Oil and gas businesses owe huge tax debts, what does the Ministry of Finance say?

ANTD.VN - At the regular press conference for the fourth quarter on the afternoon of January 19, a representative of the Ministry of Finance answered reporters' questions regarding the conclusion of the government inspectorate on violations of environmental protection tax and the petroleum price stabilization fund at petroleum wholesale enterprises.

According to Mr. Mai Son, Deputy Director General of the General Department of Taxation, currently, tax debts of enterprises in general are closely monitored, and local tax departments are fulfilling their responsibilities in tax debt management.

Accordingly, of the 34 petroleum hubs, nearly 10 units owe taxes. The tax authority has implemented enforcement.

According to Mr. Son, the enforcement process for businesses with tax debts from the 91st day, the tax authority will issue a notice to prepare for account enforcement; from the 121st day, it will enforce invoices. In addition, the tax authority will apply other forms of enforcement according to legal regulations, such as: banning the head from leaving the country; measures to seize assets...

Many petroleum businesses owe thousands of billions of dong in environmental protection tax

Regarding the measure of compulsory asset seizure, the leader of the General Department of Taxation said that there are currently difficulties. In 2024, the tax authority will focus on the process of building a database related to business factors as well as business results of the business on the financial statements.

However, the tax authority found that most of the company's assets had been used as collateral when borrowing. "According to regulations, when seizing assets, it is necessary to ensure payment of loans before making payments to the budget. Therefore, it leads to difficulties in recovering tax debts, so seizing assets is very difficult. We will have to evaluate which assets have fulfilled their security obligations, and which remaining assets the tax authority can take measures to seize," said Mr. Mai Son.

In addition, according to the leader of the General Department of Taxation, the enforcement of asset seizure still faces difficulties in issues related to the implementation of enforcement of asset seizure. "In the future, when amending legal policies, we will have to evaluate them to implement them appropriately. Other competent authorities must also be responsible for organizing the implementation of enforcement of asset seizure," said Mr. Son.

Regarding the conclusion of the Government Inspectorate on the under-declaration of environmental protection tax payable by petroleum enterprises, Deputy Minister of Finance Nguyen Duc Chi said that according to the Law on Tax Administration and related regulations, enterprises will have to calculate, declare and pay taxes themselves; tax authorities are responsible for supervising the payment process and are responsible for urging and enforcing.

Regarding the management of business cash flow, the Deputy Minister of Finance said that this issue is a business activity; if inspection and examination agencies detect violations, they will be handled.

“The responsibility for cash flow management is the business's, and the inspection process is also the responsibility of other agencies, not the tax authorities…” – Mr. Nguyen Duc Chi emphasized.

Previously, in the Conclusion of the inspection of the implementation of policies and laws in the state management of petroleum that was just announced, the Government Inspectorate stated that the Ministry of Finance issued Circular 152/2011 without specifying the time of declaration and place of payment of environmental protection tax (EPT) for the petroleum output sold by the petroleum wholesaler to other wholesaler and as stipulated in Decree 67/2011 of the Government; leading to the petroleum wholesaler declaring and calculating environmental protection tax short of about 4,900 billion VND.

The General Department of Taxation (Ministry of Finance) and many Tax Departments have not fully implemented regulations, have not complied with regulations, and have lacked inspection and supervision, leading to many petroleum traders (inspected) owing thousands of billions of VND in environmental protection tax, violating the Law on Environmental Protection Tax.

In particular, despite still owing the state budget environmental protection tax, some petroleum traders have lent and owed thousands of billions of dong to individuals for personal use.

Regarding the violations of enterprises related to the Petroleum Price Stabilization Fund, Mr. Pham Van Binh, Deputy Director of the Price Management Department (Ministry of Finance) said that immediately after the conclusion of the Government Inspectorate, the Ministry of Finance issued a document requesting petroleum enterprises to review and report comprehensively; seriously implement the conclusions of the Government Inspectorate, including the content related to the Fund balance and the use of the Fund.

The Ministry of Finance has also invited the enterprises mentioned by the Government Inspectorate for discussion, on that basis requesting the enterprises to continue reviewing, clarifying data, and coordinating with relevant agencies to implement the conclusions of the Government Inspectorate.

Regarding the case of Hai Ha Company, Mr. Binh said that in the process of performing the State management function of the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Finance has also sanctioned this enterprise 5 times, and the Ministry Inspectorate has also made a decision on enforcement. Currently, the Ministry of Finance is continuing to review and implement the Inspectorate's conclusions.

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