Eliminate 200 tax offices, reduce tax staff by 10%.

This information was recently presented as a preliminary report by Minister of Finance Dinh Tien Dung to the Prime Minister at the recent annual review meeting of the tax sector.

Minister Dinh Tien Dung emphasized: "The finance sector is large, and the General Department of Taxation is a large General Department. We are committed to the Prime Minister to strictly implement Resolution 39 of the Politburo."

Specifically, according to him, the personnel restructuring will still follow the principle of "two leaving, one coming in," aiming to reduce the workforce by 10% between now and 2020.

Specifically regarding the restructuring of the organizational apparatus, "The Party Committee of the Ministry of Finance has met and agreed on the principle of assigning the general departments, including the General Department of Taxation, to develop a plan for reorganizing the apparatus, initially focusing on reorganizing the system of tax branches, and establishing criteria and standards. Preliminary calculations suggest that 200 tax branches could be reduced," Minister Dung said.

According to the minister, the reorganization of the apparatus will be carried out thoroughly and decisively from the departmental and divisional levels down to the team level, coupled with the promotion of information technology application and the innovation of management methods from pre-inspection to post-management, ensuring that the apparatus is streamlined and operates efficiently. This work is being carried out in accordance with the spirit of Resolutions 17 and 18 of the 6th Central Committee Conference.

Sharing more on this issue, Mr. Bui Van Nam, Director General of the General Department of Taxation, said: "It is expected that tax offices with small revenue of less than 50 billion VND/year, excluding land use fees, and those located close together (for example, about 10-20km apart) will be merged to reduce the administrative apparatus. These are usually tax offices in remote areas with few businesses and sparse taxpayers."

Currently, the tax sector has 63 tax departments with 711 sub-departments, employing up to 44,000 civil servants, making it the largest tax department in the country in terms of personnel. These sub-departments are established based on administrative units at the district and town levels within provinces and major centrally-governed cities. Therefore, when districts and towns are divided or merged, the number of sub-departments increases or decreases accordingly.

Mr. Bui Van Nam stated: "The goal is set, but implementing it will not be easy or simple, as it involves personnel matters and the division of administrative units as stipulated in the Constitution."

Currently, the General Department of Taxation and the Ministry of Finance are finalizing this proposal to submit to the Politburo in the near future.

Pham Huyen