Official Dispatch 5258/BTC-TCT guiding the management and recovery of tax debts in Vietnam in 2024
Official Dispatch 5258/BTC-TCT guiding the management and recovery of tax debts in Vietnam in 2024
On May 22, 2024, the Ministry of Finance issued Official Dispatch 5258/BTC-TCT in 2024 regarding coordination in tax management.
Under Section 2 of Official Dispatch 5258/BTC-TCT in 2024, it guides the management and recovery of tax debts for 2024 as follows:
- Establish the Steering Committee for Tax Debt Recovery and Land Levy, Land Rent Recovery at the provincial/city level (referred to as the Steering Committee), chaired by the provincial/city government leader, and composed of members representing various Departments, Committees, and Agencies, as well as district-level town representatives. If a Steering Committee has already been established, review and supplement the Committee’s tasks, assign specific tasks to each member, and develop detailed action plans for implementation.
- The Steering Committee shall review the list of taxpayers with significant tax debts in the area, determine specific recovery measures for each taxpayer, report to the provincial/city government, and organize working sessions to urge tax debt recovery. Monthly, the Steering Committee must report on its activities to the provincial/city government and the Ministry of Finance (via the General Department of Taxation) for monitoring and prompt direction.
- Direct relevant agencies in the area (commercial banks, credit institutions, police, information and communication sectors, planning and investment, natural resources and environment, finance, construction, immigration management, etc.) to closely coordinate with the taxation agencies in applying enforcement measures as regulated by the Tax Administration Law to recover tax debts.
Especially for long-standing land levy and land rent debts, and prolonged debts from mineral exploitation licenses, focus on resolving any difficulties and obstacles for early settlement and tax debt recovery. For projects with prolonged tax debts and delayed financial obligations to the state, the Steering Committee should advise the provincial/city government to implement land recovery in accordance with regulations.
- Direct the tax authorities and relevant agencies to coordinate in providing information promptly and effectively to enforce tax debt recovery measures; publicly announce information on delinquent taxpayers on mass media as prescribed by law.
Strengthen the application of exit suspension measures for individuals; legal representatives of delinquent taxpayer enterprises that are subject to enforcement of administrative tax management decisions and have not fulfilled their tax obligations, especially those no longer operating at their registered addresses.
- Direct the Department of Information and Communications and local press agencies to closely coordinate with the tax authorities in propagating tax law policies, especially disseminating regulations on debt management and tax debt enforcement, on information channels so that taxpayers voluntarily comply with tax obligations, preventing tax debt arrears.
Official Dispatch 5258/BTC-TCT guiding the management and recovery of tax debts in Vietnam in 2024
What enforcement measures are included in the Tax Debt Enforcement Procedure in Vietnam stipulated in Decision 1795/QD-TCT of 2022?
In Section II, Part B, of Decision 1795/QD-TCT of 2022 on the Tax Debt Enforcement Procedure, the General Department of Taxation issued tax debt enforcement measures, including:
- Deducting money from the taxpayer's account, freezing the taxpayer's account at the State Treasury, commercial banks, and other credit institutions.
- Withholding part of the taxpayer’s wages or income.
- Requesting customs authorities to suspend customs procedures for export and import goods.
- Suspending the use of invoices.
- Seizing and auctioning seized assets.
- Collecting money and other assets of the taxpayer held by other organizations or individuals.
- Revoking the business registration certificate.
What are the principles for applying tax debt enforcement measures in Vietnam?
According to the guidelines of the General Department of Taxation in the process of applying enforcement measures stipulated in Decision 1795/QD-TCT of 2022, the application of tax debt enforcement measures follows these principles:
I. PRINCIPLES FOR APPLYING ENFORCEMENT MEASURES
For enforcement measures such as deducting money from accounts, freezing accounts of taxpayers at the State Treasury, commercial banks, and other credit institutions; withholding part of wages or income; requesting customs authorities to enforce by suspending customs procedures for export and import goods, the enforcement measures are applied as follows:
- The measure of deducting money from accounts and freezing accounts applies to taxpayers with accounts at the State Treasury, commercial banks, and other credit institutions. If the taxpayer is an enterprise or organization but the tax authority’s database lacks accurate account information, the tax authority must verify the account information to enforce.
- The measure of withholding part of wages or income applies only to taxpayers who are individuals receiving wages, salaries, or other income from:
+ Government agencies, organizations where the individual is on the staff;
+ Agencies or organizations where the individual has a labor contract of six months or longer;
+ Agencies or organizations paying retirement or incapacity benefits.
- The measure of suspending customs procedures for export and import goods applies only if the tax authority has sufficient information and documents to determine that the taxpayer is engaging in export or import activities, or has engaged in such activities at least once within 12 months.
The tax authority applies the above enforcement measures based on the actual situation of the taxpayer effectively.
2. Enforcement measures d, đ, e, g stipulated in Clause 1, Article 125 of the Tax Administration Law must be implemented sequentially. If a previous measure cannot be applied, the next measure is implemented.
3. The enforcement decision against each taxpayer must be continuously and consecutively issued.
For enforcement measures d, đ, e stipulated in Clause 1, Article 125 of the Tax Administration Law, if during the application of one measure, information and conditions allow for the previous or next measure to be more effective, the tax authority should simultaneously apply the previous or next enforcement measure to collect the tax debt into the state budget.
4. During the period from the date the tax authority issues a request to revoke the business registration certificate to the business registration authority until the issuance of a decision to revoke or a document on non-revocation, the tax authority may apply appropriate enforcement measures to ensure efficient tax management.
5. If the taxpayer shows signs of asset dispersion or fleeing, the amount of enforced tax debt equals the total tax debt of the taxpayer.
The application of tax debt enforcement measures must ensure compliance with the aforementioned principles.
LawNet