Finance Ministry hailed as administrative reform pioneer

 

Loc made the point at a seminar held by the Ministry of Finance, VCCI and the World Bank (WB) in Hanoi on Tuesday to announce an assessment report on tax reform and business satisfaction, according to the Government’s news website (chinhphu.vn).

 

Considering businesses as a key driver for the country’s growth, the Government has issued Resolution 19 on improvement of the country’s business environment and competitiveness on a yearly basis since 2014 and Resolution 35 on supporting business growth.

 

Loc said since the issuance of Resolution 19, the ministry has always taken a lead in administrative reform, focusing on tax and customs procedures. Assessment reports conducted by independent research organizations on business satisfaction with tax reform showed the ministry and the General Department of Taxation had been open to constructive comments and willing to make changes for the benefit of businesses.

 

The business community hailed the ministry’s effort to streamline tax procedures as this has made tax policies transparent and consistent with international practices, resulting in a higher level of satisfaction among firms and people.

 

Nguyen Van Thoi, chairman of the business association in Thai Nguyen Province, said the association with more than 5,500 member firms had a positive view on tax procedure reform.

 

Dau Anh Tuan, head of the legal department at VCCI, said six financial and four tax regulations were among the 30 best business regulations just nominated by VCCI. This is a clear indication of real reform.

 

Minister of Finance Dinh Tien Dung said the ministry had been executing an action plan for the financial sector, particularly for tax and customs. The ministry has revised and simplified administrative procedures to cut the time required for preparing, filing and paying taxes by 420 hours to 117 hours a year.

 

Last year, the ministry eliminated 32 tax procedures, and tax agencies applied information technology to tax collection and payment to help taxpayers save time and create favorable conditions for firms to complete relevant procedures. As a result, more than 99% of firms have filed taxes only, over 96% have registered to pay taxes online, and nearly 94% have registered for Internet banking service. More than two million tax payment transactions totaling over VND404 trillion have been done successfully.

 

However, up to 64% of firms said the tax data transmission system was usually jammed and 41% claimed tax procedures remained burdensome and tax refunds were still time-consuming.

 

Dung said the assessment report on business satisfaction and tax procedure reform gave the ministry an overview of what has been achieved and what needs to be improved for tax management to meet the expectations of taxpayers.