Ministry hands over tax collection to Vientiane Tax Department

Ministry hands over tax collection to Vientiane Tax Department

Taxation for more than 600 business units will, for the next three years, be managed by the Vientiane Tax Department after they signed a memorandum of understanding with the Tax Division of the Ministry of Finance on Friday.

Director of the Tax Division, Mr Suliya Manivong, said that files on 638 business units that have previously submitted tax returns will now be transferred to the Vientiane Tax Department. This system will be more effective under the government's income management scheme as well as being more convenient for all concerned.

The efficient management of tax collection is an important part of the government's plans to lead the country out of poverty by 2015 and to graduate from least developed country status by 2020.

Mr Suliya said the Vientiane Tax Department would work with businesses on tax collection over the next three years. This fiscal year is expected to see businesses pay taxes amounting to 108 billion kip. There will also be more cooperation on document management and the collection of information.

Deputy Minister of Finance, Mr Santiphab Phomvihane, advised department officials to work hard to encourage businesspeople to be diligent about paying their taxes. He recommended that payments be made through banks, to ensure greater efficiency and enable the government to receive the full amount due.

Some businesses wait for officials to come to their office and request payment instead of submitting their taxes through a bank, so questions need to be asked about this practice.

Mr Santiphab said he hoped tax collection would improve though the use of computer systems because they create a permanent record, enable better monitoring and provide information for future reference.

vientiane times