Many petroleum companies have under-declared environmental protection tax worth thousands of billions of dong in recent years, according to the conclusion of the Government Inspectorate.
This partly comes from current regulations that do not mention the time of declaration and place of payment of environmental protection tax on the volume of gasoline bought and sold between business contacts.
Environmental protection tax is an indirect tax, the State assigns key traders to collect on the amount of gasoline sold and pay it to the budget. From April 2022 to the end of 2024, the environmental protection tax on gasoline (except ethanol) will enjoy a preferential rate of VND 2,000, oil and grease VND 1,000 per liter, a 50% reduction compared to the tax bracket. Gasoline is an essential commodity with a large consumption volume, when consumers buy gasoline, they immediately pay for the goods and environmental protection tax.
However, the Government Inspectorate determined that the General Department of Taxation and many tax departments have not implemented fully, not in accordance with regulations, and lacked inspection and supervision, leading to many traders under-declaring environmental protection tax of thousands of billions of VND in many periods and years.
An employee at a gas station in District 1, Ho Chi Minh City is pumping gas for a customer. Photo: Nhu Quynh
For example, Thien Minh Duc Group Joint Stock Company regularly declares environmental protection tax for the first time and monthly incorrectly, incompletely, and dishonestly. According to the conclusion of the Government Inspectorate, from 2018 to the end of 2021, the total environmental protection tax that this enterprise must pay increased by nearly 3,300 billion VND.
Or in 2019, businesses declared an environmental protection tax shortfall of about VND4,900 billion. Of which, Dong Thap Petroleum Trading Joint Stock Company negotiated environmental tax with other key traders when buying and selling gasoline from each other, leading to related units under-declaring nearly VND17.3 billion in tax.
In addition, businesses still owe thousands of billions of dong in environmental protection tax. As of the end of October 2022, according to a report by the General Department of Taxation, some key traders still owed and had not paid the budget 6,323 billion dong in environmental protection tax. However, the key traders lent some individuals thousands of billions of dong.
For example, from 2017 to 2022, Thien Minh Duc Group Joint Stock Company lent nearly VND7,500 billion to its Deputy General Director, Mr. Chu Dang Khoa, and the company's Chairwoman, Ms. Chu Thi Thanh. At the time of the inspection, these two individuals still owed the company nearly VND1,400 billion.
Xuyen Viet Oil Transport and Tourism Trading Company Limited has negative equity of VND462 billion, tax debt of VND1,246 billion, debt to the Petroleum Price Stabilization Fund (BOG) of VND212 billion, but also owes Ms. Mai Thi Hong, the chairwoman of this enterprise, nearly VND3,000 billion. As of the end of October 2023, Xuyen Viet Oil owes a "huge" tax debt of more than VND1,500 billion, accounting for nearly 20% of the total tax debt of VND8,000 billion of Ho Chi Minh City.
Recently, the Tax Department of many localities also decided to temporarily suspend the exit of a number of business owners, including Ms. Chu Thi Thanh, Chairwoman of Thien Minh Duc Group, due to tax debts of nearly a thousand billion VND.
The Government Inspectorate recommended that the Prime Minister direct the review and amendment of regulations on declaration and payment of environmental protection tax, to prevent negative incidents and tax losses. In addition, the Government Inspectorate also recommended transferring the records of violations in tax declaration, payment and use of BOG fund at Thien Minh Duc Group Joint Stock Company, Xuyen Viet Oil and Hai Ha Waterway Transport Company Limited to the Ministry of Public Security for handling.
Quynh Trang
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