Telecom group Viettel has topped the list of the biggest tax payers in Viet Nam in 2016.

The Ministry of Finance’s General Department of Taxation on Tuesday announced the list of the 1,000 biggest tax payers in the country. It shows that the production, finance and telecommunications sectors paid the most taxes in the country last year.

The General Department of Taxation said Viettel was followed by Honda Viet Nam, the Viet Nam National Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam), Toyota Viet Nam and Viet Nam Dairy Products Joint Stock Company (Vinamilk).

It added that the 1,000 biggest tax payers in Viet Nam in 2016 contributed more than VND90 trillion (US$3.98 billion) to the State budget, increasing 12 per cent from the previous year, and the top 100 accounted for 75 per cent of the total tax payment.

Viettel has consistently been on the list in recent years. However, this year, the group took the top position from PetroVietnam. Honda Viet Nam also jumped from the fourth to the second position this year.

Last year, Viettel’s pre-tax profit reached around VND40 trillion. In the first half of the year, its pre-tax profit was some VND22 trillion and it has been the only firm in the country with a profit of nearly $1 billion in the period.

Its overseas investments brought VND1 trillion profit to the group in the first six months of the year.

The list of the top 10 biggest tax payers last year has seven Vietnamese and three foreign firms.

The top 10 biggest tax payers are Viettel Group; Honda Viet Nam; Viet Nam National Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam); Toyota Viet Nam; Viet Nam Dairy Products Joint Stock Company (Vinamilk); Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Foreign Trade of Viet Nam (Vietcombank); Heineken Viet Nam Brewery Limited Company; Airport Corporation of Viet Nam; Viet Nam Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Industry and Trade (Vietinbank) and Viet Nam Mobile Telecom Services One Member Limited Liability Company. — VNS