Company exec barred from exiting country over debt payment failure

Hai Phong city's customs department has sent a notice to the Ministry of Public Security's immigration department asking it to prevent Vu Tran Thai, director of Vinashin Precision Engineering JSC, and leaders of several other companies from leaving the country.

It said that Vinashin Precision Engineering JSC had not fulfilled its tax payment obligations. The amount was not disclosed.

The ban will remain in place until the taxes have been paid, local media reported.

The department has attempted to collect the tax debt multiple times, but now the debts are classified as "debts of taxpayers who flee, go missing, no longer do business at their registered address, or stop or suspend business activities".

In the first few days of July, Ho Chi Minh City's Customs Department also announced an exit suspension for a series of business leaders due to their failure to fulfill tax obligations.

The list includes Mai Trung Lam, legal representative of Thien Tu Trading and Communication Services Company at 87/32 Dinh Tien Hoang street, Binh Thanh district, HCMC; Vu Truong Giang, director of Viet Hoa Trading and Equiment Company at 57B Phan Chu Trinh street, Hoan Kiem district, Hanoi; and Vu Tien Binh, legal representative of Rain International Vietnam Company Limited at 7 Nguyen Van Troi street, Phu Nhuan district, HCMC, according to local media.

The General Department of Customs said that most of these businesses have long-overdue tax debts, showed risks of offloading assets to avoid confistication, or had abandoned their business locations.