Hanoi: Vietnam’s Ministry of Finance has announced the streamlining of a range of taxation and customs procedures in Decision Nos. 509/QĐ-BTC and 510/QĐ-BTC. The MoF has removed one and simplified seven taxation procedures, and removed seven and simplified 38 customs procedures.
Taxation procedures to be simplified include invoice issuing and printing, and tax exemption or reduction applications for individuals residing in Vietnam. The General Department of Taxation is expected to propose a relevant draft relating to the simplifying taxation formalities to the MoF. Customs procedures to be simplified include amendment to customs declaration and adjustment applications, and temporary import and re-export applications.
The decision comes in response to the government’s Decision No. 19/NQ-CP of March 12, 2015, a Resolution on main tasks and measures to improve the business environment and national competitiveness in 2015-16. The Resolution noted the reduction in time spent paying tax from 573 to 247 hours per year, expecting that this be reduced to 167 hours per year thanks to changes to the Tax Law which came into effect on January 1, 2015. It noted that time paying social insurance has been reduced from 335 to 225 hours per year, time taken to access electricity from 115 to 70 days, and that time spent on business initiation procedures was reduced from 34 to 17 working days. Businesses submitting tax reports online increased to 95 percent in 2014, from the previous 65 percent.
