Revise the Law on Tax Administration: Develop the law in the spirit of listening, seeing

The Ministry of Finance has advocated the amendment of the Law on Tax Administration from November 2017. Picture: Thuy Linh.

More than 110 comments were recorded

Starting from the requirements of the administrative reform towards the unified, open, transparent and simplified management and creation of a legal framework for the application of modern information technology to tax administration, the Ministry of Finance has advocated the amendment of the Law on Tax Administration from November 2017.

In implementing the law on the promulgation of legal documents, the Ministry of Finance has sent dossiers of bills of amendment to the ministries, branches and related agencies. MOF has also cooperated with the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) and the Tax Consultant Association to hold seminars on the draft Tax Administration Law (revised). At the same time, the draft Law on Tax Administration has been posted on the Government’s electronic portal, the Ministry of Finance and the General Department of Taxation for public comment from the people and enterprises. Up to now, the Ministry of Finance has received 110 comments from organizations, agencies and units inside and outside the Ministry of Finance for comments on some related contents.

According to Mr. Cao Anh Tuan, Deputy General Director of the General Department of Taxation, Head of Law Drafting Team, the Draft Law on Tax Administration (revised) is built on the basis of reviewing and studying the provisions of Vietnamese law, foreign and international treaties related to tax administration. Subsequently, the drafting committee has drafted the Law on Tax Administration (amended) and related documents, and sent comments to ministries, sectors and localities. After many comments, the draft amended and adjusted many policies to ensure the requirements of administrative reform, creating favorable conditions for taxpayers to meet the requirements of taxation management modernization. Representatives of the General Department of Taxation also highly appreciated the comments of experts and business community, and committed that these ideas will be seriously drafted and absorbed by the drafting committee to conclude the Draft Law on Tax Administration (amended).

According to Mr. Dau Anh Tuan, Head of the VCCI Legislation Department, the amendment of the Tax Administration Law will have a great impact on businesses, because of the tendency of reform, frequency of declaration, electronic transactions, and coordination papers, that are all very relevant. Therefore, in the draft law there are important provisions such as the promotion of electronic transactions, electronic invoices, electronic tax returns, tax declaration and accounting... will directly affect the businesses. As for the drafting agency, the amendment of the Law on Tax Administration is a big step and has absorbed the issues that arise and moves in line with the direction of reform of administrative procedures, and serves the needs of business development for businesses.

"The Drafting Board and the General Department of Taxation are very open minded about the opinions of businesses and stakeholders. Therefore, with the way of openness, publicity and transparency, the drafting committee will meet the needs and expectations of change in tax administration of enterprises," said Mr. Tuan.

Continuing to amend and supplement the regulations

In the management of the tax office, if the first draft proposed specific provisions on the rights of the tax agencies, such as the proposed collection of social insurance, proposed adding the function of investigation for Taxation..., after consulting with the comments from the tax authorities at all levels as well as from businesses, the draft Law on Tax Administration (amendment) removed these proposals. On the other hand, many other regulations were added after listening to comments from relevant agencies. Typically, the regulation on four levels of authority to write off debt to the owner of a "dead" enterprise must be added. This is a new point in the draft Law on Tax Administration (amended), because in the first draft there were only general provisions on debt write off.

In addition, Mr. Cao Anh Tuan also said, through the consultation process, the provisions on the interests of taxpayers have also been improved better than the first draft. Specifically, taxpayers know the time limit for tax refund; the tax is not refundable and the legal basis for the tax is not refundable... Also to create favorable conditions for taxpayers, procedures for tax declaration, tax calculation and payment, the draft law added the deadline for submission of tax dossiers and electronic tax payment vouchers in case of technical problems; time limit for submission of fixed tax declaration dossiers; Time for additional declaration. The deadline for paying tax and calculating the late payment for additional payable tax amounts is through additional declarations in order to ensure uniformity, clarity and transparency between taxpayers and tax agencies.

In particular, in order to maximize the benefits for enterprises, especially small and micro enterprises, the latest draft of the Law on Tax Administration (Amendment) added a chapter on functions of tax agents. Accordingly, the drafting committee has proposed to expand the scope of provision of services (tax consultancy, accounting for small and micro enterprises) to tax agents. This provision aims to ensure that the tax agent system is developed and also facilitates and reduces costs for small and micro enterprises in complying with accounting law as well as tax law. This regulation has received the approval and support from businesses.

There are many provisions in the draft Tax Administration Law (revised) that have been completed by the Ministry of Finance in the spirit of listening to the comments of relevant authorities as well as the business community and taxpayers. As the tax administration agency expects, the draft Tax Administration Law (revised) will be finalized to replace the current one, complete and appropriate with the practical requirements of tax administration.