Vietnam’s customs agencies lost VND500 billion (US$31.6 million) to tax fraud since the country conducted the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) in 2004, reported the General Department of Customs (GDC).
Under the GATT, import taxes are calculated based on transaction value, which is declared on customs declaration forms.
However, the agreement has opened loopholes for enterprises to evade taxes by listing lower selling prices for imported commodities, the GDC said.
Certain categories of goods facing high tariffs, including mobile phones, cosmetics, car and motorbike accessories, are particularly vulnerable to fraud.
Vu Ngoc Anh, Deputy Head of the GDC, said the implementation of the GATT, helped Vietnam conform to international regulations, but also cause instances of tax fraud due to enterprises’ seemingly arbitrary declarations of taxable prices on customs forms.
Although customs agencies may be suspicious of undervalued imported goods declarations, it was extremely difficult for customs officers to collect evidence, he added.
To deal with the issue, the GDC will endeavor to find information on prices to standardize taxable prices set by customs authorities, Anh said.
The GDC will take appropriate measures against tax fraud cases to create favorable conditions for businesses to compete and to comply with the regulations voluntarily.
Value determination during customs declaration is a complex process, and the amended Law on Customs stresses the obligation of customs inspections of goods after declaration, said Anh.
Although customs agents will allow traders to sell their products immediately after clearing customs, records of all declarations and shipments will be kept for five years, he said.
Deputy Minister of Finance Truong Chi Trung said tax fraud cases will be settled by legal agencies. VNS
Vietnamese
