Speaking at a working session with the Tax Department on May 12, Minister of Finance Ngo Van Tuan said he acknowledged and appreciated the contributions made by taxation to the country’s development journey.

Minister of Finance Ngo Van Tuan appreciates the tax sector’s contributions to society

Minister Tuan highlighted four major achievements of the tax sector in recent years.

First, the sector has consistently fulfilled state budget revenue collection targets, not only meeting but often significantly exceeding estimates. This reflects strong efforts to identify and expand revenue sources, particularly from online business activities.

Second, digital transformation has been implemented rapidly and decisively. The rollout of new technology applications, including AI-powered features on the eTax Mobile platform to support tax declarations, demonstrates the sector’s commitment to accelerating digitalisation.

Third, the sector has stepped up administrative reform by simplifying procedures and enhancing support for taxpayers, especially business households and small and micro-sized enterprises.

Fourth, organisational restructuring and streamlining efforts have been carried out intensively and effectively, gradually building a leaner, stronger, and more efficient tax administration system.

At an earlier session, Pham Quang Toan, head of the Technology, Digital Transformation and Automation Division under the Tax Department, introduced two newly deployed technology solutions aimed at supporting tax administration and assisting taxpayers through the eTax Mobile application.

“The system is continuously upgraded and improved with new features to make it more convenient for taxpayers to fulfill their tax obligations, while also helping tax officials effectively exploit and utilise IT applications,” Toan said.

Delegates attend the working session between Minister of Finance Ngo Van Tuan and the Tax Department

The AI-powered tax declaration application for business households is designed to enable comprehensive digitalisation and allow tax filing using natural language without requiring specialised knowledge. At the same time, it enhances user experience as data has already been pre-filled by tax authorities, requiring taxpayers only to confirm the information, while ensuring maximum data security.

Regarding the biometric authentication feature, the system verifies enterprises’ legal representatives through the national population database, using a mechanism similar to banking authentication systems.

According to Toan, the eTax Mobile application records up to around 10 million visits per day. Under the plan, the two new utilities will be deployed nationwide from May 15.

Assigning tasks to the tax sector, Minister Tuan emphasised the target of maintaining state budget revenue mobilisation at a minimum of 20 per cent of GDP during 2026-2030, of which revenues from taxes and fees are expected to account for at least 17 per cent of GDP to ensure a sustainable budget structure.

During 2021-2025, state budget revenues continued to grow and maintained their role as the backbone of national resource mobilisation, with the state budget revenue mobilisation ratio reaching 18.8 per cent of GDP, surpassing the set target of no less than 16 per cent of GDP.

“Tax policies must meet the requirements of efficiency, simplicity in implementation, ease of application, ease of inspection and ease of supervision. At the same time, administrative and compliance costs for taxpayers must be minimised. The tax sector also needs to fully capture new revenue sources, especially those arising from the digital business environment, digital assets, virtual currencies and digital currencies,” the minister said.

At the meeting, director general of the Tax Department Mai Xuan Thanh stated the tax sector’s commitment to continue carrying out comprehensive and in-depth reforms in taxpayer interaction, while strengthening anti-corruption efforts and enhancing professionalism.

According to Thanh, during 2026-2030, the tax sector shall prioritise improving its capacity for state budget revenue administration in a proactive, flexible and practical manner aligned with socioeconomic development.

“Alongside this, the sector will continue improving institutions and expanding the tax base for emerging areas such as the digital economy, e-commerce, cross-border transactions, digital assets and new business models. At the same time, modernising tax administration has been identified as a strategic breakthrough, with the aim of building an intelligent tax management system based on big data, AI, risk management and real-time supervision,” he said.

The sector will also strengthen connectivity and data-sharing with ministries, agencies, local authorities and the national population database; accelerate the provision of fully online public services; and minimise processing time, compliance costs and documentation requirements for citizens and businesses.