It is proposed to have regulations on the threshold for tax debt to be banned from leaving the country

According to the current Tax Administration Law, taxpayers include organizations and individuals. However, the suspension of exit currently only applies to individuals who are legal representatives of businesses. The Government believes that this regulation is not practical and that the exit ban should be implemented for both individual taxpayers and other individuals who are legal representatives of tax-paying organizations.

Therefore, in the draft law amending and supplementing 7 laws related to finance, with the Law on Tax Administration, the Government proposes to add individuals, business household owners, and individual legal representatives of businesses, Cooperatives will be subject to temporary exit from the country if they owe taxes. However, the draft law does not set a specific tax debt threshold for these subjects when banned from leaving the country.

Examining this content, Mr. Le Quang Manh, Chairman of the Finance and Budget Committee, said there are many mixed opinions about the representative’s ban on leaving the country. Not to mention, the number of cases banned from leaving the country has increased significantly recently, when the authorities introduced measures to tighten management.

According to tax authority data, in the first half of this year they issued nearly 16,900 notices to postpone exit with a tax debt of VND 24,100 billion. They have recovered nearly 920 billion VND from 1,482 debtors through this method. This level is equal to 30% of debt recovered by tax enforcement measures in the first half of the year (VND 2,700 billion).

Therefore, the inspection agency proposed that the Government add a tax debt threshold to limit the scope of application of the exit ban measure.

In addition, the Government also needs to more carefully evaluate the impact of this tax enforcement measure to come up with an appropriate plan. This is to avoid unnecessary negative reactions.

Commenting at the discussion in the group on the afternoon of October 29, Mr. Pham Trong Nghia, full-time member of the Social Committee, also mentioned the fact that there are cases where the legal representative of an enterprise is an employee, whose name is only on paper. sheet. They do not have the right to decide on the business of the enterprise.

“It is necessary to clearly stipulate that the individual legal representative of the enterprise is the Chairman of the Board of Directors, the company owner… This is also consistent with the Enterprise Law,” he commented.

Temporarily delaying exit from the country is one of the debt enforcement measures applied by the tax industry to cases of procrastination, signs of asset dispersal, or absconding. Current regulations do not specify a specific debt threshold for consideration and application of this enforcement measure, meaning overdue tax debt of even 1 VND must be forcibly recovered. Tax authority leaders once affirmed that the decision to postpone exit was made based on considering each case’s documents.

It is recommended to maintain the time limit for transferring individual bonds

Also according to the draft law, the Government proposes to increase the time for individual professional investors to transfer individual bonds to 3 years, instead of one year as current regulations.

Discussing in the group, Mr. Hoang Van Cuong, Member of the Finance and Budget Committee, said that the regulation that professional individual investors must buy individual bonds after 3 years to sell them, instead of one year as before, is “” too hard”. Because according to him, individual investors have the same responsibility as strategic investors.

Meanwhile, the role of a strategic investor means investing in any business “must be faithful and lead that business.” Increasing the time limit for individual bond transfer to 3 years will lose flexibility. capital mobilization activities of enterprises in the bond market,” Mr. Cuong said, suggesting that the Government should keep the current regulations, which means that after one year of holding individual bonds, investors can transfer.

Similarly, Mr. Trang A Duong, full-time member of the Nationalities Council, also said that this regulation is not practical. According to Mr. Duong, extending the time limit for professional investors to transfer individual bonds will limit capital mobilization for businesses.

“The regulation that professional investors can individually buy bonds after 3 years before being transferred will be a barrier for the market, leading to hesitation and loss of opportunities for investors,” Mr. Duong said.

He requested the Government to review and find solutions to balance the interests between issuing businesses and investors. In case there is no fundamental solution, it should be kept as is, i.e. after one year individuals can transfer individual bonds.

Explaining later, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Ho Duc Phoc said that increasing the time limit for individual bond transfers is so that businesses and investors can focus on developing their capacity and stabilizing the market price of their bonds. bonds and stocks after the initial issuance period.

However, he said that taking into account the opinions of the delegates, the drafting agency will keep the current regulations, which means that professional investors who buy individual bonds will be able to sell and transfer them after one year.