The General Department of Taxation of Vietnam to require the provision of transaction information through the account for inspection

The General Department of Taxation of Vietnam to require the provision of transaction information through the account for inspection (Internet image)

The General Department of Taxation of Vietnam issued Official Dispatch 2535/TCT-TTKT dated June 21, 2023, on strengthening coordination in tax administration.

The General Department of Taxation of Vietnam to require the provision of transaction information through the account for inspection

In order to continue to implement synchronous solutions to strengthen the coordination between tax authorities and commercial banks, other credit institutions, and payment intermediary service providers in tax administration, The General Department of Taxation recommends:

- Commercial banks and other credit institutions provide information on account transactions, account balances, and transaction data at the request of the Director of the Tax Department to serve the purpose of inspection, examination, and determination of payable tax obligations and the implementation of measures to enforce the enforcement of administrative decisions on tax administration in accordance with the tax law, within 10 working days from the date of receipt of a written request from the tax authority.

In case commercial banks and other credit institutions fail to provide data at the request of the Tax Administration, they will be administratively sanctioned according to the provisions of Article 19 of Decree 125/2020/ND-CP dated October 19, 2020 of the Government prescribing administrative penalties for tax or invoice-related violations.

Article 19. TAX-RELATED ADMINISTRATIVE PENALTIES ON RELATED ENTITIES OR PERSONS

1. Fines ranging from VND 2,000,000 to VND 6,000,000 shall be imposed for the act of providing information, documents or records related to the determination of tax obligations or taxpayers' accounts upon tax authorities' request at least 05 days after expiration of the prescribed time limits.

2. Fines ranging from VND 6,000,000 to VND 16,000,000 shall be imposed for one of the following violations:

a) Colluding with and shielding taxpayers evading taxes, failing to execute decisions on enforcement of tax-related administrative actions, except the act of failing to withdrawing and remitting money from taxpayers’ accounts as provided in Article 18 herein;

b) Failing to provide or inaccurately providing information related to property, rights and obligations to property of taxpayers under their custody; accounts of taxpayers opened at credit institutions or state treasuries.

3. The amounts of fine specified in clause 1 and 2 of this Article are those imposed on entities. The amounts of fine imposed on persons shall conform to the principles prescribed in clause 5 of Article 4 herein.

4. Remedies: Compelling the provision of information with respect to the acts specified in point b of clause 2 of this Article.

- Tax Departments, upon request for information, shall send documents to the Head offices of commercial banks and other credit institutions for implementation.

The requested content needs to be complete and detailed with identification information and content for commercial banks and other credit institutions to implement.

For complicated and important matters, it is possible to organize a meeting between the Tax Department and commercial banks and other credit institutions; or coordinate and work with the Tax Department to directly manage such commercial banks and other credit institutions in accordance with law.

Tax Departments that directly manage commercial banks and other credit institutions are responsible for coordinating with Tax Departments upon request.

- Tax Departments are responsible for keeping information confidential, using information for the right purposes, and taking full responsibility for the safety of information in accordance with the Law on Tax Administration and relevant laws.

More details can be found in in Official Dispatch 2535/TCT-TTKT dated June 21, 2023.

Time limit for credit institutions providing state agencies with client information in Vietnam

Time limit for credit institutions providing state agencies with client information in Vietnam is specified in Article 7 of Decree 117/2018/ND-CP, specifically as follows:

- In case the time limit for providing client information for regulatory authorities is specified by a relevant law, the time limit for providing client information is the one specified by such relevant law from the date on which the satisfactory application for provision of client information prescribed in Article 9 of Decree 117/2018/ND-CP is received.

- In case the time limit for providing client information for regulatory authorities is not specified by a relevant law, the time limit for providing client information shall adhere to the agreement between the credit institution/foreign bank's branch and the regulatory authority or internal regulation of the credit institution/foreign bank's branch, but not exceeding:

= 10 working days from the receipt of the satisfactory application for provision of client information in accordance with regulations of Decree 117/2018/ND-CP in case client information is simple and available;

= 25 working days from the receipt of the satisfactory application for provision of client information in accordance with regulations of Decree 117/2018/ND-CP in case client information is complex and unavailable.

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