programme that will help small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) pay
dues more easily while saving time and money by reducing the amount of
paper work required.
Under the programme, the GDT will
set a tax threshold. Firms whose revenue turnover is below the stated
threshold will be exempted from paying value-added tax.
The taxes levied, which include value-added and special consumption
taxes, will be declared and paid every quarter instead of once a month,
as is the case now.
Businesses whose earnings are above
the exemption level but below the VAT threshold, will have two ways of
calculating the tax owed.
They will be able to declare
value-added and income taxes on a defined percentage of their revenue or
they will be allowed to pay a fixed rate for the entire year.
The GDT expects to submit the new tax procedures to the Government and
Ministry of Finance for approval next year as part of a general tax
reform administrative programme.
If approved, the new
policies will directly affect more than 290,000 companies, 1.8 million
family-run businesses and millions of workers who pay income tax, while
helping to save about 600 billion VND (30.7 million USD) per year.
According to the GDT, SMEs have a total turnover of less than 300
billion VND (15.4 million USD) each. SMEs account for 92 percent of all
Vietnamese companies, but pay just 24 percent of the total corporate
income tax amount.
The GDT has simplified 271 out of 330
administrative tax procedures, which has helped to save 1.9 trillion VND
per year (97.4 million USD). One of the most significant changes was to
allow companies to print and use their own invoices, which alone helped
to save 400 billion VND (20.5 million USD) per year.
Meanwhile, the GDT is modifying 24 new draft amendments and supplements to Circular 130 relating to corporate income tax.
The GDT said that under the current Corporate Income Tax Law, companies
were allowed to deduct losses caused by natural disasters, epidemics
and force majeure from their tax bills if they do not receive
compensation.
The new draft circular requires businesses
who lose property to contact the tax office directly about losses
incurred. Companies must state their property's value and the value of
the goods lost according to the valuation council.
They must also state what insurance compensation they had received or were likely to receive and the insurance companies used.
Those records must be certified by commune-level police or the ward or commune people's committee chairman.
The draft states that a firm must state what losses have been incurred
from fines or breach of contract. These costs will be tax deductible./.
