Ho Chi Minh City Customs introduces solutions for tax debts

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HCM City Customs officer checks dossiers of enterprises with tax debts. Photo: T.H

More than 7,000 businesses with tax debts enforced

HCM City Customs Department has recently listed enterprises with tax debts subject to coercion and requested to publish the names of more than 7000 businesses with a total debt of more thanVND 3,300 billion. Of which, there are many debts mainly arising from many years ago, difficult to recover. HCM City Customs Department has taken many measures in accordance with the Law on Tax Administration, butareineffective.

In addition, onthe list of tax debtors, there are many enterprises with large tax debts which mainly arose from post customs clearance audits. In particular, TĐ Group Joint Stock Company owesnearly VND 670 billion; and GP Garment Joint Stock Company more than VND 47 billion. HCM City Customs Department said these companies had complaints and although Customs agencies held dialogues and dealt with the complaints, they are still complaining at upper levels.

In addition, many export processing and manufacturing enterprises have huge tax debts of tens of billions of dong, but they have stopped operationssuch as NIVL Joint Stock Company owes VND 157 billion; Silver Star Vietnam Co., Ltd over VND 47 billion; KWANG NAM Footwear Production Co., Ltd. more than VND 35 billion and dozens of enterprises owe billions of tax.

According to HCM City Customs Department, the above tax debts are mostly subject to coercion, arising from many years. In particular, many tax debtors have fled their registered business addresses. According to Nguyen Quoc Toan, the Deputy Head of the Import-Export Tax Department - HCM City Customs Department, the department has managed and handled tax debtswell, avoiding new bad debts. This resulted from two factors, being that the Customs has done well trade facilitation and dissemination of customs laws so enterprises comply with customs laws.

Proposal to enforce business owner’s accounts

To recover tax debts for enterprises which no longer operate at their registered business addresses, the General Department of Customs has issued official dispatch No. 3397 / TCHQ-TXNK guiding the recovery of the coercive debt recovery for owners of enterprises which no longer operate at their registered business addresses. Based on the guidance of the General Department of Customs and the provisions of the Enterprise Law, HCM City Customs Department said the tax agency has the right to force the owners of these enterprises to bear tax liability when there is a foundation to determine they have not fully paid contributed capital according to the declaration at the business registration certificate (if enterprises havefully paid contributed capital as committed, it will not be forced to pay remaining tax debts).

HCM City Customs Department has collected information on accounts of deposits, wages and assets of owners of enterpriseswhich no longer operate at the registered business addresses.The department found some owners still have deposits at banks, wages, incomes, land use right certificates and motor vehicle ownership, so HCM City Customs has taken coercive measures against the owners (deduction of deposit accounts, salary deduction, distrain and auction of property) for tax payment according to the above provisions but has faced the problem that there is not a foundation to determine whether owners have fully paid contributed capital according to the business registration certificate.

Thereby, in order to effectively recover tax debts,HCM City Customs Department proposed a solution thatif owners of enterprises which no longer operate at the registered business addresseshave depositsat banks, wages, incomes, land use right certificates and motor vehicles, Customs agency shall send written requests to enterprise owners to propose that within five working days, the owners have to provide proof that they have fully paid the contributed capital. Upon expiry of the prescribed time limit, if the owners fail to prove they have fully paid the contributed capital, the customs agency shall take coercive measures (deduction of deposit account, salary deduction, distrain and auction of assets) to pay the taxes.