Vietnam collects $76.7mn in taxes from foreign service providers

Vietnamese tax authorities on Friday collected taxes totaling VND1.8 trillion (US$76.7 million) from foreign cross-border service providers in Vietnam, such as Google, Facebook and Apple, according to the General Department of Taxation.

In particular, Facebook owner Meta Inc paid 34.5 million euros ($37.5 million); Google, $28.8 million; and Apple, VND174 billion ($7.4 million) through a portal via which foreign service providers can declare and pay taxes online to Vietnam.

Eight months after launching the portal, 45 foreign service providers have registered to declare and pay taxes through it.

According to the General Department of Taxation, the tax revenue showed foreign service providers’ strict compliance with Vietnam’s law on e-commerce and online business in the Southeast Asian country.

As of the end of last year, the total tax revenue collected from foreign service providers amounted to VND3.4 trillion ($144.9 million).

Of those, Google, Facebook, Microsoft, TikTok, Netfix, and Apple, which hold the lion’s share of the cross-border e-commerce market in Vietnam, also declared and paid taxes to Vietnam.

Facebook paid over VND1.7 trillion ($72.4 million) and Google, VND979 billion ($41.7 million).

However, the collection of taxes from cross-border e-commerce service providers remains challenging.

According to the Da Nang Tax Department, apps are intangible assets. However, local tax agencies find it hard to collect taxes from technological platforms, such as Google and Facebook, as they cannot manage them.

It is necessary to work with commercial banks in Vietnam to determine the incomes of Vietnamese individuals and organizations earned through foreign service providers, according to the Ho Chi Minh City Tax Department.

The General Department of Taxation should write to all commercial banks nationwide, asking them to provide names, addresses, tax codes or personal identification numbers of individuals and organizations earning incomes through foreign organizations, such as Google, Facebook, and Apple.

In a directive issued on Friday urging the fulfillment of tasks after the Lunar New Year (Tet) holiday, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh required the Ministry of Finance to effectively conduct finance-budget-related missions in 2023, closely manage the state budget revenue and ensure the accurate, sufficient, and prompt collection of taxes.

By Thanh Ha & Le Thanh – Tuoi Tre News – January 29, 2023