Sealing gas stations with lead: Solution to prevent tax loss

(Baonghean) - In order to control the export and import of raw materials at gas stations, creating a basis for calculating revenue and tax, the provincial inspection team, including representatives of the Tax Department, the Department of Science and Technology, and the Tax Branches, inspected and sealed all gas stations in the province. After nearly 2 months of operation, the team has sealed nearly 300 gas stations in Dien Chau, Quynh Luu, Thanh Chuong, Nam Dan, and Yen Thanh.

According to Mr. Phan Ngoc Quang, Head of the Department of Standards, Metrology and Quality, the unit is currently coordinating with the Tax Department and Tax Departments at all levels to check the program IC at petrol stations in the area and at the same time check and label the petrol flow meters of the stores. This activity aims to control business activities, prevent fraud at petrol stations, and at the same time control and check according to the province's anti-loss program. Mr. Quang also added: Based on the operating principles of the types of petrol output meters at the pumps, they have quite similar characteristics. That is, the electronic and electromechanical cumulative meter, the operating principle is that after the electronic total meter is full of the prescribed number of liters, which is 9,999,999 liters, the software returns to 0 and the cumulative meter continues to receive a new signal. With that characteristic, the only way to manage petroleum output as a basis for calculating revenue and tax is to seal the total meter (meter) for all types of petroleum measuring columns in the whole area. After reporting and receiving the approval of the Provincial People's Committee, the above solution was agreed to be implemented, initially creating a change in the awareness of business people, while contributing to strengthening the management of tax revenue.

Check the gas meter at Yen Thanh.

Yen Thanh Tax Department is currently managing 50 gas stations, in addition to 4 gas stations managed by the Tax Department. In nearly 1 week of implementing the stamping of gas stations, the inspection team has stamped 38 stores with 8 pumps. Some gas stations have closed down when notified for inspection. The owner of Trung Van gas station in Hop Thanh commune, Yen Thanh, said: "The store completely agrees with the province's policy, implementing transparency and fairness for all units and enterprises. However, business is increasingly sluggish, gas prices are continuously falling, so it is not effective, the State also needs to have reasonable policies". In Yen Thanh district, there are 5 enterprises that have implemented the accounting regime, paying taxes according to declarations, including Long Thanh Company Limited, Nhan Thang Joint Stock Company, Hoa Binh An Company Limited, Vuong Phat Construction Joint Stock Company, Yen Thanh Investment and Development Joint Stock Company. The rest are stores that pay taxes on a lump-sum basis. Head of Yen Thanh Tax Department, Mr. Duong Minh Duc said: “The total tax payable by gas stations in the area is 135,130,000 VND/year, the average tax/household/month is 268,000 VND. Gas stations in Yen Thanh mainly import from Nghe An Gas Station (Petrolimex supplies 30 enterprises), Tan Xuan Company Limited, Tien Nhat Trading and Service Joint Stock Company (Cua Lo Town)... Because the gas stations have not been sealed, the situation of losing gas tax revenue is possible. Therefore, from August 25 to now, Yen Thanh has been sealing gas stations in the area”.

At Nam Dan Tax Department, after the campaign, 37/41 petrol stations in the area were sealed. The reason for not having all the stamps affixed was that some of the stations were damaged and some stores were closed. Mr. Tran Dinh Thanh, Head of Nam Dan Tax Department, said: The Department currently manages taxes for 14 stores, of which 7 stores calculate taxes by the declaration method, the remaining 7 stores implement the lump sum system. When implementing the stamping, some petrol stations were damaged, the Department made a record to report to the Tax Department. In general, businesses in the area have complied well with the province's policies.

Quynh Luu district is a locality with many petrol stations. The group has now stamped 141 petrol pumps of 47 stations, the stations are mainly located by the sea, supplying petrol to fishing boats at sea. For a long time, the problem of smuggled petrol in the area, especially in coastal areas, has been a headache for authorities and has caused unfair competition in petrol prices at stations. The situation of selling without invoices and "asking for invoices" to legalize with the Tax Department is common.

The interdisciplinary inspection team said that during the process of applying monitoring stamps to fuel meters, the team discovered that some gas stations in the area had torn off or peeled off newly applied stamps. The team made a record and from there raised the issue of post-inspection of how the gas stations had sealed the lead seals.

Nghe An currently has over 600 petrol stations. The Tax Department has long identified the cause of the loss of petrol business tax revenue as establishments violating accounting regulations and using invoices and vouchers. The use of retail goods lists is only a formality, in particular, most establishments do not register for inspection of counters and tanks.

Therefore, proactively implementing lead sealing for total gas station meters is a good solution that can be expected to increase taxes from this sector for the local budget. However, the Tax Department and its branches must strengthen guidance and inspection of accounting books of enterprises, coordinate with competent agencies, especially the Department of Standards, Metrology and Quality to periodically inspect gas stations, check seals, require enterprises to open meter logbooks at each store, each gas station... The implementation of sealing gas stations in the province needs to be carried out in a unified, public, transparent, fair manner and change the tax calculation method from lump-sum to declaration to promote new efficiency.

Chau Lan