Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - The General Department of Taxationmust hasten reforms to create a favourable environment for enterprises torecover their business from the ravages of the COVID-19 pandemic, which wascritical to increase tax revenue, Deputy Minister of Finance Tran Xuan Ha hassaid.

Speaking at a recent taxation department conference inHanoi, he said the pandemic was heavily affecting production and business andweighing on budget revenue.

Statistics showed tax revenue hit 574.2 trillion VND (24.75billion USD) in the first half of this year, equivalent to 45.8 percent of theplan for the full year, the lowest rate in recent years (51.1 percent in 2019,49.6 percent in 2018 and 48.2 percent in 2017).

Only 34 out of 63 provinces and cities had recorded taxcollection revenue equivalent to half of their goal for the full year orhigher, with tax revenues mainly from land-use taxes and fees.

The other 29 provinces and cities had slow tax collectionbecause their revenues were mainly from value-added tax, special consumptiontax and natural resource tax.

Cao Anh Tuan, Director of the General Department of Taxation,said the tax watchdog would review the tax base to find sources which hadpotential to increase tax collection to make up for the drop caused bythe pandemic.

Tuan added that tax management would be enhanced in sectors which benefitedfrom the pandemic such as e-commerce, online business and telecommunicationsservices.

Reaching the goal of collecting more than 1.25 quadrillionVND in taxes for the State budget for the full year would be a tough task, hesaid.

He said that the General Department of Taxation would striveto collect taxes at the highest level possible, adding the watchdog wouldcreate favourable conditions for taxpayers through administrative reforms andonline services as well as enhancing inspection to prevent tax evasion.

Hà told the conference that tax collection on the foreigndirect investment (FDI) sector and non-State sector remained lower than plannedand said there must be a focus on preventing transfer pricing.

He also urged the tax department to speed up the provision ofonline public services and the progress of applying e-invoices nationwide.
The tax department must also hasten reforms in the next 10-yearperiod to create convenience for taxpayers and have policies to supportbusinesses to overcome the difficulties caused by the pandemic.

“More than anyone, the tax department must providesupport to enterprises in the post-pandemic recovery, which is critical toincreasing budget revenue,” Ha said.

He said the project on expanding the tax base must becontinued with a focus on related party transactions, e-commerce anddigital-based businesses./.