15 Vietnam Fuel Businesses and Related Entities Owe About VND 6.5 Trillion to the State Budget
A Vietnamese government inspection found that 15 fuel wholesalers and their branches and subsidiaries had yet to pay about VND 6.5 trillion to the state budget. Inspectors also identified problems with environmental tax declarations and the fuel price stabilization fund, and recommended studying an end to the current fund.
Vietnam’s Government Inspectorate found during a fuel business inspection that 15 wholesalers and their branches and subsidiaries had yet to pay about VND 6.5 trillion to the state budget. This included about VND 3.869 trillion in unpaid environmental tax and about VND 2.11 trillion in late payment charges. The inspection covered 260 businesses, including 23 fuel wholesalers and 237 distributors, and ran from July 10 to October 5.
Another 12 wholesalers were suspected of having environmental tax declared by the wrong entities, involving about VND 3.226 trillion. The cases included parent companies declaring and paying tax on behalf of branches and subsidiaries, and sellers doing so on behalf of buyers. Inspectors said each company’s tax obligations must be reassessed to avoid double collection or lost tax revenue. Two other wholesalers were suspected of underdeclaring about VND 40 billion in environmental tax. One of them, Công ty TNHH Thương mại và Dịch vụ Long Hưng, has filed a supplementary declaration and paid VND 20.39 billion in previously underdeclared tax.
The inspection found problems with fuel businesses’ environmental tax declarations and payments, as well as management of the fuel price stabilization fund.（VietVance）
Regarding the fuel price stabilization fund, 20 wholesalers made contributions to and drew from the fund when issuing sales invoices, receiving about VND 2.209 trillion even though the corresponding fuel had not yet been sold. Inspectors said regulations were inconsistent on the volume of fuel used to calculate contributions and withdrawals. They could not yet determine whether the conduct was intentional or negligent, or establish the specific losses. Another company was suspected of making contributions and withdrawals in the wrong accounting period, involving about VND 6.63 billion.
In response to the findings, the Government Inspectorate recommended that the Ministry of Industry and Trade lead a study with the Ministry of Finance and other agencies on ending the current fuel price stabilization fund. It proposed using other regulatory tools, including national fuel reserves, mandatory reserves held by wholesalers and tax policy. Inspectors also recommended improving the rules for declaring environmental tax on fuel and studying the removal of the state’s published base fuel price, allowing wholesalers to set retail prices based on international market prices and cost components.
Source: VietVance
