Vietnam Treasury uses technology to speed up refunds – Asia News

Vietnam’s tax authorities will employ digital technology to process tax returns, accelerating the delivery of refunds in the fourth quarter of 2023.

This was stated by Mai Son, deputy director general of the General Department of Taxation, at a Ministry of Finance press conference on October 5.

Son said the delivery of tax refunds had been slow in recent years because tax documents had been processed manually. But that would all change in the fourth quarter, as the department was working on a plan to use cutting-edge technology to improve efficiency.

As for Samsung Electronics HCMC CE Complex, which was claiming a tax refund of more than VND500 billion (US$24 million) from the days when it had not transformed into an export processing company, it said the claim was being reviewed and would be approved once the step is completed.

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Regarding his other request for tax refund worth more than VND400 billion (US$20 million), generated between June 2021 and December 2022, he said his department had sent the case to the General Department of Customs for its review because the case is within the agency’s jurisdiction.

Hoang Van Thu, Vice Chairman of the State Securities Commission of Vietnam, said that it has never been an easy task to develop a legal framework for cryptocurrencies in Vietnam because this form of money is new and is largely in the crosshairs of the cybercriminals.

He requested the formation of a working group to learn from the legislation of other countries and lay the legal foundations of the “currency” in the country.

As for Samsung Electronics HCMC CE Complex, which was claiming a tax refund of more than VND500 billion (US$24 million) from the days when it had not transformed into an export processing company

“We need to form an inter-ministerial working group to study cryptocurrency and weigh the possibility of developing a legal framework for it,” Thu said.

Legally, it is not valid to trade cryptocurrencies in Vietnam because the “currency” has not been recognized as an “asset” in the country.

Tran Thi Hue, deputy director of Vietnam’s Treasury, said her agency was working on a plan to upgrade its public services portal in 2024 and connect it with the portals of the Ministry of Planning and Investment and other state agencies.

Once the connection takes shape, it will allow the sharing of digitized files between ministries and discourage the use of paper files, thus accelerating the delivery of public investment.

Truong Ba Tuan, Deputy Director of the Tax Policy, Fees and Charges Supervision Authority Department, stated that the new environmental emissions taxes do not overlap with other environmental taxes because each one has a different objective.

According to the Ministry of Finance, tax revenue amounted to VND1.22 trillion (US$50.2 billion) in the first nine months of 2023, compared to tax expenditures of VND1.24 trillion (US$50.8 billion).

Imports and exports totaled $461.1 billion as of mid-September, down 11.9% year-on-year. The drop in imports of taxable goods has caused a loss of VND34 trillion (US$1.4 billion) to the state budget.

As of September 26, 243.4 trillion VND (US$10 billion) in government bonds had been issued, with an average term of 12.44 years and an annual coupon of 3.38%. In the private sector, 51 companies issued 123 trillion VND (US$5 billion) of corporate bonds in mid-September.

As of the end of September, some VND 152.5 trillion (USD 6.3 billion) had been allocated for fiscal efforts to support the economy, of which VND 49.6 trillion is for tax cuts and fee reductions and 102 .9 trillion VND to extensions of tax and fee deadlines.

Article republished from the Vietnamese state media VNA within the framework of an agreement between both parties to share content. Link to the original article: https://en.vietnamplus.vn/tax-authorities-use-technology-to-accelerate-delivery-of-refunds/269236.vnp