Auditing tax administration has been identified as one of the important contents in the SAV’s audits. — Photo tienphong.vn
Tax evasion and fraud cases were becoming more complicated on a large-scale with increasingly sophisticated methods, said State Audit Office (SAV) Deputy Auditor General Doan Xuan Tien.
Tien told a workshop held by the SAV and the UK-based Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) in Ha Noi on Thursday the State audit sector played an important role in tax administration, helping strengthen the national financial system.
He said Viet Nam had carried out the transformation of tax administration in the direction of modernity and effectiveness, based on risk management methods, while expanding the implementation of electronic tax. It had also simplified administrative procedures to ensure an integrated tax management system in accordance with international standards.
“Tax auditing is an important task which uncovers tax evasion, which remains high across the country,” he said.
Dang Van Thanh, chairman of the Viet Nam Association of Accountants and Auditors, said tax auditing was a specialist area that was not only about checking, evaluating and confirming the reliability of payments. It was more important to assess and confirm the legal compliance of taxpayers and tax managers and assess the impact of tax policies on the macro-economy.
In every economy, tax was used to regulate the macro-economy and help the State implement political and social tasks. Thanh said that auditors needed to pay more attention to compliance audits and operational audits.
“Tax is not only a revenue source for the State but more importantly, the tax policy must be a tool to regulate the macroeconomy, encourage and promote production and business.
Belinda Young – member of ACCA’s Global Forum on Taxation, Chairwoman of ACCA Singapore Taxation Interest Group, and Director of Centrecourt Group of Companies Singapore – said that changes in the global business environment and the rapid development of technology such as cryptocurrency and encryption had posed formidable challenges to the identification of tax responsibility.
To that end, nations should stay prudent when completing tax policies to fit their socio-economic development conditions, she said, adding that experience sharing and co-ordinating with authorities both outside and inside the country were crucial to ensuring the tax system was adaptable to new kinds of business.
Meanwhile, Chairwoman of the Viet Nam Tax Consultant Association Nguyen Thi Cuc said that Viet Nam moved up five places in the World Bank’s tax paying indicator in 2016 and 11 places in 2017, which meant improvements were seen in the country’s business climate.
A survey conducted by the Viet Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry also showed that more businesses had expressed their satisfaction with administrative procedure reforms in the tax sector.
She noted that tax mechanisms and systems must be completed in accordance with Viet Nam’s socio-economic conditions and international regulations.
Reforms should be sped up, with procedures slashed in tax registration, declaration, payment, refunds and tax finalisation. — VNS