After exploiting tons of gold, the foreign investor in the Bong Mieu mine has fled without rehabilitating the site as required, leaving unpaid debts worth trillions of dong.

Established years ago, the taskforce in charge of fighting transfer pricing under the General Department of Taxation (GDT) remains unheard of by the public. 

The HCMC Taxation Agency has found 598 institutions and 17,130 individuals who received earnings totalling VND1.114 trillion from social networks (Google, Facebook and Youtube) via four banks.

VietNamNet Bridge - As there are no records about online sales, officials find it difficult to identify taxpayers and calculate the tax amounts they owe. 

VietNamNet Bridge - Just within one year, the Ministry of Finance (MOF) proposed raising a series of taxes, citing international practices and the goal of increasing tax collections for the state.  

The Ministry of Finance (MOF) wants the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) to instruct commercial banks to withhold taxes from transactions with Facebook and Google, but SBV said it is not authorized to do so.

If applying the personal income tax (PIT) rates introduced to the public last August, the state budget revenue would lose VND3.1 trillion a year. 

Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue asked that the Ministry of Finance’s (MoF) controversial new amendment drafts to tax laws be adjusted to meet both the national growth plan and the current economic climate.

More than 900 Facebook account holders identified by the HCMC Taxation Agency as online traders have declared tax, while 11,000 account holders have not done so, after receiving a message from the taxation body.

Taxation agencies are sending invitations and messages, making calls to online sellers and threatening to block Facebook accounts if online sellers continue to evade tax.

VietNamNet Bridge - Transfer pricing has been a serious problem in Vietnam, more so than in other economies. 

People can fill in and submit forms for more than 700 administrative procedures in Hanoi online this year, as the municipal People’s Committee has focused on promoting online public services.

VietNamNet Bridge - Management agencies are continuing to argue about how to collect taxes from Uber. 

VietNamNet Bridge - With no tax refund for inventories, businesses complain they will lack working capital for operations. The new regulation will take effect on July 1.

VietNamNet Bridge - While some economists believe that Vietnamese businesses cannot grow because of heavy taxes, others believe that taxes should not be blamed.

VietNamNet Bridge - Government officials and experts have mixed views about the collection of taxes from Uber, Coca-Cola and Big C.

VietNamNet Bridge - Nguyen Ha Dong, the game developer, famous for his Flappy Bird game, may be subject to criminal prosecution under the amended 2015 Criminal Code which will take effect on July 1, 2016.

Management agencies are facing challenges in their efforts to collect debts from Google and Facebook, admitting that they have failed to control businesses through social networks, which attract tens of millions of people.

VietNamNet Bridge - Though the taxation agency has not received official reports about the Big C Vietnam transfer deal from involved parties, it is ready to work with the parties on collecting the tax.