HCM CITY — The Cần Thơ City’s Customs Department is targeting collecting VNĐ2.39 trillion (US$102.98 million) for its budget, exceeding 5 per cent of the goal assigned by the Ministry of Finance. 

To achieve the target, the department will closely manage revenues, strengthen inspections and control prices, origin of goods and tax collection for imports and exports.

Speaking at a Customs Department meeting on Tuesday, Trương Quang Hoài Nam, vice chairman of Cần Thơ City People’s Committee, asked the department to work with agencies to fight smuggling and trade fraud, and manage the issuance of origin certificates of goods (C/O) at enterprises. 

The city will also continue to promote administrative reform so that more businesses will follow customs declaration procedures at the Cần Thơ City Customs Department. 

Nguyễn Văn Vũ, deputy director of the city’s Customs Department, said last year the city’s total revenue reached VNĐ2.881 trillion, or 108 per cent of the target assigned by the Ministry of Finance and 101 per cent of the target assigned by the General Department of Customs.

However, the revenue fell by 20 per cent compared to 2017, he said.

Vũ said that major projects in Cần Thơ, like the Sông Hậu 1 Thermal Power Plant Project, Duyên Hải Thermal Power Plant and Long Phú Thermal Power Plant, imported machinery and equipment, so the total budget revenue of the customs department rose sharply in 2017, reaching more than VNĐ3.623 trillion.

In addition, the Duyên Hải 3 thermal power plant reduced petroleum and coal imports in the last months of the year, affecting the total revenue of 2018 for the city’s Customs Department, he added.

Thanks to a project to manage goods at ports and warehouses, and to electronic tax payments via banks, the time for customs clearance of imports and exports has fallen significantly compared to 2017, according to Vũ.

Last year, the Cần Thơ Customs Department collected nearly VNĐ9 billion of all outstanding tax debt of enterprises for the year. 

However, the department has not been able to recover debts worth VNĐ35.99 billion from 23 businesses that extend back to 2013 and earlier years. 

The Customs Department has sent two applications for tax-debt elimination to the General Department of Customs, which has proposed a number of measures for tax debt elimination.

During the meeting in Cần Thơ, four members of the Cần Thơ City Customs Department were awarded the Prime Minister’s Certificate of Merit for their outstanding achievements. 

The Minister of Finance also awarded the Certificate of Merit to four collectives and 28 people for outstanding achievements in customs work in the 2016-2017 period. — VNS