VietNamNet Bridge – By the end of August, the time needed for tax payment procedures had dropped to 117 hours from 517 hours in late 2013, according to the Ministry of Finance.

To save time for corporate taxpayers, the ministry had removed unnecessary tax procedures and applied advanced technologies for tax filing and payment, Deputy Minister of Finance Tran Van Hieu told the Vietnam Finance 2015 conference on administrative procedures in tax and customs sectors in Hanoi last week.

The time reduction from 420 hours last year to the current 117 hours beat the target set in the Government’s Resolution 19/2015/NQ-CP. Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung required the tax payment time to lowered to less than 121.5 hours within this year.

Earlier, the Government ordered the General Department of Customs to bring down the tax payment time to the ASEAN average of 171 hours by the end of this year.

The ministry has deployed the online tax filing system in the nation’s 63 cities and provinces. As a result, the number of enterprises filing for tax payment on the Internet has amounted to 98% of the total number of operational firms in the country.

Over 500,000 people have used the online tax filing system, which has handled up to 17 million requests.

The customs sector has also boosted application of technology and streamlined procedures. The Vietnam Automated Cargo Clearance and Port Consolidated System and Vietnam Customs Information System (VNACCS/VCIS) have connected all customs departments nationwide and replaced manual paperwork in the sector.

So far, the system has handled more than 99.65% of total applications for imports and exports submitted to 171 customs offices across the country.

About 56,000 enterprises sent a total of 6.74 million files for customs clearance of goods worth a combined US$271.5 million to the system in the first year of operation ended March 31 this year. The system has helped ease containerized goods congestion at ports.

Currently, it takes enterprises 14 days to complete customs clearance procedures for exports and 13 days for imports, down 10-20% and 30% respectively.