Tax and customs administrative procedures still cause difficulties for businesses

Acting Director of the Customs Supervision and Management Department - General Department of Vietnam Customs introduces new regulations on customs procedures. Photo: Hoang Hao

The conference was organized by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) Nghe An Branch in coordination with the Enterprise Development Support Center and the Department of Planning and Investment of Nghe An, attracting about 300 businesses related to the import and export sector in Nghe An.

Mr. Nguyen Van Phung - Director of Large Enterprise Tax Management Department - General Department of Taxation of Vietnam and Mr. Au Anh Tuan - Acting Director of Customs Supervision and Management Department - General Department of Vietnam Customs attended and chaired the conference.

According to VCCI, for a long time, the reform of administrative procedures in Vietnam has been implemented slowly, leading to a large gap between Vietnam's business environment and that of advanced countries in the region. In recent years, with the spirit of a development-oriented government, many policies to support businesses and improve the investment and business environment have been issued, creating positive changes in ministries and branches.

In particular, the Ministry of Finance, especially the General Department of Taxation and the General Department of Customs, regularly hold direct dialogues with businesses and business associations to discuss solutions to reform administrative procedures in this field. The above reform efforts are highly appreciated by the business community, but in reality, there are still many unresolved problems due to many overlapping or unclear regulations, causing difficulties for businesses.

At the Conference, representatives of the General Department of Taxation and the General Department of Customs introduced a number of new regulations and policies related to Tax and Customs procedures that will take effect from 2018 and a number of issues related to these two areas that are expected to be amended in the near future, such as: Decree No. 146/2017/ND-CP issued by the Government on December 15, 2017 on the issue of removing obstacles for exports and some points that are being exploited; Circular No. 25/2018/TT-BTC issued by the Ministry of Finance on March 16, 2018, guiding the implementation of the above Decree.

Accordingly, there are 3 types of taxes that have changed since 2018: VAT, CIT and PIT; New regulations on customs declaration procedures applied since 2018, etc.

Representatives of the General Department of Taxation, General Department of Customs, VCCI and Nghe An Tax Department answered questions from businesses. Photo: Hoang Hao

During the dialogue, dozens of opinions expressed by business representatives raised issues and problems related to current tax policies and customs procedures that cause many difficulties for businesses, especially issues related to customs procedures, typically the issue of C/O (certificate of origin of goods) which often causes trouble and causes great losses for businesses because the verification procedures take too much time.

In addition, some businesses also reported harassment and even violations of regulations by some officials and tax and customs agencies, forcing businesses to resort to the last resort of filing a lawsuit in court to protect their interests.

Representative of Nghe An Import Export Company presented problems related to Customs procedures. Photo: Hoang Hao

Representatives of the General Department of Taxation and the General Department of Customs acknowledged the feedback and answered questions from businesses, and said that the General Department of Taxation and the General Department of Customs are actively seeking opinions to find solutions to submit to the Government to reform administrative procedures and tax policies in accordance with practical requirements.

Mr. Nguyen Van Phung admitted that the current Tax and Customs agencies still have many officers and specialists with limited capacity and inadequate awareness, so they violate regulations. In fact, in 2016, the Tax sector had 92 cases brought to court and 65 cases lost.

“I think that is good. We must change our mindset and follow the rule of law to progress and develop. I encourage businesses to file lawsuits in court if they see the Tax Department doing something wrong. That will help the Tax Department and Tax officials improve themselves,” Mr. Nguyen Van Phung emphasized.

Loading and unloading goods at Cua Lo port. Photo: Thu Huyen

Mr. Au Anh Tuan - Acting Director of the Customs Supervision and Management Department - General Department of Vietnam Customs also said: In 2018, the Customs sector amended a number of regulations to shorten the time for procedures for import and export enterprises. Regarding the issue of C/O, because many enterprises take advantage of preferential policies to commit fraud in declaring goods, the inspection process has often taken a long time. In the near future, the General Department of Customs will submit to the Government a separate Decree on this issue, there will be more specific and clear regulations to facilitate both enterprises and state agencies.