Tax revenue: Growth in difficult situation

By the end of June 30, 2021, the tax sector's state budget revenue is estimated to reach VND656,374 billion. Photo: Thuy Linh

Revenue from the production and business sector grew well

Commenting on the revenue results of the tax sector, at a Conference to review tax work in the first six months of 2021, Deputy Minister of Finance Vu Thi Mai said that it was a comprehensive success in all aspects.

Indeed, since the beginning of the year, the complicated outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on the socio-economic situation, production and business of people and businesses.

Leaders of the General Department of Taxation have also repeatedly expressed concern about budget collection in this context. However, thanks to drastic efforts and solutions, by the end of June 30, 2021, it is estimated that the state budget revenue of the tax sector reached VND656,374 billion, equaling 58.8% of the estimate, an increase of 14. 3% compared to the same period in 2020.

According to General Director of Taxation Cao Anh Tuan, budget revenue is mainly due to economic growth momentum from the end of 2020 and increased revenue from a number of sources due to benefits from fiscal and monetary policies in 2020. In which, a number of industries achieved high growth rates such as banking, securities, real estate, automobile manufacturing and assembly.

In Hanoi – one of the economic "headquarters" of the country – in the first six months of the year, the Hanoi Tax Department was always ensuring budget revenue and support enterprises to overcome difficulties and restore production and business.

As a result, the revenue of this unit has reached 52.9% of the ordinance estimate, an increase of 6.6% compared to the same period in 2020. According to Mr. Mai Son, Director of the Hanoi Tax Department, the main driver for the revenue result is the recovery and growth of production and business, which is reflected in the revenue from the production and business sector in the first six months of 2021, reaching VND65,179 billion (up by 26.8% compared to the same period in 2020).

Specifically, in the first six months of the year, the total number of operating enterprises increased by about 7% compared to the same period in 2020; value-added tax revenue increased by 17.3% compared to the same period in 2020.

In Ho Chi Minh City, by the end of June, the total state budget revenue of the City Tax Department was VND140,760 billion, reaching 54.79% of the 2021 estimate, up by 21.10% compared to the same period in 2020. This is the year with the highest percentage of accumulated revenue in the first six months compared to the estimate in the past five years.

Another unit with high revenue in the first six months is Thanh Hoa Tax Department with a revenue of VND10,395 billion. This figure reached 63.5% of the estimate assigned by the Ministry and the province, equal to 120% of the same period in 2020. According to this unit, in general, the estimate of the Ministry of Finance assigned in 2021 is suitable both in terms of total and the structure of the fields, tax revenue in the first six months reached over 50% of the estimate, of which some revenues were quite good compared to the estimate and increased sharply compared to the same period in 2020.

Set high determination, act fiercely

Director General of the General Department of Taxation Cao Anh Tuan forecasts that Vietnam's economic situation in the last months of 2021 will face many difficulties. In addition, along with tax relaxation and reduction policies to support people and businesses, the budget collection work in the last months of 2021 will face many challenges and difficulties, requiring the whole tax industry to set high determination, implement drastically, effectively and synchronously many tax management solutions to complete the assigned revenue collection tasks in 2021.

In particular, the top task set by the tax industry at this time is to focus on solving difficulties for businesses.

According to Mr. Mai Son, Director of Hanoi Tax Department continues to effectively implement policies to support and remove difficulties for businesses and taxpayers in order to stabilize and develop production and business, having cash flow to fulfill obligations to the state budget, creating a basis for nurturing sustainable revenue.

The Tax Department of Ho Chi Minh City also proposed a solution to strengthen the management of tax objects, declaration and accounting to properly manage the arising objects and firmly grasp the "health" and fluctuations in the production and business situation of enterprises, especially key enterprises.

In addition, another important task being proposed by the whole sector is to expand the revenue base and prevent losses of state budget revenue. From now until the end of the year, the General Department of Taxation requires units to review the revenue sources that still have potential to increase revenue and partially offset the decrease in state budget revenue caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, such as revenue from land, natural resources and minerals; strengthen coordination with relevant agencies such as the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Departments of Industry and Trade of the provinces and cities; Ministry of Information and Communications to focus on building a database to improve the efficiency of tax administration for business activities on digital platforms, e-commerce business, online business, services telecommunications.

The Tax Department will continue to work closely with the Public Security, Customs, and Market Management agencies to strictly control commodity prices, and more effectively manage e-commerce and online business activities, combating smuggling, trade fraud, counterfeit goods, and poor-quality goods, thereby preventing loss of budget revenue, creating an equal business environment to encourage and attract investment in the locality, and generate revenue for the state budget.