VietNamNet Bridge – While the Quang Nam provincial Taxation Agency insists on the coercive measures to force Besra, the Canadian group that exploits gold at Bong Mieu and Phuoc Son mines, to pay tax arrears, the Ministry of Finance (MOF) thinks that it would be better to “be sympathetic towards the investor”.

In late July 2014, Besra announced the shutting down of the two biggest gold factories in Vietnam after the provincial taxation agency blocked the bank accounts and neutralized the invoices issued by the two companies. The gold miner reportedly owes VND231 billion in tax.

In early August 2014, the General Department of Taxation (GDT) and the Quang Nam provincial People’s Committee requested the local taxation agencies to grant Besra an extension for tax payment and remove the coercive measures imposed on the Phuoc Son and Bong Mieu Companies run by Besra.

A lot of meetings have been held so far with the participation of the relevant ministries’ and authorities’ representatives and Besra’s executives, but the two factories still cannot resume their operation.

Besra stated that only when the taxation agencies remove the coercive measures, will it fulfill the tax duties for the period from September 2014 afterwards. Meanwhile, it did not commit to pay the tax for September and earlier months.

Over 1,000 workers at the two gold mines have been sitting idle. Meanwhile, the illegal gold mining at the two mines has caused a big headache to the local authorities.

MOF proves to be “tolerant” in case of Besra. An official of the ministry said there is no sign showing that Besra tried to evade tax. It just still cannot pay tax right now because it is facing big difficulties.

It is estimated that the two factories run by Besra have to pay VND100 billion in tax to the local taxation agencies. Since rapid-fire natural calamities came in 2013, the two mines were inundated, because of which the gold mining was interrupted for several consecutive months.

Regarding the two companies’ cash flow, the official said the receipts are higher than the expenses. While Bong Mieu takes loss, Phuoc Son still makes profit.

Therefore, MOF thinks that it would be better to create most favorable conditions for Bong Mieu and Phuoc Son to resume their operation, so that they can make money to pay debts to suppliers and the 1,000 workers can return to work.

A senior official of the Quang Nam provincial Taxation Agency said on August 20 that if failing to collect tax from Bong Mieu and Phuoc Son Companies, this would cause the loss of revenue of the local budgets of Phuoc Son district (where Phuoc Son Company is located) and Phu Ninh (where Bong Mieu is located).

To date, the two districts have fulfilled only 20 percent of the yearly plan on tax collection, while the figure should be 70-80 percent.  The loss of revenue would certainly make the investment and development projects in the localities upset.

VNE