, this service has been implemented by the Tax Department in coordination with functional agencies and commercial banks to support businesses. First of all, it shortens the time for tax declaration, tax calculation, tax payment of businesses, saves time, saves travel costs, there are businesses located far away, if traveling to submit declarations, travel to pay taxes takes a lot of time, at least 1 session to submit declarations, 1 session to deposit money in the bank.

Up to now, most businesses often choose the last day of the tax payment deadline. Therefore, they have to wait for each other, wasting time for businesses. Secondly, if they bring cash to pay taxes with a large amount, it will be difficult, even unsafe; thirdly, during the waiting process, tax officers and commercial bank officers may not respond attentively due to too many customers and may have attitudes that make taxpayers uncomfortable. Therefore, electronic tax declaration and payment solves several problems: Saving time, money and taxpayers feel very comfortable.

PV:Does the new form of tax payment cause any difficulties for businesses?

Mr. Nguyen Hong Hai:This is completely convenient for businesses, not only saving costs, time and ensuring safety for businesses, but it also saves for society in many stages. For example, from the Tax sector, Treasury, to commercial banks... the whole chain participating in this work will also save time...

PV:Can the new tax payment method limit the negative aspects in the tax industry, sir?

Mr. Nguyen Hong Hai:Electronic tax payment is a method that advanced countries in the world have implemented. In the administrative reform program until 2015, the Tax sector reformed to serve people and businesses in tax declaration and calculation, shortening the average number of hours to be equal to advanced countries in ASEAN. By 2015, the time for businesses to pay taxes in a year will be shortened to 200 hours. To do that, it requires the efforts of the entire political system from top to bottom, including the Tax sector and related sectors.

Doing this well not only saves businesses money, but also limits unnecessary negatives. For example, when submitting a tax declaration or paying taxes, Vietnamese people usually have 3 people, and immediately 1 person wants to go first to do the procedures first; This can happen when people know each other, giving priority to this person to submit the declaration first, the other person to submit later; when paying money, this person is also given priority to pay first, the other person to pay later, and there is also a situation where whoever has even money is given priority to pay first, whoever has odd money is given priority to pay later... Therefore, when declaring, calculating and paying taxes electronically, all of the above problems will be avoided, contributing to the health of public administration.

PV:There are many outstanding advantages in this way of paying taxes electronically, but currently many businesses want to pay taxes electronically, but the tax department has only been able to connect with BIDV Bank, and has not been able to expand to other banks. Therefore, businesses with accounts at other banks have not been able to participate in paying taxes electronically. Can you clarify this issue?

Mr. Nguyen Hong Hai:On this issue, it also depends on the infrastructure and investment of commercial banks. We have recently proposed to the General Department of Taxation and the Ministry of Finance to promptly meet the requirements of businesses. The Tax sector is striving to implement this in major banks this October, namely the Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam, the Vietnam Bank for Industry and Trade, and the Vietnam Bank for Agriculture. Later, it will be implemented in all other banks. Due to the competitive factors and customer demand factors, other banks will gradually respond. In the province, approximately 90% of businesses declare taxes via the Internet, so Nghe An must strive that from now until 2015, most businesses in the province will pay taxes electronically, shortening the time for businesses. This is also one of the factors that raise the provincial competitiveness index to a higher level.

PV:After more than 1 month of implementation, how does the Tax sector evaluate the initial effectiveness and what will it do to work with businesses towards a more synchronous implementation of the electronic tax payment method?

Mr. Nguyen Hong Hai:The advantage is that in Nghe An, although most of them are small and medium enterprises, they are interested in applying IT in management and business. Most of the enterprises have computers and internet connection, when deploying these services, enterprises can access quickly, and the enterprise accounting team basically meets the requirements for electronic tax payment.

Nghe An Tax Department thanks businesses for their attention and support to the Tax Department in the past time. With the efforts and determination of businesses in competing in production, business, and contributing to the State Budget, the Tax Department has also made continuous efforts to reform administration to serve businesses. Nghe An Tax Department will continue to implement synchronously, meeting the requirements of most people and businesses in the area.

PV:Thank you!

PV(Perform)