A branch of Agribank in Hòa Bình Province. Banking was among sectors with strong growth in the first months of this year, which helped push up budget revenue. — VNA/VNS Photo Trọng Đạt

HÀ NỘI — The budget revenue increased significantly in the first five months of this year thanks to recovery from 2020 and some sectors seeing strong growth, such as banking, securities, real estate and automobile industries, according to the General Department of Taxation.

Statistics showed that tax collection was estimated to total VNĐ575.6 trillion (US$24.85 billion) in January – May, equivalent to 51.6 per cent of the plan and 114.5 per cent of the same period last year.

The General Department of Taxation said that the budget revenue was quite good from the beginning of this year thanks to the fact that some sectors have benefited from the fiscal and monetary policies introduced in 2020 to aid the economy to overcome the COVID19-pandemic.

With good credit and deposit growth in 2020, which contributed significantly to boost the profit of commercial banks, the corporate income tax which banks paid to the State budget increased by VNĐ4.5 trillion.

The tax collection from transferring property projects also increased by around VNĐ6 trillion as the property market was robust in many localities nationwide.

Mergers and acquisitions became more robust in the first months of this year after the impacts of the virus in 2020, which pushed up tax revenue by VNĐ5-6 trillion.

The Government’s policy of reducing 50 per cent of registration fees for domestically-produced and assembled automobiles till the end of 2020 also promoted car sales and the automobile production industry.

The development of the securities and real estate market from the beginning of this year also helped increase revenue from real estate registration fees, personal income tax from the transfer of securities and real estate assets.

According to the Việt Nam Securities Depository, the number of new accounts opened in the first four months of this year totalled nearly 370,000, increasing by 90 per cent against the whole of 2020, bringing the total number of accounts of individual investors to 3.12 million and organisational investors to 15,800.

Director of the General Department of Taxation Cao Anh Tuấn said the outbreak of the fourth COVID-19 pandemic wave in Việt Nam from late April might affect budget collection in the second half of this year.

Tuấn asked for a close watch to be placed on the virus development to work out solutions for effective tax collection in the remaining months of this year.

At the same time, the department would study and propose measures to efficiently implement the Government’s policies extending the deadline for payment of value added tax, corporate income tax, individual income tax and land fees in 2021 to support enterprises to overcome the difficult time. — VNS