Customs sector strengthens revenue collection in last months of year

	Customs sector effectively controls tax debts
	Vietnam's largest enterprises stand firm during the pandemic
	Ha Tinh Customs focuses on consulting and post clearance audit for key subjects

Lang Son Customs is one of 13 customs departments is assigned additional target. Photo: H.N

In 2020, the GDVC is assigned a target of VND338,000 billion. However, since the beginning of the year, natural disasters, droughts, floods and disease that have occurred on a large scale, especially thedevelopment of the Covid-19 pandemic and floods and storms in the central provinces, seriously affected all aspects of the economy and directly impacted import and export activities across the country.

To strive to achieve the highest target assigned in 2020, the GDVC requires the directors of municipal and provincial customs departments to continue to direct and perform the assigned taskseffectively.

In addition, from now to the end of the year, the customs departments should strengthen administrative reform in a simple, specific, transparent and convenient manner, and further facilitate activities of import and export and transit of goods and means of transport; reduce time and cost forpeople and businesses in implementing customs procedures.

Operations at Mong Cai Border Gate Customs Branch, Quang Ninh Customs Department. Photo: Q.H

Focus on dissemination and instruction to the business community to comply with new polices, including Government Decree 57/2020/ND-CP amending and supplementing a number of articles of Decree 122/2016/ND-CPon export and preferential import tariffs, lists of products, absolute, mixed and out-of-quota import duty rates, and Decree 125/2017/ND-CP amending and supplementing a number of articles of Decree 122/2016/ND-CP; Decree 126/2020/ND-CP dated October 19, 2020 detailing a number of articles of the Law on Tax Administration; Decree 111/2000/ND-CP dated September 18, 2020 on Preferential Export Tariffs, Special Preferential Import Tariffs of Vietnam to implement the Free Trade Agreement between the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the European Union (EVFTA) in the 2020 – 2022 period, and monitor and handle problems in implementing regimes and policies or reportto competent authorities for handling.

Evaluate the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, natural disasters and floodson the import and export of goods, the production and business of enterprises in the area to provide appropriate solutions to strive to achieve the highest revenue target and promptly report to the GDVC.

Review and check goods names, HS codes, tax rates through customs clearance and post clearance audit to detect and handle cases that falsely declare HS codes, names of goods to enjoy low tax rates or special preferential tax rates, including a focus on inspecting products in the list of import-export goods that have risks on classification and application of tax rates.

Inspect value for goods and enterprises with high risks to avoid omitting shipments with low and unreasonably declared prices but not being consulted or handledin a timely manner, focusing on thematic directionfor export goods and commodity groups with high tax rates.

Promote anti-revenue loss through post-clearance audit, combat smuggling and trade fraud, including focus on inspecting and preventing fraud on quantity, origin, trademark and illegal transportation of cross-border goods, especially conditional imports, independent transport shipments, goods temporarily imported for re-export, temporarily exported for re-import, goods in transit, and goods put into preservation while waiting for customs clearance.

Strictly control the tax exemptions, reductions and refunds, ensure that the tax exemption, reduction and refund are applied to appropriate subjects and comply with the law, strengthen the inspection of compliance with tax law.

Regarding tax debt collection, the GDVC asks all customs units in the entire customs sector to consider and accurately classify debt groups as per guidance on the management of tax debtsand other revenues for import and export goods in Decision 1503/QD-TCHQ dated May 18, 2018, and handle as follows: For bad debts, taxpayers that are eligible for clearing debts as stipulated in the provisions of Resolution 94/2019/QH14 on freezing tax debts, writing off late payment fines and late payment interest, customs shall implement procedures for freezing tax debts, writing off tax debt in 2020.

For taxpayers that are eligible for writing off tax debts, late payment fines and late payment interest as stipulated in the Law on Tax Administration No.38/2019/QH14 dated June 13, 2019, customs shall prepare documents and implement procedures when the circular guiding the implementation of a number of articles of the Law on Tax Administration No. 38/2014/QH14 takeseffect; for taxpayers that are ineligible for debt cancellation, customs shall continue to implement coercive measures to urge tax debt collection.

For the debt group awaitinghandling, the GDVC requires the customs units to report the application for tax exemption for security and defense goods in accordance with theprovisions in Decision 4073/QD-TCHQ dated December 1, 2017, in which the time limit for sending tax exemption applicationsto the GDVN is within three working days from the date of goods release for the GDVC to consider tax exemption, ensuring performance in a timely manner, reduce debts and facilitate taxpayers.

For the group ofrecoverable debt, debts fromadministrative fines, debts assigned to be recovered and handled as per Decision No. 924/QD-TCHQ dated March 27, 2020, the GDVC requires units to strictly implement measures to collect tax debts to ensure that the debt amounts until December 31,2020 must be lower than those on December 31, 2019.

In particular, the units should strengthen the collection and settlement of debts assigned in Decision No.924/ QD-TCHQ. For debts decided by the court, the debts shall be handled according to the Court's decision when the judgments take effect. For debts arising in 2020, urge the collection and settlement of all debts before December 31, 2020.

The GDVC emphasized that the result of tax debt collection and settlement is considered one of the criteria for year-end emulation evaluation of the provincial and municipal customs departments.