Around 99 percent of import and export tax payments in Ho Chi Minh City are made online. (Source: VNA) Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - Around 99 percent of import and export tax paymentsin Ho Chi Minh City are made online, according to the customs department.
Switching to online payment has reduced work for customs officers and helpedbusinesses save time and cost.
According to the State Bank of Vietnam, promoting online payment for publicservices is one of the goals of the Government.
Le Thanh Minh, an employee of a transportation company, said import and exportprocedures at customs offices have become easier and faster than before thanksto non-cash payment.
Previously enterprises had to pay the tax at the Treasury or a bank, take thepayment receipt to customs authorities and wait.
Now, after the money goes to the Treasury, the goods are automatically cleared.
In the past, it would take businesses two or three days to complete the taxpayment. The process could stretch even further since banks do not work onweekends and holidays, but now it only takes a few seconds, Minh said.
Nguyen Quoc Toan from the customs department’s import-export taxation officetold Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper that online tax collection enables customs toreduce human resources and simplifies the payment process.
Businesses have their goods cleared quickly after paying, and no longer face asituation where they pay the tax but customs does not receive information aboutit.
The ease of payment has made the business community happy, Toan said.
Another department official said the new payment method prevents errors andensures immediate cargo clearance.
Its aim is to move towards e-governance and non-cash transactions, he added.
Asked why 1 percent continue to pay the import tax in cash, the department saidthese are usually individuals who transport goods through non-commercial means,referring to tourists and other travellers.
They pay duties when they bring goods from foreign countries whose valuereaches the taxable threshold, he added.-VNS/VNA
VNA
