According to the General Department of Taxation, the revenue in October saw a significant increase compared to August and September. Photo: Thuy Linh

Revenue grew by 5.5%

Minister of Finance Ho Duc Phoc said the pandemic has posed many difficulties and great challenges for the budget collection task. The entire finance sector has strived to realize assigned tasks. Along with managing budget revenue, the finance sector has actively advised the Government and issued fiscal policies to support the revival of the economy.

According to data of the Ministry of Finance, the 10-month state revenue reached VND1,221 trillion, or 90.9% of the estimate, up 5.5% year-on-year. Also according to the data of the State Treasury on Tabmis system, by the end of October 31, 2021, the 10-month state revenue reached VND1,224.3 trillion, or 91.1% of the estimate, of which, the central budget was 87% and the local budget was 96.7% of the estimate.

Notably, after many localities loosened social distancing from the end of September to the beginning of October, production and business activities began to return, which had a positive impact on October's budget revenue. State collected VND133.2 trillion in October, including VND116.3 trillion of domestic revenue, up by VND59 trillion month-on-month.

October is the time when businesses declare and pay taxes according to the quarterly collection regime. At the same time, in October, about VND16 trillion of VAT and CIT which have expired according to Decree 52/2021/ND-CP dated April 19, 2021 of the Government was paid to the State budget.

According to Mr. Cao Anh Tuan, Director of the General Department of Taxation, due to the increase in oil prices and easing of social distancing in many local provinces, the revenue from CIT and deferred tax paid by enterprises on October 31, October's revenue was higher than August and September.

Local revenue was quite good but uneven, especially the southern provinces and those that implemented social distancing, recorded low revenue. Fourteen of 63 cities and provinces had revenue less than 85% of the estimate. Recently, the General Department of Taxation also focused on supporting two cities which contribute large payments, as Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City and will continue to support other provinces and cities to end December 31 to reach the target as over 55 cities and provinces complete their estimates.

Making all efforts to reach the target

In October, imports and exports gained VND12.95 trillion on the basis of the total tax revenue of nearly VND28 trillion and value-added tax refund of VND15 trillion. Accordingly, the country in the past ten months collected VND190.25 trillion in trade, or exceeding 6.6% of the estimate, up 27.7% year-on-year

Director General of the General Department of Customs Nguyen Van Can said, after the southern provinces eased social distancing, the total import-export turnover in October grew by approximately 2%, leading to VND28 trillion increase in the tax revenue from import-export activities in October compared to September.

For the rest of the year, the Customs sector will make all efforts to achieve the highest results in budget revenue from import-export activities.

Regarding state budget spending, the Ministry of Finance reported that in the past ten months, the state budget spent VND1,149.4 trillion, or 68.1% of the estimate including VND257.39 trillion for development investment, VND85.37 trillion for debt interest payment and VND798.1 trillion for recurrent spending.

Minister Ho Duc Phoc said that units under the Ministry of Finance must regularly review and inspect work progress, proactive, creative and make all efforts to succeed in the financial and budgetary tasks in 2021, complete development of legal documents and quickly report problems in the drafting of legal documents. Along with that, the ministry will promptly advise the Government on fiscal policies in the development of economic management scenarios and fiscal solutions to support economic growth and help businesses and people overcome difficulties caused by the pandemic.

The Minister noted some key contents in the remaining months including effective management of ODA loans; issuance of government bonds to cover overspending; report on revenues and expenditures of non-refundable aid.

As for budget revenue solutions, the Minister requested tax authorities to strengthen the application of information technology in management and promote digital collection solutions, accelerate the deployment of e-invoices and build a center for e-invoicing data and AI-based management.