The Thuan Duc Packaging Joint Stock Company in Hung Yen province. (Photo:VNA)
Hanoi (VNA) - The Ministry of Finance will focus on improving the businessclimate and creating favourable conditions for businesses to accelerate growth,which is important to ensure State budget revenue amid the COVID-19pandemic's impacts on socio-economic development.
Experts predicted that the pressure of the pandemic on budget revenue wouldcontinue in the remaining quarters of this year.
Latest updates by the Ministry of Finance showed that the State budget revenuetotalled 391 trillion VND (over 16.6 billion USD) in the first quarter of2020, equivalent to 25.9 percent of the yearly estimate and up 1.8 percentyear-on-year.
Domestic revenue, estimated at 324.7 trillion VND (over 13.8 billion USD), roseby 3.6 percent from the same period last year. The figure was equal to 25.7percent of the estimate.
Revenue from crude oil rose 7.3 percent to reach nearly 14.6 trillion VND, or41.4 percent of the plan for the full year despite the plunging oil prices inthe global market, even to 25-27 USD per barrel.
The ministry said that a large number of businesses, especially those operatingin aviation, tourism, hospitality, restaurant and catering services, have toscale down their business because of difficulties caused by the epidemic.
Meanwhile, State budget revenue from import-export activities dropped 8.8percent against the same period last year to only nearly 77 trillion (3.2billion USD), or nearly 22.8 percent of the estimate.
According to Vice Director of the General Department of VietnamCustoms Luu Manh Tuong, the decline in import-export tax revenue is mainly dueto impacts caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has led to a sharp drop inrevenue of major export-import items, including automobile, equipment and spareparts, computers and electronic products, and iron and steel.
The customs sector has taken many solutions to promote cross-borderexport-import, and created favourable condition for enterprises’ production,Tuong said.
Nguyen Thi Cuc, Chairwoman of the Vietnam Tax Consultancy Association, saidthat to complete budget revenue target, it is necessary to urge enterprises tocome up with solutions to difficulties, aiming to maintaining their productionand business.
Meanwhile Nguyen Duc Huy, from the General Department of Taxation said tooffset the damage caused by COVID-19, the General Department of Taxation willimplement urgent measures to support affected taxpayers.
Recently, the Government gave a five-month extension of deadlines for tax andland use fee payments to support businesses suffering from the COVID-19pandemic, which was estimated to total 180 trillion VND and benefited 98percent of firms in the country./.
