Tax officer performance rating

When I was a child, I went to the market with my grandmother and saw a man wearing dark sunglasses and a beret – considered a luxury item at the time. He wore a black belt, carried a notebook, and walked past the market stalls. I paid more attention when he stopped at a meat stall. After a few brief exchanges, he picked up a pork leg and calmly walked away. The butcher muttered something, clearly annoyed, as if he had been forced to do something. I asked who the man in the dark sunglasses was, and my grandmother said he was "the tax officer." Later, I learned that was how people in my hometown referred to tax officials back then.

I had a second traumatic experience with a tax officer. I was a student then. Normally, during Tet (Lunar New Year), students buy goods in Hanoi to resell in their hometowns for a profit. I bought some secondhand clothes and took them to a local market. A tax officer came and inspected each item. Just when I thought he would buy them, he asked about the origin of the goods. I replied that I bought them on Kim Lien Street and explained my purpose was to earn some extra money for expenses when I returned to school the following year. The tax officer said I had violated the law and confiscated all the goods, leaving me standing there bewildered and crying. Afterwards, I knew how I had violated the law, but I had no idea what would happen to my confiscated goods. I didn't even know the name of the person who confiscated them.

Later, I heard several complaints from acquaintances about unpleasant stories related to tax collection and payment. The newspapers occasionally published similar reports.

Tax officials are law enforcement officers in the tax field. They are obligated to comply with legal regulations, especially regarding etiquette and conduct as prescribed by the industry. Recently, the tax sector has issued many regulations to better educate and manage tax officials. However, these regulations have not been fully implemented, and there are still individuals who violate them. A particularly upsetting incident over the past few months involved a tax official from the inter-district tax team of Vinh Loc - Thach Thanh (formerly) who used disrespectful language towards a citizen at the workplace.

Taxes are a crucial source of revenue for the state budget. Besides measures to increase revenue and prevent tax evasion, the working methods and attitudes of tax officials towards taxpayers are very important. It must be a two-way relationship. Stories of seizing goods instead of collecting taxes or verbally abusing taxpayers, as happened in the past, should now be a thing of the past.

At the recent conference on exemplary achievements and the review of tax work for the first six months of 2025, and the implementation of tasks for the last six months of 2025, the Director of the Tax Department ( Ministry of Finance ), Mai Xuan Thanh, stated that the tax sector will apply a new information technology system and implement a "taxpayer-rated tax officer" program. Therefore, tax officials and civil servants need to improve their knowledge, especially those directly interacting with the public, who must become experts in the field of taxation. The tax department leader also stated that this data will be sent directly to the Tax Department's central system. Low scores will result in the provincial/city tax chief being held accountable.

When machines replace humans, there will be no room for favoritism or sentiment. Whether tax officials complete their tasks or not is no longer a matter of subjective feelings, but is decided by taxpayers through a tool, not influenced by will or emotion. Hopefully, the software-based evaluation of tax officials will be implemented soon and rigorously.

Hanh Nhien

Source: https://baothanhhoa.vn/cham-diem-can-bo-thue-nbsp-254667.htm