More than 100 auto importers will have to pay a total of VND888 billion (US$39.74 million) due from the previous years, according to a report from the Customs Department in HCM City.

The report was sent to the General Department of Vietnam Customs.

Of the sum, more than VND719 billion will be collected from New City Group JSC. It includes VND273 billion as import tax, VND344 billion as special consumption tax and more than VND100 billion as value-added tax.

The collection was decided after the department discovered auto importers had declared auto prices lower than the actual value to enjoy lower taxes.

The department report showed that New City Group JSC had previously several times complained to the department asking it to revoke its decision.

However, the municipal department said it had reassessed the customs value of the company’s auto imports and rejected the complaint.

The collection of dues of the previous years was conducted following the instruction from Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue and Minister of Finance Dinh Tien Dung on enhancing examination on tax obligation to auto importers in recent times.

The department checked the customs clearance of auto imports, including the old and the new ones, cars with more and less than nine seats and trucks, of 110 auto importers from January 2011 to September 2016 in the city.

Earlier, Deputy PM Hue directed the finance ministry to report auto imports, including cars imported as gifts or movable assets, at the General Department of Vietnam Customs and relevant sectors in the first nine months of this year. Following this, the finance ministry announced it had collected nearly VND1 trillion in dues of the previous years from auto importers, who had declared auto prices lower than the actual value. — VNS