HCMC Tax Department : Support start-up enterprises to operate effectively

Supporting start-up enterprises at Ho Chi Minh City Tax Department. Photo: Nguyen Hue.

According to Ho Chi Minh City Tax Department, in order to target two groups which are newly established enterprises and enterprises established from business households, support programs for start-up enterprises in HCMC have been carried out in the city with numerous and diversified content and methods. Specifically, to help taxpayers catch the most basic information on taxation when starting a business, the Tax Department has compiled and regularly updated the supporting documents and informed start-up businesses by methods such as guidebooks and brochures on the programs, information sheets on benefits when business households convert into enterprises and the implementation of propaganda videos. In addition, organizing points to publicize information on tax for start-up enterprises at the Tax Department’s office and 24 district-level Tax Branches. By the end of 2017, the HCMC Tax Department has provided support to 16,000 enterprises

In addition, the Tax Department has set up a website to support start-up enterprises at the address www.hcmtax.gov.vn. As of 19th of April 2018, the website has had 520,432 visitors looking up information. In particular, from 1st of January 2018 to 19th of April 2018, there were 312,247 visits. Organizing channels to support start-up enterprises (email, document and telephone) at Tax Department’s office and 24 district-level tax branches, thereby answering questions and providing information through indirect channels for more than 12,701 enterprises. The Tax Department has also organized 125 training courses and tax policy dialogues for newly established enterprises and encouraged business households to convert to enterprises with the participation of more than 11,201 enterprises and business households .

In order to create favorable conditions for businesses, the Tax Department has also provided support services related to taxation with a commitment of being free of charge for some services such as digital signature, T-VAN, tax agent and accounting software. In order to achieve the above results, apart from the efforts of the Tax sector, there are also other supporting agencies such as tax agents, T-Van unit and digital signature provider. Accordingly, the units have provided free initial support on tax for enterprises; free tax advice within 12 months; free tax declaration within 12 months; free tax settlement report making within 12 months; provided free accounting software and discounted digital signature. As a result, these units provided direct support to 3,950 business households, 3,560 enterprises and provided free software to 2,726 enterprises.

Along with the implementation of the above support programs, HCMC Taxation Department also coordinates with other agencies to organize training activities, dialogue with newly established enterprises to provide timely information to enterprises. HCMC Tax Department together with 24 District-level Tax Branches have actively cooperated with People's Committees of districts and other Departments (Department of Planning and Investment, Department of Industry and Trade) to organize training and dialogue on tax policies for the newly established enterprises.

According to the HCMC Tax Department, a new point in the training and dialogue with newly established enterprises was that in addition to general training for all newly established enterprises, the Tax Department also cooperated with associations to train the tax policies on topics to understand difficulties, and problems and solve difficulties for each group and each sector, thereby improving the efficiency of tax administration and the quality and efficiency of dialogue activities. Specifically, the Tax Department has collaborated with the Real Estate Association to implement the real estate topic; with the Food and Foodstuff Association to implement the topic on food, agriculture, forestry and fishery products, with the Department of Science and Technology to implement a topic on tax policy in the field of science and technology.

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In the coordination to encourage business households to convert into enterprises, which is determined as one of important political tasks, HCMC Tax Department said that the tax agencies have actively coordinated with the People's Committees of districts to develop plans to support and develop local enterprises. As a result, the tax agencies have encouraged 3,010 business households to convert into enterprises.