Vietnam targets to collect VND5.2 trillion (US$327 million) worth of personal income tax (PIT) in 2006, said Nguyen Thi Cuc, deputy general director of the General Department of Taxation (GDT).
The revenue, which is expected to be paid by 300,000 high-income earners nationwide, will represent a high increase compared to VND62 billion (US$3.9 million) achieved in 1991, when the country started the PIT collection, she said.
The estimated levies will also be about 3.5 folds higher than the country’s entire taxes on agricultural sector this year
“Vietnam now has 11 million households with 75 per cent of them being farmers. If they pay sufficient agricultural taxes, Vietnam can collect only some VND1.5 trillion (US$94.3 million),” Cuc said.
The PIT collection can be bigger if Vietnam tightens control over taxation management, she said.
At present, no exact number of high-income earners in the country is available because the authorities lack management tools while many people do not declare their earnings.
Vietnam is now building the Law on Personal Income Tax, expected to be put into use in 2009, Cuc said, adding that the legislation would take strict measures in order to boost revenues for the state coffer.
Last year, Vietnam’s PIT revenues were estimated at VND4.3 trillion (US$272 million), collected from 300,000 people, who mainly came from sectors such as banking, post and telecoms, electricity, oil and gas, tourism, and tobacco industries.
VnEconomy, Labour
Vietnamese
