Residents hand in tax declarations at the State Treasury in HCM City's District 1. Online tax payments will help residents and companies save time and money. — VNA/VNS Photo Pham Hau

HCM CITY (Biz Hub) — The Tax Department of HCM City aims to have 10,000 enterprises pay their taxes online by the end of the year.

Tran Ngoc Tam, the department's deputy head, speaking at a seminar in HCM City yesterday, said the tax sector was trying to reduce the number of administrative procedures to save businesses time and money.

Vietnamese companies currently spend more than 500 hours each year dealing with tax procedures on average, while the average time in other ASEAN-member countries is only 171, according to Tam.

The tax sector has set a target to reduce the duration of tax procedures to 200 - 201 hours a year by the end of this year and 160-170 hours by 2015.

Of the 150,000 enterprises in HCM City, 96 per cent have made their tax declaration online, and the department has ordered tax offices in the city's districts to order all businesses to declare their tax online.

Online tax declarations have saved companies time compared to visits to the State Treasury to fill out paperwork.

"HCM City has sufficient IT infrastructure to ensure online tax payments go smoothly," he said, adding that from this month the department would organise activities to encourage businesses to make their tax payments via the internet.

The General Department of Taxation has signed agreements with five banks, BIDV, Vietcombank, Vietinbank, Agribank and Mbbank, to offer the e-tax payment service.

However, currently only BIDV is ready to deploy the service since it has a connected database with the General Department of Taxation.

Four other banks are expected to connect with the general department in October or November.

Mai Van Quang, head of the department's IT division, said online tax declarations would also protect companies' data security.

It also helped tax agencies save management costs, reduce administrative procedures, and maintain updated information.

By making online tax payments, the amount of cash in circulation would be reduced and State budget collection points would no longer experience overloading, he said.

Quang assured companies that online tax declarations during peak periods would not be interrupted as the city's IT infrastructure could handle the load.

At the seminar, businesses were given instructions on how to conduct online tax payments.

Organised by the Tax Department of HCM City and BIDV, the seminar was attended by representatives from more than 300 enterprises.

Online tax payments were first applied in Ha Noi, and Bac Ninh and Vinh Phuc provinces.

The General Department of Taxation then expanded the programme to 15 cities and provinces, including HCM City, starting on August 18. — VNS