The HCMC Tax Department has suspended efforts to coerce Saigon Beer-Alcohol-Beverage Corporation (Sabeco) into paying VND3.14 trillion (US$135.4 million) in special consumption tax and fines for violations of tax laws in the 2007-2015 period, as required by Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, said Le Duy Minh, deputy director of the HCMC Tax Department.

Two foreigners pose for a photo with two cans of 333 beer, a product of Sabeco. The HCMC Tax Department has suspended efforts to force Sabeco to pay pending taxes and fines 

Minh told the Saigon Times on January 2 that after receiving the PM’s order, the department had immediately suspended further action pending the PM’s final decision.

Earlier, the HCMC Tax Department had blocked Sabeco’s bank accounts, but it could not collect the pending dues as there was no money left in these accounts, Minh added.

Minister and Chairman of the Government Office Mai Tien Dung on January 2 stated that he had transmitted the PM’s order to the Ministry of Finance and the HCMC government, asking the two agencies to direct the HCMC Tax Department to defer the coercive collection of tax and fines from Sabeco.

Dung noted that the PM had also required the relevant ministries and agencies to consider the conclusions of the State Audit of Vietnam and the Government Inspectorate on Sabeco’s violations.

The coercive collection of Sabeco’s tax debt should be reviewed carefully as the firm is now under the management of Thai Beverage Public Company Limited, Dung added.

On December 28 last year, Sabeco wrote to the PM calling for help as the HCMC Tax Department on December 24 had announced that it would withdraw VND3.1 trillion from the beverage producer’s bank account to pay off the pending taxes and fines.

According to Sabeco, the HCMC Tax Department’s debt coercion decision goes against the 2006 Law on Tax Administration. Therefore, the firm objected to the tax agency's decision.

SGT