Bringing e-commerce into the tax net

The General Department of Taxation will propose amendments and supplements to the laws this year to ensure e-commerce players do not evade tax. — VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — Tax authorities plan to expand the list of taxable entities to properly and fully tax digital business activities.

There are many problems in managing e-commerce taxation, Nguyễn Thị Lan Anh, head of the General Department of Taxation (GDT)’s small and medium-sized enterprises, household and individual tax management department, said.

Households and individuals involved in e-commerce often lack business and tax registration addresses, she said.

In many cases, they use other people’s information to register their business, making it difficult for the tax authorities, she said.

They could do business on many e-commerce platforms and have many stores on each, as well as on social networks, adding to the difficulty, she said.

Many e-commerce sites do not provide complete information about organisations and individuals doing business on their platforms.

In the case of businesses accepting cash on delivery, the delivery companies cannot provide the name or tax code of the seller to tax agencies.

The GDT will study and propose amendments and supplements to the laws this year to make it incumbent on platform owners, foreign suppliers without business establishments in Việt Nam, shipping units, banks, and payment intermediaries to provide information to tax authorities about e-commerce activities.

It plans to set up a database using information from taxpayers, tax authorities, inspections, and third parties.

It will develop a risk management model for organisations and individuals involved in e-commerce, applying artificial intelligence to process big data and issue warnings in case of tax risks.

Nguyễn Bằng Thắng, director of the GDT’s large enterprise tax management department, said tax authorities would apply big data analysis to identify foreign businesses, organisations and individuals that have revenues in Việt Nam but do not register or file for taxes.

At the same time, tax authorities will actively co-ordinate with the Ministries of Industry and Trade, Information and Communications and Public Security and the State Bank of Việt Nam to share data to improve e-commerce tax oversight and management. — VNS