The General Department of Taxation has said it would inspect Uber and Grab taxi’s tax payments. 

At the meeting between representatives of Vietnamese taxi companies and Uber and Grab held by the Ministry of Transport on June 28, the department asked the ministry to supply necessary information relating to the operation of the app-based taxi services for the inspection.

According to the Hanoi Taxi Association, in 2016, Grab Taxi Company, which has a registered capital of VND20 billion (USD883,002), reported a revenue of VND 192 billion (USD8.48 million) and a loss of VND 443 billion (USD19.56 million). Due to losses, Grab was exempted from corporate income tax. The total tax paid by Grab last year was just VND5.8 billion (USD256,070).

Uber paid a total tax of VND40 billion (USD1.77 million) in 2016, the association said.

Speaking at the meeting with representatives of other taxi companies on June 28, Grab Vietnam CEO, Nguyen Tuan Anh said that the company is operating following Vietnamese laws and paying all taxes required.

The Grab representative told local media that the losses resulted from their large-scale promotion campaigns for customers and drivers and there was nothing strange here.

Meanwhile, Director of Personal Income Tax Department under the General Department of Taxation, Nguyen Thi Hanh, confirmed that tax policies are fair to all kinds of businesses.

"Not only Grab but more than half of Vietnamese taxi companies are also reporting losses and not paying corporate income tax," she said.

dtinews