Transport Management: Many Difficulties

(Baonghean) - In recent years, the transportation business has been growing. However, the management and tax collection in this field still face many difficulties...

Vehicles expanded into containers to load acacia wood in Nghia Dan district (photo taken at 3:00 p.m., October 2, 2014).

Evade inspection...

Frustrated by the problem of timber trucks from Laos roaming the roads in the area, a young official in Tam Thai commune (Tuong Duong) provided us with a list of 8 means of transport that, according to him, are "outdated, evading inspection, unsafe and polluting the environment". This official said: "During the season of Lao timber arriving, at the timber yards along National Highway 7, across Na Tong village, Tam Thai commune, there are hundreds of outdated tractor-trailers gathering, causing traffic insecurity and environmental pollution. This is a list of some vehicles that I recorded at a timber yard in Na Tong village, please help me look it up through the authorities. If it is true that these are vehicles that evade inspection, please speak up to help the people, so that the authorities have a basis to handle it...".

Through the authorities, we determined that out of the 8 vehicles that the Tam Thai commune officials provided a list of, 4 vehicles were overdue for inspection, including: Hyundai truck with license plate 37C-03155T of vehicle owner Dang Van Thang, residing in hamlet 3, Van Son commune, Do Luong district, inspected on January 27, 2014, inspection deadline April 26, 2014; Hyundai truck with license plate 37S-7527 of vehicle owner Tran Huu Hai, residing in hamlet 8, Thuan Son commune, Do Luong, inspection date January 27, 2014, inspection deadline April 26, 2014; Hyundai truck with license plate 37H-5623 owned by Nguyen Cong Ha, residing in Hamlet 11, Trang Son Commune, Do Luong, inspection date February 7, 2014, inspection deadline May 6, 2014; Hyundai car with license plate 37C-025.45T owned by Bui Thi Dieu Thuy, residing in Tien Thanh Hamlet, Nghia Hoan Commune, Tan Ky, inspection date February 7, 2014, inspection deadline May 6, 2014.

Also due to the problem of overloaded trucks plowing across the roads, some officials and people in Phu Quy area provided us with a list of nearly 100 specialized vehicles transporting sugarcane and various types of wood. According to those who provided the list, these are vehicles with extended cargo beds that are rampant in the area. Because the number is so large, we only selected 15 vehicles from top to bottom for inspection. Of these, 8 vehicles were 4-6 months past their inspection date.

Talking to us, the officer verifying the inspection records of the above-mentioned means of transport said: In the highland districts, raw material areas of sugarcane, wood, minerals... there are many types of Hyundai tractors, or trucks of Ifa, Kamaz, Maz... that have been converted by the owners into oversized, overloaded vehicles. These types of vehicles are often outdated, unsafe, and pollute the environment when operating. For this reason, the owners of these vehicles only operate in a certain area, so they do not periodically inspect their vehicles, do not pay road maintenance fees...

...and tax evasion

In Quy Hop district, there are many households purchasing passenger and freight vehicles. However, due to lack of awareness of tax law compliance, many households purchasing vehicles do not change ownership; do not register for tax; avoid tax payment obligations. Typical examples of unregistered trucks include: Minh Hop commune with 36 vehicles; Dong Hop commune with 34 vehicles; Yen Hop commune with 28 vehicles... According to the Quy Hop district Tax Department, to prevent loss of transport tax, the district leaders have directed functional agencies, especially the police force and local authorities to coordinate with tax agencies. However, the implementation has encountered many obstacles. Mr. Bui Giang Nam - Head of the inter-commune and town tax team of Quy Hop district said that the working groups have worked with local authorities to review and count the number of passenger and freight vehicles in the area, and have invited vehicle owners to work 3 times but to no avail. The first time, the vehicle owners came to work and were informed and explained about the regime and policies on tax management law; documents guiding the implementation of the Tax Law, then asked to register, declare and pay taxes but they did not comply. The commune authorities sent invitations a second and third time but they did not show up. The interdisciplinary working group went to their homes to work but did not meet them because they informed each other to proactively avoid meeting...

In Nam Dan district, the work of preventing tax losses in the transport sector is considered an important task by the tax authority, but by the end of August 2014, the total accumulated debt in transport reached more than 617 million VND. Mr. Tran Dinh Thanh - Deputy Head of the Tax Department of Nam Dan district, said: "The nature of the transport sector is that we are on the road all day, and tax officers are not allowed to stop vehicles for inspection. Meeting the owners of transport vehicles during working hours, they are not at home, and going outside of working hours is extremely disadvantageous. Nam Dan district has established working groups to prevent tax losses, with the participation of district police leaders, but they still face difficulties...".

Tuong Duong district has about 74 transport vehicles, of which about 15% are passenger transport vehicles. Of these, the owners of passenger transport vehicles strictly comply with tax declaration and payment. As for the owners of goods transport vehicles, most of them evade declaration or delay tax payment. To strictly implement tax laws, the People's Committee of Tuong Duong district established a working group with the participation of the tax agency, the district police, and the Department of Industry and Trade to each commune to review and inspect. According to Mr. Vi Dinh Cat - Head of Tuong Duong Tax Department, when the working group performed its duties, the situation was relatively positive. It is estimated that about 200 million VND will be collected from transport tax (currently, over 80 million VND has been collected). However, according to Mr. Cat, if the working group expires, the management of transport business is at risk of returning to the old way. Mr. Cat is also concerned about the fact that in Tuong Duong, there are quite a few trucks transporting wood from Laos for businesses. These means of transport are owned by people from outside the area; they transport on a seasonal basis so the tax authority cannot inspect...

According to the representative of the Tax Department, since the tax inspection teams were withdrawn from the inspection centers, the outstanding tax debts in transportation have increased rapidly. To combat tax losses in the transportation sector, the Tax Department has directed the branches to take drastic measures, however, the results are still limited. Therefore, the Tax Department has established a Steering Committee against tax losses and proposed many measures for implementation. In particular, according to Mr. Phan Ba ​​Toan, Deputy Head of the General Department of Business Administration and Budget, the Tax Department has directed the tax branches to coordinate with local authorities to accurately count the number of means of transport, compare with the number of means of transport registered to detect vehicles that have not declared tax registration, and have outstanding tax debts. After that, the Provincial People's Committee is requested to direct the inspection centers not to inspect the means of transport of enterprises, organizations, and individuals that have not declared registration, and have tax debts to the State according to the list sent by the tax authority...

In fact, the management of means of transport has received special attention in recent times. Many working groups to handle violations in the field of road traffic have been established by the province and related departments and branches. Typically, on July 21, 2014, the Provincial People's Committee established an interdisciplinary inspection team (including officers from the Provincial Police and the Department of Transport) to patrol, review and handle regulations on technical safety and environmental protection. However, due to the large and complex area of ​​Nghe An, although this work has been promoted, there are still many owners of means of transport who are evading inspection, evading tax obligations, and violating the field of road traffic. This is really a problem, so there needs to be more strong solutions to focus on solving it. It is thought that relevant authorities need to pay attention to conducting inspections and reviews to detect and handle violations right at the local level as the Tax sector is doing. If this can be done, it will certainly contribute to the effective management of means of transport.

Article and photos:Ha Giang