Temporary exit suspension helps collect tax debts effectively

At the conference, the customs authority said it has increased the use of information technology in customs procedures to manage risks and facilitate businesses - Photo: N.BINH

A representative of the Ho Chi Minh City Customs Department said so at the Customs - Business Dialogue Conference held on June 26 in Ho Chi Minh City.

According to Mr. Truong Thanh Xuan, Deputy Head of Import and Export Tax Department, Ho Chi Minh City Customs Department, this agency currently has 7 commonly applied tax enforcement measures such as withdrawing money from accounts, freezing accounts, deducting part of salary and income, stopping customs procedures, stopping the use of invoices, seizing and auctioning assets, collecting money from assets and finally revoking business registration certificates or other documents.

When applying the 7 enforcement measures above but still not recovering tax, the management agency will apply the enforcement measure of temporarily suspending the exit of the tax debtor with a debt of more than 90 days. And in reality, this measure brings quite good debt collection results.

The current problem with the temporary exit suspension measure is that there is no minimum tax debt amount specified, leading to businesses with tens of millions in debt being temporarily suspended from exiting the country, affecting both their work and their brand.

"During the enforcement process, we also try to select businesses with large tax debts or debts that have lasted for many years to apply temporary suspension of exit, but businesses still need to pay attention to avoid risks and problems," said Mr. Xuan.

There are currently 4 subjects banned from leaving the country if they have not fulfilled their tax obligations. In particular, individuals who are legal representatives of enterprises, regardless of whether they are Vietnamese or foreign, if they have not fulfilled their tax obligations for more than 90 days, their departure may be delayed.

According to Mr. Truong Thanh Xuan, recently there have been many situations where business owners, upon arriving at the airport to depart for a foreign country, were notified by the Immigration Department that they were not allowed to leave the country. They were almost never provided with specific information about which unit they owed taxes to or how much.

So what if a business unfortunately falls into this situation?

"Once the taxpayer completes his/her obligations, the management agency will cancel the temporary suspension of exit within 24 hours. Therefore, businesses need to regularly check the website of the department or the website of related agencies to clearly understand the tax debt status," said a representative of the City Customs Department.

According to the City Customs Department, as of March 2024, there were more than 4,800 enterprises with overdue tax debts totaling over VND 1,800 billion. Of these, more than 400 enterprises had debts of over VND 1 billion, and more than 1,800 enterprises were no longer operating at their registered business address or had ceased operations and owed VND 1,300 billion.

In addition, the department has also proposed revoking the business registration certificates of nearly 200 enterprises with over VND400 billion in debt. In May 2024 alone, customs branches under the Ho Chi Minh City Customs Department issued decisions to temporarily suspend the exit of 12 individuals who are legal representatives of enterprises due to tax debts.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/bien-phap-tam-hoan-xuat-canh-giup-thu-hoi-no-thue-hieu-qua-20240626163857069.htm