The HCM City Department of Taxation has sought a report from its offices by the end of this month on their implementation of its instruction to collect taxes from people selling merchandise on Facebook.

It plans to better monitor businesses on Facebook and other retail sites, and requires online sellers to register their operations and declare their income and taxes.

The tax offices have been told to collect information about Facebook sellers by checking delivery companies, post offices and bank payments.

Earlier this year the department sent notices to 13,469 Facebook sellers to pay taxes, but many have refused saying sales were poor.

According to Pham Thanh Kien, director of the city Department of Trade and Industry, e-commerce has been booming in the city with 80,000 active websites, half of which have steady operations, but tax collection from the industry is very low.

In 2015 e-commerce revenues were worth US$4.1 billion, a five-fold rise from 2012. They are expected to reach $10 billion by 2020, accounting for 5 per cent of all retail sales. — VNS