Tax and fiscal support in response to coronavirus crisis

The Ministry of Finance (MoF) is committed to further pushing administrative reform and addressing existing problems for the business community, providing them with timely support in terms of taxes and fees to overcome the Covid-19 crisis.

Overview of the conference. Photo: Huy Thang.

The information was revealed at a conference discussing fiscal policies to support enterprises amid the Covid-19 pandemic on December 18.

“For the time being, the MoF is considering to extend validity period of existing supporting programs already in place,” said Le Minh Khiem from the MoF’s Tax Policy Department, referring to a 30% cut in environmental protection tax for jet fuel in 2021 to support the aviation industry; delaying the payment of value-added tax, income tax and land rental fees for enterprises and business households; waiving import duty for health equipment and gears to support the Covid-19 fight, among others. 

In parallel with such efforts, the ministry aims to continue modernizing the tax management to ensure a fair and transparent business environment, creating favorable conditions for all economic components in fulfilling their tax obligations, he noted.

Nguyen Van Phung, director of the Department of Tax Administration at Large Enterprises from the General Department of Taxation (GDT) said the main objective is to help enterprises lower their operational costs .  

So far, the GDT has provided 194 online public services at advanced stage of 3 and 4 out of the four-scale level. This resulted in over 794,000 enterprises registering for online tax declaration, or 99.32% of total number of enterprises and 11.28 million applications being processed online.

Tax database has also been connected with seven commercial banks to allow individuals to pay tax online via internet banking or mobile banking, stated Mr. Phung.

Le Manh Hung, deputy head of the Import-Export Tax Department under the General Department of Vietnam Customs (GDVC) added that the agency has been offering solutions to facilitate trade amid Covid-19 causing disruption to global trade.

In the first 11 months this year, Vietnam’s trade turnover continued to expand by 3.6% year-on-year to US$489.55 billion, while customs revenue in 2020 is set to decline by 11% year-on-year to VND310 trillion (US$13.42 billion). Such decline is acceptable given Vietnam’s active participation in free trade agreements and the severe impacts of the Covid-19, Mr. Hung suggested.

“Along with efforts of the MoF, customs authorities continue to pursue administrative reform for greater simplification, clarity and transparency, gradually reaching international customs practices,” he stressed.