Customs sector fails to meet yearly tax collection target

Hanoi (VNA) – The customs sector collected 261.49 trillion VND (12 billion USD) for the State budget this year to December 25, equal to 96.82 percent of the year target, according to the General Department of Vietnam Customs.

The department said the falling crude oil price is one of reasons behind the reduced tax revenues, as the yearly plan was based on the assumption that oil price was 60 USD per barrel.

Besides, the enforcement of several free trade agreements brought down the tax rates on petrol imports from ASEAN and the Republic of Korea, cutting into tax collection.

Lower-than-expected economic and export growth rates are other causes.

As more taxes will be reduced to zero in 2017 and the years after, revenues from import-export tariffs and special consumption taxes are expected to drop further, prompting the sector to look to other sources such as environment taxes and value added tax (VAT).  

Le Manh Hung, deputy head of the department’s Import-Export Tax Department, said the VAT rates, which stand at 5 and 10 percent at the moment, are relatively low in comparison with that in other countries in the region.

He pointed to the need to change the structure of tax collection sources in order to ensure revenues for the State budget.

The customs sector’s revenue mainly comes from import-export tax, special consumption tax, environmental protection tax and VAT.

The sector was assigned to collect 270 trillion VND for the State budget in 2016, with 91 trillion VND to come from import-export tax, special consumption tax and environmental protection tax, and 179 trillion VND from VAT.-VNA