Towards digital transformation in tax and customs management

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Assoc. Prof. Dr. Le Xuan Truong addresses the workshop. Photo: Thuy Linh

Digital transformation in tax management

At the workshop, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Le Xuan Truong, Dean of the Faculty of Taxation and Customs, said Tax, Customs and Logistics management is difficult and complicated. In 2021, Vietnam and the world have been affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, many economic sectors have been delayed and the supply chains have been disrupted, many workers have suffered from difficulties.

“The amendment to tax policy and management to support businesses to overcome the pandemic, development of production and stability of people’s lives are the key tasks, and effective solutions should be provided in a timely fashion,” Assoc. Prof. Dr. Le Xuan Truong said.

Truong said digital transformation in tax management in Vietnam is necessary. The transformation aims to reduce the workload in data processing of the tax sector, save human resources and costs. The new model will help to reduce costs and enhance efficiency in tax management, and determine tax obligations in a timely and accurate manner associated with actual time and operation of taxpayers.

At the workshop, experts and researchers raised key contents in tax administration such as e-commerce tax management, tax base erosion prevention, support policies for businesses in the post-pandemic period.

Ms. Hoang Thi Lan Anh (Reform Department, General Department of Taxation) said that the average growth rate of e-commerce in Vietnam showed strong development. The rate is forecast to increase by 29% to US$52 billion for 2020-2025.

This is a huge space for state budget revenue so that the tax sector should provide timely responds to the challenges of this operation.

“To manage tax compliance for this operation, a database should be built to identify the obligation of taxpayers in e-commerce and verify the seller information. The database is built from many information sources of state management agencies, commercial banks and payment intermediary organizations, network and telecommunications media companies, and consumers.

“In addition, it is also necessary to apply information technology to trace e-commerce transactions to determine and check revenue value with the basis for determining the tax obligation of taxpayers," said Ms. Hoang Thi Lan Anh.

Regarding tax management with associated transactions, Dr. Nguyen Dinh Chien, Faculty of Taxation and Customs, also said that the development of the database is very necessary, including the database on the independent transaction price in each sector arising associated transactions in each period to serve the comparison of transaction prices.

Customs reform

Regarding customs, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Vu Duy Nguyen, Faculty of Taxation and Customs, said that the strong development of international trade and the revolution of science and technology, especially information technology, has made a strong impact on customs reform and modernization, transferring from the traditional customs model to e-customs, digital customs and moving towards smart customs.

“Vietnam has deeply integrated the world economy, especially the implementation of new generation FTAs such as EVFTA, CPTPP, RCEP, the development and implementation of a smart Customs strategy for 2021-2030 is necessary. This not only creates a strong motivation for socio-economic development, but is also consistent with the modernization strategy of global customs, and facilitates the operation and sustainability of global smart supply chains," said Mr. Vu Duy Nguyen.

Representative from the General Department of Vietnam Customs, Dr. Bui Thai Quang, Deputy Director of the Risk Management Department, also said Vietnam's Customs development strategy for 2020-2030 has set the goal of centralization, modernization and automation of customs inspection, supervision and control; launching smart border model, green customs; reforming the specialized inspection model for imports and exports at the border gate.

In this period, the development of a centralized, integrated and smart Customs IT system aims to meet requirements on information security with a digital platform and in accordance with the architecture of e-Government and digital government.