At a dialogue between local businesses and the municipal authorities on December 5 in HCMC to address tax finalization and policy notes, the representative of Konoike Vina said the company is facing obstacles in completing tax obligations for its representative office in HCMC.

While following procedures, the company was requested by tax officers to submit additional business-license tax declarations for each year from 2017 to 2025 (the company submitted the 2017 declaration late, so it must submit additional declarations for subsequent years up to 2025).

The company submitted the additional license fee declaration for the 2017 tax period for the representative office using the tax code account of the parent company (Japan), and the tax authority accepted it on September 4.

However, tax officers requested that the declaration must be submitted under the tax code of the representative office. The representative office has no legal entity status, no seal, and no digital signature, so it cannot submit declarations using its own tax code.

On October 17, the company sent an official letter to the HCMC tax authority requesting detailed guidance. So far, the business has still not received any response. “We hope to receive guidance from the tax authority so we can complete tax obligations and proceed with closing the representative office as required,” the company representative said.

Responding to the business, Do Le Mai Tram, Deputy Head of Enterprise Support and Management Division No3 (HCMC Tax Department), said Decree 139/2016 stipulates that branches and representative offices at business locations must pay license fees.

Under Government Decree 126/2020, if a dependent branch or representative office is located in a different province/city from the headquarters, the license fee declaration must be submitted to the tax authority managing the dependent unit.

On the other hand, if the dependent units are located in the same province/city as the headquarters, the license fee is submitted to the tax authority managing the headquarters.

“Regarding the specific file, we ák the business to contact the tax authority directly (Enterprise Support and Management Division No3) for resolution,” Tram said.

However, the company was not satisfied with the response and contacted the officer in charge many times but still received no resolution. So the company attended this dialogue for guidance.

Before the concern, Giang Van Hien, Deputy Head of HCMC Tax Department, assigned Tram to directly receive information and coordinate with the business to handle related procedures. If necessary, the tax officer can go to leadership for resolution.

Tax authority to specify deadlines

Regarding administrative procedures, Nguyen Hai Yen, representative of Agest Vietnam Co., Ltd., noted that when implementing tax policies, businesses often face obstacles and need support.

The Japanese invested company always requests official written responses from authorities. However, for each issue, the business must send multiple letters because they receive no reply from the HCMC Tax Department.

Yen said the tax authority’s responses to businesses are not timely or accurate. Búinesses only want quick support to declare and pay taxes fully according to the law.

“I propose that when receiving documents, the tax authority must clearly state the response time so businesses do not waste time waiting and sending letters repeatedly,” Yen said.

Regarding difficulties in sending documents, the Deputy Head of HCMC Tax Department said: “We understand this issue.”

According to Hien, in the past, businesses had to wait due to internal assignment processes across multiple functional divisions. As a result, tracking files and supporting businesses was not timely.

But the problem has been resolved thanks to the changes in tax agency’s management method.

“Companies can communicate directly with their tax officer or send documents to the tax authority to receive prompt replies,” Hien said.

HCMC Tax Department is managing over 500,000 businesses, of which private enterprises account for 96 percent, contributing nearly 60 percent of the city's state budget revenue.

The estimated cumulative budget revenue in the first 11 months is VND555,939 billion, reaching 110.77 percent of the target assigned by the Government and 106 percent of the target assigned by the City People's Council. Revenue increased 20.49 percent year-on-year. 

After the mergers, the budget revenue also increased significantly compared to the same period. From July to November, revenue reached VND261,977 billion, equal to 137.6 percent compared to the same period of 2024.

N. Huyen