Chairman of the Hanoi People's Committee Tran Sy Thanh on February 28 signed directive No.04/CT-UBND to carry out the strategy to reform the local tax system until 2030.

Locals pay taxes in Ba Dinh District, Hanoi. Photo: Pham Hung/The Hanoi Times

Under the directive, the mayor stressed the Hanoi Taxation Department's need to establish a Steering Committee responsible for implementing the Tax System Reform Strategy to 2030.

The Steering Committee must efficiently reorganize its activities to ensure the timely and effective execution of the tax sector's reform and modernization programs, plans, and contents.

Furthermore, an implementation plan must be drawn up to ensure compliance with the requirements and roadmap of the Ministry of Finance and the General Department of Taxation, in line with the administrative reform program and the city's actual needs.

The Hanoi Tax Department is requested to participate in improving Vietnam's tax policies toward meeting international standards, focusing on anti-transfer pricing, new production and business models emerging in the economy, the digital and sharing economy, smart production, and cross-border transactions.

In addition, tax administrative procedures must be reformed to make them simple, easy to understand and apply while creating conditions that promote production and business development and ensure sufficient revenue for the implementation of socioeconomic development objectives and national security and defense.

Creating best conditions for taxpayers to fulfill their obligations

The Department of Finance, State Treasury, and Hanoi Customs Department should closely coordinate with tax authorities to implement the Tax Administration Reform Strategy in their jurisdiction, such as modernizing tax collection, authorizing collection orders, and stepping up electronic tax payment.

The application of modern and highly automated information technology is expected to create the best conditions for taxpayers to fulfill their tax obligations.

The Hanoi Tax Department, the Department of Planning and Investment, and the Hanoi Police Department are required to work closely together to simplify administrative procedures, including granting business licenses, tax identification numbers, and business seal registration. The aim is to ensure that organizations and individuals can easily carry out administrative procedures.

The Department of Industry and Trade is also required to collaborate closely with the City Tax Department in supervising representative offices, branches of companies, and foreign traders in the city. The Department will provide the tax authorities with copies of licenses for operation, advertising, trade promotion, and other relevant documents, which will serve as the basis for tax management and collection following regulations.

The Department of Natural Resources and Environment is responsible for enhancing cooperation with tax authorities in providing information and resolving problems related to land policy mechanisms to ensure that land-related budget revenues are fully and promptly collected.

To facilitate national digital transformation, the Hanoi Police Department is requested to work with tax authorities in utilizing the national population database under the Prime Minister in Decision No.06/QD-TTg of January 6, 2022. The agency is in charge of detecting and investigating cases of fraudulent activities, such as the creation of companies to buy and sell VAT invoices or the use of illegal invoices to evade taxes and to control taxpayers who have frozen debts or debts forgiven and recoup tax loss. In addition, the Municipal Police must speed up the processing of tax evasion and fraud cases to discourage people from committing similar acts.