Tax authorities ask police to verify the founders of 116 companies

Taxpayers transact at the Ho Chi Minh City Tax Department

On June 28, Mr. Nguyen Tien Dung, Deputy Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Tax Department, said that through a review, the tax agency in Ho Chi Minh City discovered that a woman named Huong had established 116 businesses spread across districts in the city.

These businesses were newly established between December 2023 and March 2024 and all have foreign names. However, before allowing the use of invoices, the tax authority invited Ms. Huong to work twice to verify the information, but she did not come. The tax authority conducted an inspection and discovered that the businesses established by Ms. Huong were not operating at the registered business address or were "ghost" addresses.

Therefore, the Ho Chi Minh City Tax Department has sent a document requesting the police to verify whether Ms. Huong used her citizen identification card to establish the business or not. At the same time, the department also warned that cases of establishing businesses like Ms. Huong's often have the purpose of fraud so that the police can investigate and clarify.

On the other hand, the Ho Chi Minh City Tax Department also requested the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Planning and Investment to coordinate with the tax sector to review the establishment of virtual and "ghost" enterprises by some individuals, which negatively affects the business and investment environment.

According to Mr. Dung, Ms. Huong’s establishment of hundreds of enterprises has many unusual signs that could be used to take advantage of tax law violations. Because, currently, the regulations on granting licenses to establish enterprises are very open, in recent times, many cases have taken advantage of establishing a series of enterprises to buy and sell invoices, embezzle VAT refunds, etc.

Therefore, after a business is established, in order to use electronic invoices, the tax authority always requires the business owner to present a citizen identification card to identify the person who established the business to prevent tax violations.

"To limit the establishment of virtual companies and ghost companies, the tax industry will propose that the government amend legal regulations before opening a company, registering to use invoices... business owners must have their personal information authenticated by the National Population Data Center of the Ministry of Public Security of Vietnam). Avoid cases where individuals use other people's ID cards to establish businesses to commit tax and invoice fraud... "- Mr. Dung added.

Source: https://nld.com.vn/cuc-thue-tp-hcm-de-nghi-cong-an-xac-minh-nguoi-lap-116-cong-ty-196240628112307377.htm