City to tax social media commerce

The HCM City Taxation Department has announced it will submit a specific plan for tax collection from online businesses to the City People’s Committee in early April and deploy the plan in the same month. — Photo vietnammoi.vn

Le Thi Thu Huong, deputy director of HCM City Taxation Department, said that the department has already begun to tax internet trade and e-commerce.

"However, the draft adopted by the City People’s Committee will create a clear co-ordination mechanism and facilitate the implementation of the tax authority," she said.

The department said it will work with relevant agencies to enhance the efficiency of tax management for online sales, such as businesses on Facebook.

Accordingly, the draft aims to strengthen co-ordination among functional agencies to provide the fullest information concerning online business.

The tax authorities have proposed collaboration between the municipal department of information and communications, department of industry and trade, network operators, banks and post offices.

The tax agency will require traders on the social network to provide information such as name, address, telephone number, and personal tax number so that they can control more closely the kind of business.

They also affirmed that they will calculate tax revenue not only for sales on Facebook but also other social networks such as Instagram and YouTube.

Up to 35 per cent of businesses are selling on social networks, and there are millions of individuals and businesses selling goods on Facebook with huge revenue but not having to pay taxes, reported the agency.

Earlier, tax collection from online trade via Internet was a hot topic due to its complexity and difficulty to manage.

Many experts argue this tax is just for taxpayers, as many individuals selling goods on Facebook are making huge profit but not paying taxes while sellers of similar items but using stores have to pay taxes. — VNS