However, up until now, many account owners still hesitate to provide tax agencies with information. Confusions
Ms. Thanh Hoa, a Facebook account owner who sells fruit online, shares that she has received messages from the Hanoi Tax Department which requires her to file taxes for her selling activities. However, until now, she is still confused and hesitates to file taxes. According to Ms. Hoa, selling products online have its own unique characteristics that are different from the normal practice. “The Tax Department cannot just rely on the number of orders on Fanpage, because there are many fake orders created by sellers to attract customers. Furthermore, many customers place their order but when products are shipped to them, they decline. Therefore, the problem is how to ensure fairness when determining revenues?” Ms. Hoa questions.
Hanoi Customs’s priority is to encourage enterprises fulfill their obligation to increase budget revenue.
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Mr. Viet Viet Hung, the Deputy Director of the Hanoi Tax Department says that from June 19, 2017 until now, after receiving many tax registration documents and survey responses, the Hanoi Tax Department has obtained various positive feedbacks from individuals operating online businesses. However, some account owners, after getting notices, are still confused and cannot distinguish between the registration and filling tax regulations and the tax submission process. They do not understand the policies of income determination and tax submission. As a result, many account owners still hesitate to provide tax departments with information.
How to file and pay taxes?
The representative of the Hanoi Tax Department shares that individuals participating in businesses have to register for tax codes. At the same time, businesses have to file tax once per year if their business scales do not change. However, not all businesses file taxes. According to the provisions of Circular 92/2015/TT-BTC, only individuals participating in commercial activities with revenue of over 100 million VND per year have to pay taxes.
Value-added taxes (VAT) and personal income taxes have to be submitted according to revenues. For example, with regard to distribution activities or product provision, VAT required is 1% and personal income tax is 0.5%. For other commercial activities, the percent of VAT and personal income tax needs to be submitted vary according to Circular 02/2015/TT-BTC. In case the revenue is under 100 million, individuals need to register and file taxes but do not have to pay taxes. If the business scale changes within a year, the tax filling process will have to modify according to standards and regulations.
The Hanoi Tax Department guides individuals participating in online commercial activities to register for tax codes according to regulations. The forms can be downloaded from the website of the Hanoi Tax Department. Individuals can also submit documents directly or send them through mail to tax agencies. Hanoi currently has a list of 13,422 Facebook account owners. The Tax Department has investigated and removed 1,950 individuals who have already registered and been supplied with tax codes.
With regard to determining revenues, the Chairman of the Vietnam Tax Consultant Association Nguyen Thi Cuc shares that tax departments have to collaborate with other related agencies such as media management departments, credit companies, and even the data security department to restore all data deleted by individuals to avoid tax payment. If individuals and enterprises do not voluntarily comply, they will have to face penalties in addition to tax amounts.
“Online businesses are similar to traditional businesses (with stores and exact locations). Therefore, they have to conform to tax registration regulations. This is the duty and responsibility of individuals participating in business.” - The Deputy Director of the Hanoi Tax Department, Mr. Viet Viet Hung.
