General Department of Taxation: Temporary suspension of exit due to tax debt only applies to certain subjects

Deputy Director General of the General Department of Taxation Dang Ngoc Minh affirmed that the implementation of temporary exit suspension for individuals and legal entities with tax debts is carried out by tax authorities according to very strict procedures in accordance with the provisions of law and not all individuals with tax debts are temporarily suspended from exit, but this only applies to a few subjects.

Speaking to the press, Mr. Dang Ngoc Minh said that only individuals who are legal representatives of enterprises and organizations that are subject to tax enforcement; Vietnamese people leaving the country to settle abroad who still owe taxes; Vietnamese people settling abroad who have not fulfilled their tax obligations before leaving the country; and foreigners who have not fulfilled their tax obligations before leaving Vietnam will be temporarily suspended from leaving the country.

According to the law, temporary suspension of exit is only applied to individuals who go abroad and do not return, or who return to Vietnam a long time later, so the risk of not being able to recover tax debts, late payment fees, and administrative fines for tax violations is very high.

As for people going abroad for tourism, medical treatment, visiting relatives, seminars, conferences... in case they still owe taxes, they can still exit the country normally.

Even in cases of tax debt and temporary suspension of exit, if there is a guarantee for tax, late payment, fines and other state budget revenues, exit is still possible.

In case the taxpayer has a guarantee for the tax debt but fails to pay on time, the guarantor shall be responsible for paying on his/her behalf. If the deadline for paying the tax debt according to the written approval of the tax authority expires and the taxpayer has not paid the full amount to the state budget, the guarantor who fails to fulfill the obligation shall be subject to enforcement for the amount within the scope of the guarantee.

Currently, the temporary suspension of exit for individuals and legal entities in tax debt is carried out by the tax authority according to the tax authority's procedures. After reviewing, comparing, and accurately determining the tax payment obligations of individuals, the tax authority directly managing the taxpayer makes a list of individuals subject to temporary suspension of exit and sends a document to the immigration management agency, and at the same time sends it to the taxpayer to complete the tax payment obligation before leaving the country.

Immediately on the day of receiving the document from the tax authority, the immigration authority is responsible for implementing the temporary suspension of exit according to regulations and posting it on the immigration authority's website.

In case the taxpayer has fulfilled his/her tax payment obligation, within 24 working hours, the tax authority must issue a document canceling the temporary suspension of exit and send it to the immigration authority to cancel the temporary suspension of exit according to regulations.

Mr. Dang Ngoc Minh also recommended that when changing address, taxpayers must proactively notify the tax authority and to check tax debts, access the tax authority's website to ensure tax obligations are fulfilled before leaving the country.

The General Department of Taxation said that to support taxpayers in being able to grasp information related to tax settlement, tax debts... of individuals, the tax sector has built the eTax Mobile application, similar to the eBanking application of commercial banks.

ETax Mobile is an electronic tax application installed on smartphones, allowing individuals, business individuals and business households to look up taxes anytime, anywhere on mobile devices.

Using eTax Mobile is extremely simple, taxpayers can pay taxes, look up tax obligations, look up tax notices along with many other utilities and supports.

Currently, about one million individuals have downloaded and used eTax Mobile. All information related to tax management and tax obligations of individuals is sent to individuals by the tax authority via this application.

All personal tax information is kept confidential, only when individuals access (enter username and password, fingerprint or FaceID) will they know their tax information.

Therefore, for the sake of their rights and obligations and tax obligations to the State budget, the tax industry recommends that all citizens, especially those involved in production, business and activities that generate taxable income, need to download this software to their mobile devices.