Innovative Approaches to State Budget Collection

“The General Department of Taxation is innovative in state budget collection,” said Finance Minister Ho Duc Phoc (now Deputy Prime Minister), during the online conference on financial and budgetary affairs held in July. The conference also covered tasks to be addressed in the remaining months of 2024.

Finance Minister Ho Duc Phoc (now Deputy Prime Minister) chairs a July online conference on financial and budgetary tasks 

Total budget revenue managed by tax authorities reaches 70% of the target

According to the Ministry of Finance, total budget revenue was estimated at VND1,188.1 trillion in the first seven months of 2024, equal to 69.8% of the target and up 14.6% year on year. Wherein, central and local budget revenues reached 74.7% and 65% of the targets, respectively.

July expenditure was estimated at VND152.6 trillion, bringing total seven-month expenditure to VND948.3 trillion, or 44.7% of the estimate and up 0.6% year on year.

The balance of the central budget and local budget was ensured. As of July 25, 2024, nearly VND188 trillion of government bonds were issued with an average maturity term of 10.9 years and an average coupon rate of 2.4% a year.

In July, tax and customs authorities continued to implement policies on tax, fee, charge and land rent exemption, reduction and extension to support businesses and people. The total amount of such exemption, reduction and extension was forecast at VND87.2 trillion by the end of July.

Reporting at the conference, Mai Xuan Thanh, General Director of the General Department of Taxation (GDT) said that the total budget revenue managed by tax authorities exceeded 70% of the target in the first seven months of the year.

Regarding tax on e-commerce business, the management has initially become systematic with various methods such as open letters sent to organizations and individuals doing e-commerce business and doing business on digital platforms in Vietnam to discuss the application of tax obligations to this activity, he said.

Besides, authorities have provided documents to guide tax registration, declaration and payment and email lists of tax authorities for taxpayers to actively contact when they face matters of concern, thus screening and filtering taxpayers who intentionally commit frauds and transferring them to competent authorities for further settlement.

Laws must be consistent with reality

Assessing the performance of tax units, Deputy Finance Minister Vo Thanh Hung noted that they need to focus on building the State budget estimation for 2025 in the coming time while making directives to strengthen revenue management, controlling prices and speeding up disbursement. They need to pay special attention to preparing documents and necessary contents for the upcoming National Assembly's gathering in October, especially laws and resolutions on the agenda; promote information and communications, with emphasis on tax-related laws.

Concluding the conference, Mr. Ho Duc Phoc said that the economic uncertainty may last long and tax agencies should base on their assigned functions and tasks and flexibly coordinate with relevant bodies to fulfill their work in the coming time. Regarding policymaking and lawmaking, he requested tax agencies to focus on perfecting legal documents, including one law that amends seven laws under their scope of power. For issues under the authority of other ministries and agencies, tax agencies need to join responsibly and effectively. "Policymaking and lawmaking must be consistent with practice but must also be forward-looking to effectively tackle difficulties faced by businesses," he emphasized.

At the meeting, Phoc also highly appreciated the recent performance of the tax sector. He stressed that the GDT is very creative in tax collection like establishing an electronic information portal on cross-border tax declaration and then establishing an electronic information portal for e-commerce business declaration. This is a success. Besides, the GDT has guided tax payment, provided information, conducted e-commerce tax inspections and examinations, launched a movement to innovate and develop tax management software, especially VAT reconciliation software. Regarding the prevention and fight against electronic invoice frauds, he noted that, to prevent fake electronic invoices, it is necessary to strengthen communications and intensify handlings.

Phoc also emphasized the need for tax agencies to ensure smooth and continuous operations and to update the information technology system, particularly in key areas such as tax, customs, and securities. He noted that these areas are interconnected with the entire economy and not managed by a single ministry or sector. Therefore, any disruption in one area could undermine all efforts.

By Nguyen Mai, Vietnam Business Forum