This is information that the representative of Imexpharm Pharmaceutical Corporation shared at the Dialogue Conference between the Ministry of Finance and enterprises on tax and customs administrative policies and procedures in 2021, recently organized by VCCI and the Ministry of Finance.

Imexpharm's representative proposed to the Government and the Prime Minister request the financial, tax and customs authorities to review and adjust tax policies for raw materials that cannot be produced domestically (materials that enterprises have to import for production), in order to help domestically produced finished products better compete with imported finished products.

All recommendations are considered and resolved

According to VCCI President Pham Tan Cong, due to the pandemic, the Dialogue Conference on tax administrative policies and procedures in 2021 was delivered virtually with the main bridge point in Hanoi and eight others in the localities where VCCI branches and representative offices are located. This is also the 16th year in a row that the conference was jointly organized by the Ministry of Finance and VCCI, continuing to demonstrate the Ministry of Finance's interest and determination to reform and support the business community of the Ministry of Finance in addressing difficulties, to reform administrative procedures of the tax and customs sectors. This conference is an opportunity for the Ministry of Finance and relevant agencies to directly receive, exchange and discuss opinions and recommendations of businesses, thereby continuing to adjust policies and administrative procedures that cause problems for businesses in addition to providing timely solutions to reduce the burden on businesses in the context of the pandemic.

According to VCCI President Cong, over the years, the tax and customs sectors have made great efforts in implementing reform of administrative procedures, automating procedural processes, and professionalizing and modernizing the working style of tax - customs officers.

VCCI President Cong said, in the process of preparing for this conference and through monitoring and assessing the level of business satisfaction, VCCI has collected suggestions from businesses through many different channels. The application of document codes, barcodes, goods in transit, tax rates, fees, tax refund process has also been proposed by businesses for specific amendments. All opinions of enterprises have been transferred to the relevant authorities of the Ministry of Finance before the conference for consideration and settlement. All comments and recommendations will be answered in writing and posted on the website of the Ministry of Finance and VCCI.

Many support policies

According to Deputy Minister of Finance Vu Thi Mai, right at the beginning of 2021, as the operation of businesses and people still faced many challenges, including the very complicated developments of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ministry of Finance submitted to the competent authorities for promulgation and continued to implement a number of support solutions on taxes, fees, charges and land rent with an estimated support value of VND118 trillion, in which: the tax amount (including VAT, CIT, PIT) and the extended land rent is about VND115 trillion; the amount of tax (including environmental protection tax, import tax), fees and charges are exempted or reduced by about VND3 trillion.

Recently, in the face of the extremely complicated situation of the fourth wave of COVID-19, which has continued to seriously and heavily affected businesses and people, the Ministry of Finance has also submitted to the Prime Minister for promulgation a number of policies to reduce land rent, reduce VAT, exempt from arising tax, exempt from late payment interest and reduce CIT.

"In general, the tax, fee, charge and land rent solutions that have been issued and implemented in 2021 will support businesses and people with an amount of nearly VND140 trillion," Ms. Mai said.

According to Ms. Mai, the tax industry will continue to expand the scope of implementing the electronic tax system with the following services: electronic tax declaration, electronic tax payment, electronic tax refund, electronic invoices with more than 99.6% total number of enterprises participating in electronic tax declaration; 98.9% participating in electronic tax payment; and 97.6% participating in electronic tax refund. The Electronic Invoice System has been officially put into operation in six localities, including Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Binh Dinh, Quang Ninh, Hai Phong and Phu Tho, and will be implemented in the remaining 57 provinces/cities in 2022.

Besides, the customs sector will also continue promoting the implementation of the national single window, the ASEAN single window; managing, supervising and ensuring the operation of the VNACCS/VCIS automatic customs clearance system and information technology systems, which have contributed to making the customs clearance of import and export goods become increasingly modernized and convenient, saving costs.

“Currently, the COVID-19 pandemic is still complicated and unpredictable, causing many difficulties for production and business activities. In the coming time, the Ministry of Finance will continue to closely monitor developments and actual conditions; summarize and evaluate the effectiveness of implemented policies to advise and report to competent authorities for appropriate support solutions. It will closely coordinate with the Ministry of Planning and Investment and other ministries and sectors to research and report to the Government and Prime Minister on the program of economic recovery and development, and submit it to competent authorities for consideration, making decisions, creating a basis for the development and implementation of the next support solutions," Ms. Mai said.