A view of HCM City’s skyline seen from the Thủ Thiêm new urban area in Thủ Đức City. The city is speeding up the collection of revenues in the last month of 2023. — VNS Photo Bồ Xuân Hiệp

HCM CITY — HCM City is implementing measures to speed up the collection of taxes and other revenue items to achieve its 2024 target after falling short this year.

Speaking at a recent meeting Lê Duy Minh, director of the city Department of Finance, said: “The city is unlikely to meet its revenue target for 2023.”

The country’s largest city is facing challenges in achieving its target due to difficulties faced by businesses and its own support policies.

In addition, revenues from personal income tax, which used to be a strength, have experienced a sharp decline.

For 2023 revenues are estimated at VNĐ439.3 trillion (US$17.9 billion), or 93.5 per cent of the VNĐ470 trillion target and down 8.5 per cent from 2022.

The decline in all components of budget revenues, including domestic revenues (down 4.7 per cent), crude oil revenues (15.8 per cent) and imports and exports (15.3 per cent), contributed to the shortfall.

Experts also attributed the shortfall to the unpredictable global economic situation, leading to reduced consumer demand, incomplete supply chain recovery and sustained inflation.

Its revenues last year were more than VNĐ471.5 trillion, 122 per cent above the target and 23.6 per cent up from the previous year.

For 2024 the target is VNĐ483 trillion.

Phan Văn Mãi, chairman of the People’s Committee, called the target “very challenging.” To achieve it, the city would focus on collecting tax arrears and speeding up collection of value-added tax that were deferred until December.

But it plans to continue supporting businesses in 2024, focusing on tax and land rent waivers and reductions.

The finance department is also co-ordinating with relevant agencies to quickly exploit the special mechanisms outlined in a National Assembly resolution and enhance revenues from land.

But its focus is on managing taxes on e-commerce, seen as a promising but barely tapped revenue source in the near future.

2024 targets

Besides, the city has set an economic growth target of 7.5-8 per cent for 2024.

Despite the evident challenges that lie ahead, it has set several ambitious socio-economic targets, including increasing tourism revenues, attracting a larger number of foreign visitors and upgrading its IT infrastructure.

It also plans to create new jobs, increase housing availability, provide all public services online, and achieve a high level of satisfaction with them.

But economic recovery will continue to be elusive next year due to a global recession, experts warn.

The Vietnamese property, stock and bond markets will not recover next year, and businesses lack export orders due to weak global demand, they point out.

The city People’s Council recently passed a number of key socio-economic resolutions aimed at addressing the challenges and driving growth in 2024. — VNS