E-Commerce Portal Expected to Simplify TAx Declarations and Payments

In response to the Ministry of Finance's direction, the General Department of Taxation (GDT) is developing an electronic information portal, allowing individuals involved in e-commerce in Vietnam to register, declare and pay taxes online.

GDT recently held a meeting to discuss the development of an e-commerce portal for individuals and households involved in e-commerce. During the meeting, Ms. Nguyen Thi Lan Anh, Director of the Department of Tax Management for Small and Medium Enterprises, Business Households, and Individuals at GDT, said that the department is working on creating an electronic information portal. This portal will enable individuals in e-commerce in Vietnam to register for tax, declare taxes and make payments, in line with the Ministry of Finance’s direction.

GDT units have held many meetings to discuss professional matters and finalize the plan for deploying the e-commerce portal for individuals, she said. Speaking at a recent discussion on the plan of building an e-commerce portal for business households and individuals, GDT Deputy General Director Mai Son said: As the current policy is not specific to e-commerce business, applying traditional business management methods to e-commerce has led to many shortcomings and obstacles in implementation.

In addition, in the initial phase of encouraging voluntary taxpayer compliance, tax authorities have provided support to help taxpayers optimize their payable amounts in cases of tax law violations. He suggested that tax authorities actively discuss and contribute ideas on practical aspects of local management to support the future implementation.

Apart from contributing to the construction of the e-commerce portal for business households and individuals, Son also noted the making of policies and procedures for tax registration, declaration and post-audit for individuals doing e-commerce business in the spirit of supporting taxpayers to fulfill their tax obligations in the most convenient way.

Son assigned the Department of Tax Management for Small and Medium Enterprises, Business Households, and Individuals to work with relevant units to research and propose amendments to current policies to effectively manage households and individuals engaged in e-commerce business.

By Hien Kien, Vietnam Business Forum