State Audit completes 96 percent of annual plan

By the end of September, the audit authority completed 150 audits, reviewed 140 draft audit reports and issued 85 auditing reports. (Photo: cbhitech.com.vn)

Hanoi (VNS/VNA) – The State Audit of Vietnam (SAV) has carried out 222 audits out of total 232, equivalent to 95.7 percent of its yearly plan, recovering nearly 8.4 trillion VND (360.5 million USD) for the State budget in the last nine months.

By the end of September, the audit authority completed 150 audits, reviewed 140 draft audit reports and issued 85 auditing reports.

The preliminary results of 140 audit reports showed that additional collection for the State budget reached nearly 8.4 trillion VND, Government spending decreased 17.56 trillion VND and 30.07 trillion VND was proposed for handling.

For management of official development assistance (ODA) capital during 2015-17, SAV proposed handling 2.65 trillion VND. It also pointed out some shortcomings and deficiencies in the management and use of ODA funds.

Concerning VAT tax management in 2017, SAV proposed recovering nearly 97 billion VND for the State coffers and other financial handling worth 1.26 trillion VND involving VAT refund. At the same time, it found wrongdoings in some build-transfer (BT) projects.

According to SAV’s report to National Assembly deputies, only 1 out of 12 BT project in the 2013-17 period invited tenders for construction while the others assigned contractors which reduced the competitiveness of the projects. In addition, misconduct relating to land allocation or prices could have risked wasting State assets.

The total value of three sample BT projects decreased over 60 percent after the audits, from 4.42 trillion VND to 1.73 trillion VND.

Inspections of high-tech zones in HCM City also revealed the price of land lease did not abide with the Government’s regulations, including misconduct in land rent exemptions and leasing land at lower prices compared to the city’s ruling.

Particularly, through comparison of tax payments by 2,605 non-State enterprises in 41 localities, the audit authority concluded the increase in the State budget was 1.77 trillion VND, with tax debts up by 3.08 trillion VND.

SAV expects to complete the remaining audits planned for this year by November 10 and issue audit reports before December 31.-VNS/VNA