About 500 enterprises in HCM City have been trained to use a 24/7 e-tax payment system by the city’s Customs Department.

The project will help taxpayers pay tax directly through the e-payment gateway at any time (including holidays) and anywhere with internet access. Customs will clear goods after receiving confirmation for successful tax payment from the banks.

This service can help shorten time and money to complete customs procedures for import-export activities. It is expected to help enterprises quickly clear goods and carry out extensive cross-sector reforms to reach the ASEAN-4 level of export and import facilitation as guided by the Government.

At the training workshop on October 19, the customs authority introduced the payment scheme and instructed enterprises on how to access and make tax payments on the portal.

Since the implementation in October last year, the total amount of taxes collected through e-tax payment services has reached VND10.6 trillion (US$456 million) with a total of 61,350 transactions.

This number is considered modest compared to total tax payments. The customs authority is planning to upgrade the system to facilitate tax payments.

To date, 24 banks have been certified to provide the 24/7 e-tax payment scheme. — VNS