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The Minister of Finance speaks at the meeting. Photo: Huong Diu.

Accordingly, upon the implementation of the Government Resolution 35 / NQ-CP on business support and development until 2020, the Ministry of Finance has issued the Action Program until 2020 with 34 solutions to be concretized into 46 out products. In 2016, the Ministry of Finance completed 29 output products of the year (reaching 100% of the plan).

In particular, implementing the tasks assigned in the Resolution No. 35 / NQ-CP on reducing business expenses, the Ministry of Finance has coordinated with the Ministry of Transport to review and issue 16 Circulars to reduced fees at 29 toll stations for BOT projects, thereby reducing input costs for businesses.

In 2016, on the national scale, the tax offices and Customs offices at all levels held over 1,000 meetings and dialogues on tax and Customs with the business community. The Ministry of Finance, the tax offices and Customs offices have received and handled more than 20,000 documents dealing with enterprises' proposals, which have been synthesized from many channels (the Taxation has resolved and answered nearly 17,500 proposals, and the Customs has resolved and answered more than 2,500 proposals).

According to the Minister of Finance, Mr. Dinh Tien Dung, in 2017, the Ministry of Finance also promulgated the Action Program to implement Government Resolution No. 19-2017 / NQ-CP with 87 solutions which are concretized into 175 tasks. In particular, focusing on comprehensive reform towards strong reform of administrative procedures, creating favourable conditions for enterprises, stepping up institutional reforms in the financial field; renovating the management mode from pre-clearance inspections to post-clearance audits; and modernizing management in the field of Taxation and Customs.

Along with that, the Ministry of Finance has implemented many solutions and achieved positive results in the field of land, finance, financial market restructuring, State enterprises’ restructuring, market management, prices and inflation control; capital mobilization and public debt management.

Therefore, in the coming time, according to the Minister of Finance, Mr. Dinh Tien Dung, the Ministry of Finance will continue reviewing and revising tax policies, charges and fees, contributing to improving the business environment, encouraging start-up business; focusing on solving the difficulties and obstacles of the business community; promoting reform of administrative procedures in the financial sector and focusing on taxation and Customs.

In particular, at the meeting, the Minister of Finance directly responded to the recommendations of enterprises.

Regarding the special consumption tax rate of automobiles, the Minister of Finance, Mr. Dinh Tien Dung said that since 1st July 2016, Clause 1 and Article 2 of Law No. 106/2016 / QH13 amending and supplementing the Law on Value Added Tax, Special Consumption Tax, the Law on Tax Administration had stipulated that prices for Special Consumption Tax calculation would be regulated by manufacturers or sellers. The tax rate for vehicles with a capacity of 9 seats or less as follows: For vehicles of cylinder capacity 3.0 to 4.0 L, the tax rate is 90%; from 4.0 to 5.0 L, the tax rate is 110%; from 5.0 to 6.0 L, the tax rate is 130% and over 6.0L, the tax rate is 150%.

According to the above regulations, from 1st July 2016, companies importing cars must declare in accordance with regulations. Therefore, the Ministry of Finance has requested enterprises to comply with regulations.

Answering about 60 real estate projects which need to be examined as proposed by the Ministry of Finance, the Minister of Finance, Mr. Dinh Tien Dung said that the Ministry of Finance followed the direction of the Prime Minister to review the Government's Decree on the transformation of housing business and changes in land use purpose.

According to the Minister of Finance, Mr. Dinh Tien Dung, there are two contents in the report to the Government: Firstly, the Government Inspectorate shall inspect the project with signs of violation, with the land price not closing to the market price. Secondly, provinces and cities are required to temporarily suspend the project of high-rise buildings in the big cities without land use rights.

After receiving the report from the Ministry of Finance, the Prime Minister has assigned the Ministry of Finance to coordinate the relevant agencies to suspend the sale of land and transferring of the land use rights in order to have appropriate solutions. The Prime Minister has also requested that the list should be forwarded to the Government in order to implement the inspection plan.

Apart from the above two issues, the Minister of Finance also affirmed that the Ministry of Finance would accept comments on the release of goods and social insurance policies for foreigners working in Vietnam in the most suitable way.

"The Finance Ministry has agreed to conclude the Customs Mutual Assistance Agreement soon between the General Department of Vietnam Customs and the US Customs and Border Protection Agency. It is expected to be signed later this year", Mr. Dinh Tien Dung said.

The Chairman of the Association of Small and Medium Enterprises, Mr. Nguyen Van Than said that the cost of paying taxes in Vietnam was the highest (39.1%) in comparison with that of the ASEAN members. In response to the above statement, Mr. Dinh Tien Dung said that the cost of paying taxes of enterprises included 20% of corporate income tax, 19.1% of the health insurance and unemployment insurance.

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While this cost in ASEAN is 33.65%, the tax expense is 21.8%, higher than the rate in Vietnam; but insurance costs are only 11.67%, much lower than the rate in Vietnam. Therefore, the Ministry of Finance will try to reduce this cost for enterprises to improve their competitiveness.