PPP in Tax Administration Should Be Extended

As the representative of the business community, Dr Loc said that administrative reform is a breakthrough in reforming economic institutions of Vietnam. In recent years, Vietnam has made reform programmes, but the new administrative reform has been implemented since early 2014 when Resolution 19 of the Government imposes requirements that the time to process administrative procedures for businesses in Vietnam be equal to the 4 or 6 most advanced ASEAN countries. The General Department of Taxation has pioneered many drastic measures in reducing administrative procedures. About 2 years ago, the time for processing tax procedures was up to 873 hours, it has now dropped to 171 hours one the way to realise the target of 141 hours. The electricity sector also realizes efforts to create favourable conditions for businesses when reducing time-to-energy to about 41 hours compared to 120 hours previously.

 

With the rapid implementation speed and determination of ministries, Dr Vu Tien Loc believed that the average parity goal with ASEAN countries of Vietnam will be fully achieved. "Domestic and foreign enterprises and foreign research organisations working with VCCI expressed excitement and confidence that the business environment of Vietnam will be better in the future. Therefore, I believe that, with the Government's determination plus the signing of a series of free trade agreements (FTA), the business investment opportunities in Vietnam will be improved markedly.”

 

Dr Vu Tien Loc shared that the tax sector must accelerate the application of information technology; perform transactions such as tax declaration and electronic tax payment not only through computers but also on mobile. For this, it is necessary to create conditions for tax consulting network development, expanding forms of public-private partnerships (PPP) in the tax administration. As for the enterprises, according to Dr Loc, small and medium enterprises should implement electronic tax declaration via consultancy services. Although it costs a small fee, companies will save a lot of time and gradually standardise the tax accounting operations at the unit. This solution brings many benefits that businesses can implement immediately.

 

Besides administrative reform which has achieved many results, the most specific measure is trust and appreciation of business for the tax authorities, especially with policy implementation of policies at the grassroots level of cadres and civil servants. Considering this is the component to the success of the policies issued by ministries and agencies as well as the action plan of the Government, Mr Loc said that it is needed to create pressure for the apparatus at the grassroots level to perform under the government programmes by strengthening the oversight role of citizens and businesses. VCCI and independent socio-political organisations even need to conduct sociological surveys to assess satisfaction levels of business with public authorities. Together, the tax service should regularly organize dialogues with businesses about the mechanism, the new policy, promptly answer questions, and solve difficulties for businesses. "Strengthening the accountability, capacity and dedication of local officials under the close supervision of businesses and citizens will be the solution to further accelerate the process of administrative reform and institutional reform," he said.