Electronic tax collections ‘the best’

Applying information technology (IT) management in processing personal income tax is integral to the successful implementation of a Law on Corporate Income Tax, according to the General Director of the FPT IS, Duong Dung Trieu.

Trieu said that applying IT for personal income tax (PIT) purposes could not only solve technological problems related to tax modernisation, but also help increase the State budget given decreasing import-export tax in line with international economic integration, especially with Viet Nam being a member of the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

As of 1996, the General Department of Taxation has only been able to manage around 3 million tax codes. Four months after applying IT management, five million new tax codes have been issued, over 14 million PIT codes spread across the country.

The Prime Minister recently approved a tax system reform strategy for 2011-20, in part aimed at assisting 60 per cent of enterprises in using e-tax services and 50 per cent businesses in making tax registrations through the Internet by 2015 when 95 per cent of tax declarations are set to be checked automatically.

According to Le Hong Hai, deputy general director of the General Taxation Department, following two years of implementation, the department will have completed its task of managing personal income tax in accordance with Ministry of Finance requirements.

The project had helped develop basic measures for managing PIT in terms of tax registration, the information processing of tax declarations and the function module on tax payments which had as yet not been standardised with regards to tax administration, Hai said.

The PIT application, now available for large scale deployment (apart from that in Ha Noi, Binh Duong, Dong Nai, Bac Ninh and Bac Giang provinces), has helped Viet Nam, ranked 13th in the world in terms of population, manage its tax system for the benefit of the whole country.

Second phase management of personal income tax was set to continue to develop in terms of reporting systems, tax registration and the provision of online tax information, Hai said.

While Viet Nam’s PIT remains modest compared to the entire tax sector, the country plans to further reduce import and export revenues under WTO commitments.

In order to meet development needs, Viet Nam has had to increase its national budget revenues, a problem that PIT could help solve.

It is expected that, within 10 to 15 years, PIT would account for a special ratio in terms of budget revenues. The IT application had laid a foundation for supporting the Viet Nam’s future budget collection, Hai said. — VNS

Tags: Electronic tax collections