Vietnam tax authorities collect $169 mln from delinquent taxpayers through exit bans

Vietnam's tax authorities have collected about VND4.3 trillion ($169 million) from 6,500 delinquent taxpayers through exit ban measures so far this year, nearly five times the amount reported in the middle of the year.

The General Department of Taxation reported that they have issued over 58,680 exit bans for a total outstanding debt of VND80.5 trillion ($3.16 billion).

Exit ban is one of the debt enforcement measures applied to taxpayers who delay payments, attempt to hide assets, or try to flee. Tax and customs authorities are authorized to impose exit bans on individuals or company representatives who have not fulfilled their tax obligations.

Current regulations do not specify a debt amount to be considered for an exit ban. This means that even a VND1 overdue tax debt can trigger enforcement.

The Ministry of Finance is proposing a new threshold where individuals or owners of household businesses with tax debts over VND50 million ($1,965) for 120 days would be subject to an exit ban. This proposed amount is VND40 million higher than the initial threshold proposed earlier in December.

In addition to tax recovery through exit bans, tax authorities have this year rolled out the eTax Mobile application to help taxpayers track their obligations and outstanding tax debts. They have also publicized information and transferred cases showing signs of legal violations or deliberate tax evasion to the police for investigation.

As a result, they have recovered VND61.23 trillion ($2.4 billion) in tax debt in the year to date, a 33.2% increase compared to the same period last year. The ratio of recoverable tax debt to total state budget revenue this year stands at 7.8%, within the limits set by the Government and the Prime Minister.

Tax revenue from e-commerce has increased by 20% year-on-year, reaching VND116 trillion ($4.56 billion). Since the beginning of the year, tax authorities have increased the use of AI to collect information from platforms such as Shopee, Lazada, and Tiki. Using this data, they cross-check tax declarations and payments to guide taxpayers in registering, declaring, and paying taxes.

Currently, nearly 725,000 businesses and individuals operate on e-commerce platforms, with a total transaction value exceeding VND75 trillion ($2.95 billion), according to data from 439 platforms provided to tax authorities.

Tax authorities have placed 120,000 businesses and individuals under review, requesting them to declare and pay taxes. The total tax amount declared and paid by this group has reached VND51.56 trillion ($2.02 billion). They have also handled violations in 30,668 cases, recovering nearly VND1.36 trillion in back taxes and penalties.

Additionally, 120 foreign suppliers have registered, declared, and paid taxes via the portal earmarked for them, with nearly VND8.69 trillion ($341.4 million), up 26% year-on-year.