Accordingly, six of the 46 procedures will be removed – one in tax and five in customs – while the remaining 40 administrative formalities will be simplified, with seven in tax and 33 in customs. — Photo vietq

HA NOI (Biz Hub) — The Ministry of Finance has issued decisions approving the removal or simplification of various administrative procedures in taxation and customs.

Accordingly, six of the 46 procedures will be removed – one in tax and five in customs – while the remaining 40 administrative formalities will be simplified, with seven in tax and 33 in customs.

The decision comes in response to the government's Decision No.19/NQ-CP, dated March 12, 2015, on major tasks and solutions for improving the business environment and national competitiveness.

Under the decision, the tax payment time will be shortened to less than 121.5 hours per year, while the time to complete premium payments for social insurance will be less than 49.5 hours per year.

The percentage of local enterprises conducting electronic tax declarations will be over 95 per cent, and the rate of electronic filings for corporate tax payment will be at least 90 per cent.

The additional reductions and simplification are expected to create more favourable conditions for people and enterprises completing tax and customs administrative procedures.

They will also contribute to facilitating the effective implementation of the ministry's envisaged solutions to reduce the processing time for tax and customs procedures to the average level of the ASEAN-6 countries by the end of 2015.

Finance Minister Dinh Tien Dung said that fulfilling the government's instruction would require preparation from all sectors.

He said the finance sector was implementing solutions related to the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) integration and pledged to meet integration requirements when Viet Nam takes part in the AEC in late 2015.

According to the business community, tax and customs were among the first sectors to achieve significant reforms of administrative procedures last year. Under the ministry's reforms, the tax payment time last year was shortened from 537 hours per year to 247 hours (exclusive premium payment time). The tax payment time is currently 167 hours, as per the amended Law on Taxes, which came into effect on January 1, 2015.

The percentage of local enterprises conducting electronic tax declarations last year also increased from 65 per cent to 95 per cent. — VNS