A tax sum of VND1 trillion, or some US$43.8 million, from Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. helped buoy the HCMC customs tax revenue in May to VND10.8 trillion and keep the decline under check, according to the HCMC Customs Department.

The State budget since the beginning of this year has been affected by the low volume of imported cars, and tax cuts on many key products

Samsung paid the huge sum after changing the use purposes of its duty-free products, the customs office said, adding its monthly revenue in the first four months of this year averaged out at only some VND8 trillion. The fall was attributed to a sharp plunge in car imports.

The surging revenue in May helped the department collect VND41,237 billion in cumulative sum in the first five months of this year, equivalent to 38.18% of the target but still a few percentage points lower than last year’s corresponding period.

Since the beginning of the year, budget collecting has faced difficulties due to decreasing import-export turnover or lowered contribution caused by tax cuts on many key products. For example, the automobile sector has generated just VND2 trillion in tax for the State budget, down VND5.4 trillion (US$236 million) against the year-ago period.

The department has seen its budget revenue reduced by some VND600 billion per month during the January-April period of 2018, the April figure alone suffering a sharp decrease of VND1.7 trillion. The amount of budget collected in the four months reached 89.52% year-on-year, said the representative.

The department has seen a reduction of budget collecting of some VND600 billion per month during the January-April period of 2018, the April alone suffered a decrease of VND1.7 trillion. The amount of budget collected in the four months was equivalent to just 89.52% of the amount a year earlier, said the customs department.

SGT