State Treasury promotes implementation of non-cash payments

Non-cash payment accounts for 99.44% of revenue collection

Recently, in the work of revenue collection, the State Treasury has expanded its network of accounts for revenue collection such as specialized collection accounts and payment accounts of the State Treasury at commercial banks participating in electronic bilateral payments or through interbank payments; promote coordination in collection and collection order of revenue collection for commercial banks in various forms (authorization for collection of taxes, fees and charges, collection of penalty for administrative violations), especially collection order by cash.

By the end of 2020, the State Treasury has expanded infrastructure connections with nine commercial banking systems (Vietcombank, Vietinbank, BIDV, Agribank, MBBank, SHB, VPBank, Techcombank and SeAbank); the number of accounts for revenue collection opened at commercial banks was 2,001 accounts, including 1,288 specialized collection accounts and 713 payment accounts.

The State Treasury also coordinated with the General Department of Taxation, the General Department of Vietnam Customs and commercial banks to implement a project of modernizing revenue collection to share data and organize coordination of revenue collection through various electronic forms. At the same time, regularly communicating and encourage payers to use online methods to carry out payment such as collection through the National Public Service Portal and payment intermediary service providers through commercial banks such as internet banking, mobile banking, ATM or via the portal of the General Department of Taxation, the General Department of Vietnam Customs.

The State Treasury has also installed and used POS machines at State Treasury units to serve revenue collection. By the end of 2020, the State Treasury system had 111 POS machines installed at 23 provincial State Treasury units and 87 district State Treasury units.

By the end of 2020, the revenue collection by non-cash payments through the State Treasury accounted for 99.44% of the total state budget revenue through the State Treasury (in 2019 was 99.19%; in 2018 was 99%; in 2017 was 98.17%; in 2016 was 95.75%). Cash receipts at the State Treasury mainly came from small business households that do not have bank accounts; collection of administrative violations, fees and charges shall be paid directly in cash at the State Treasury.

Step-by-step transformation of budget expenditure methods

Along with revenue collection, the State Treasury was also increasing non-cash payments in state budget expenditures. Accordingly, the State Treasury closely combines the control of state budget expenditures and the control of cash expenditures within the approved estimate, in accordance with the contents, purposes, standards, norms and provisions of the law; gradually transfer state budget expenditure by cash to commercial banks where the State Treasury opens payment accounts.

The State Treasury also coordinated with the State Bank and commercial banks to survey the service provision of the commercial banking systems in each locality, and report to the Ministry of Finance to issue guidance documents to expand the scope of services. The locality is required to pay personal payments via accounts to suit the actual situation.

As of October 15, 2021, the number of areas required to pay personal payments through accounts for beneficiaries of salaries from the state budget was 1,763 commune-level areas (including 534 wards of five cities under the central government; 975 wards and 11 communes of cities and towns; 227 townships and 16 communes of districts of provinces and centrally-run cities); the total number of budget-using units that have made personal payments through their accounts was 80,616/85,892 units (reaching 93.86%); total number of officers and public employees, contract officers and other cadres receiving salaries from the state budget (excluding the number of security - defense units) who have made personal payments via account reached 93.86%.

The State Treasury system has also guided, communicated and encourage budget-using units to open and use credit cards in state budget expenditures. By the end of 2020, there were 47 budget-using units across the whole country that had opened credit cards, concentrated in big cities with good payment infrastructure such as: Can Tho (26 units), Hanoi (six units), Hai Phong (one unit), HCM City (14 units); the number of transactions of state budget expenditure via credit card was 654 items, equivalent to VND2.6 billion.

The State Treasury has also stepped up state budget expenditure through electronic payment systems such as electronic bilateral payment, inter-bank payment, inter-treasury payment. State budget expenditures through these electronic payment systems always account for a relatively high proportion (over 85%) of the total state budget expenditure through the State Treasury.

Notably, the State Treasury has also coordinated with Tax authorities to deploy on a large scale from April 2021 the transmission and receipt of electronic tax refund orders to be able to receive and account for tax refund orders and transfer payment orders to the commercial bank to carry out state budget expenditure.

As a result, by the end of 2020, the state budget expenditure carried out by non-cash payment forms through the State Treasury accounted for 98.9% of the total state budget expenditure through the State Treasury.

Cash payments through the State Treasury are mainly some expenditures of the Ministry of National Defense and the Ministry of Public Security; land clearance expenses; personal payments in some remote and isolated areas where the commercial banking system has not yet provided ATM payment services; and paying people's debts.