VietNamNet Bridge – The General Department of Taxation will cut the tax payment time in Vietnam to the ASEAN average of 171 hours by the end of this year as ordered by the Government.

Hoang Thi Lan Anh, deputy head of the General Department of Taxation’s Reform and Modernization Department, told a recent conference in Hanoi that the tax payment time would be reduced by simplifying and adjusting regulations on invoices, commodity losses, revenue and spending.

The adjustments will be completed this year to help cut the average tax payment time by 50 hours. The department expected to realize the target set by the Government in its Resolution 19 issued last March for tax authorities to streamline procedures for enterprises to prepare, file and pay taxes to an average of 171 hours per year in line with the ASEAN 6 bloc comprising Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei.

Cao Anh Tuan, deputy head of the department, said the tax payment time has been slashed by 370 hours after a number of regulations were revised.

“Apart from procedure simplification, the tax sector has speeded up the application of online tax filing and enhanced information exchange and support for tax payers, as well as improved management at tax agencies,” Tuan said.

In order to achieve the goal set in Resolution 19, the tax payment time should be cut by 415.5 hours to 121.5 hours and the social insurance payment time by 285.5 hours to 49.5 hours so that the total time for procedures for tax and social insurance payment will be 171 hours, Anh said.

According to a report on the business environment of International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the World Bank, Vietnam was ranked 149th among 189 countries and territories in terms of tax convenience last year, or four places lower from the previous year and staying at the bottom of the ranking table of countries in the region.

Enterprises in Vietnam still have to spend up to 872 hours completing tax payment procedures.

But Anh told the conference that the WB had not recognized several improvements of the local tax sector, including adjusting the tax payment frequency from a monthly basis to a quarterly basis and cutting taxes for small and medium enterprises.

Joanna Nasr, co-writer of the report, said firms active in Vietnam have to pay taxes 32 times a year and that tax payment in Vietnam requires more time than other countries in the region.

Nasr suggested the local tax sector keep simplifying regulations on declarations of value added tax, corporate income tax, and compulsory insurance in addition to boosting online tax filing and payment.

SGT