Regulations on tax enforcement by stopping customs procedures for exported and imported goods in Vietnam

Regulations on tax enforcement by stopping customs procedures for exported and imported goods in Vietnam (Internet image) 

On November 11, 2022, the General Department of Taxation issued Decision 1795/QD-TCT on promulgating the Tax Enforcement Process.

1. Regulations on tax enforcement by stopping customs procedures for exported and imported goods in Vietnam

According to the procedure for enforcement of tax debt issued with Decision 1795/QD-TCT, enforcement by stopping customs procedures for exported and imported goods is regulated as follows:

1.1. Making a list of taxpayers preparing for enforcement

(1) Basis for making a list of taxpayers preparing for enforcement

Taxpayers with tax debt are currently exporting or importing goods or have performed export or import activities at least once within 12 months, in one of the following cases:

- The taxpayer does not open an account at the State Treasury, commercial banks, or other credit institutions, or the tax authority has sent a document verifying account information, but the taxpayer is forced to do so. The state treasury, commercial banks, and other credit institutions do not provide or provide incomplete information.

- Tax authorities have applied enforcement measures to deduct money from the taxpayer's account and block the taxpayer's account, but by the date of making the list of enforced tax debts, they had not been fully paid into the state budget.

- Tax authorities are applying one of the following enforcement measures: Stop using invoices. Distraint of assets, auction of distrained hunting assets, Collection of money and other assets held by other agencies, organizations, and individuals; Or the taxpayer is in the process of being subject to a written request from the tax authority to the business registration authority to revoke the business registration certificate, but the business registration authority has not yet issued a decision to revoke.

- Taxpayers have tax debt, have acts of dispersing assets, or are fleeing.

(2) Making a list

Every day, civil servants review the tax authority's database and other documents and materials issued by relevant organizations and individuals to provide and identify taxpayers who are exporting or importing goods or have exported or imported goods at least once within 12 months in the cases specified in (1), compiled into the list of taxpayers requesting the Customs agency to apply measures to stop customs procedures for exported and imported goods (form No. 03/DS-HO issued together with this process).

Civil servants can exploit information about export and import activities of taxpayers provided by the Customs Agency according to the Regulation on information exchange between the Customs Agency and the tax agency (look up on the Webservice, etc.).

1.2. Prepare and send a written request for enforcement

Civil servant shall draft a report and document requesting the Customs agency to enforce by stopping customs procedures (form No. 01/VBDN issued with the procedure), report it to the department/team leader, submit it to the tax authority leader for signature, and send it to the Customs authority on the day of issuance of the document.

1.3. Monitor the implementation of enforcement measures

- When receiving a written response from the Customs authority:

+ In case the Customs authority does not immediately comply with the request of the tax authority or the Customs authority is applying this enforcement measure, the civil servant shall implement other appropriate enforcement measures according to regulations.

+ In case the Customs authority issues a final decision at the request of the tax authority, the civil servant will update the final decision in the tax management application system.

- During the effective period of the decision, within the working day of receiving information that the forced taxpayer has paid the full tax debt stated on the decision; or the enforced tax debt amount is issued by the tax authority with a decision to pay the tax debt in installments, a decision to extend the tax payment deadline, a decision to waive late tax payment interest, or a notice not to charge late payment interest, the civil servant drafts a report with all documents and submits it to the department/team leader and submits it to the tax agency leader to sign and issue a document to the Customs agency (form No. 02/TB-THE issued with this process) to end the practice of coercion.

2. Some other tax enforcement measures

The Tax Enforcement Process issued with Decision 1795/QD-TCT dated November 11, 2022 also stipulates a number of other tax enforcement measures, as follows:

- Measures to extract money from accounts; requests to block taxpayers' accounts opened at the State Treasury, commercial banks, and other credit institutions;

- By deducting part of the salary or income;

- Measures to stop using invoices;

- Measures to distrain assets and auction distrained assets;

- Measures to collect money and other assets of forced taxpayers held by other organizations or individuals;

- Measures to revoke the business registration certificate.

More details can be found in Decision 1795/QD-TCT, which takes effect from the date of signing, replacing Decision 751/QD-TCT dated April 20, 2015.

Thanh Rin

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