National Assembly Delegate: Support business households in declaring taxes until they can do so instead of being fined for being late.

Businesses are still "eating onion porridge" continuously, need a revolution in the business environment

Speaking at the National Assembly's discussion session on socio -economic issues on June 17, delegate Ha Sy Dong (Quang Tri delegation) said that an issue that has received much attention recently is the abolition of lump-sum tax for business households and individuals doing lump-sum business from January 1, 2026.

The National Assembly meets in the hall to discuss socio-economic development in 2024.

According to delegates, since this policy was issued, there have been many conflicting opinions. The tax sector and some experts believe that this regulation opens up opportunities to upgrade business households to become enterprises.

" But there are also many businesses and individuals who are confused. There are reactions as reported by the press, such as not accepting money transfers but only accepting cash... ", Mr. Dong reflected.

According to the delegate, there are two things that need to be done immediately in this regard. The first is to increase communication so that people understand correctly and fully about the new policy. At the same time, it is necessary to support business households in procedures, especially tax declaration, until they can do it themselves, "instead of checking and punishing them every time the policy comes into effect".

" I once heard a voter who is a small business owner complain that just because they were a few minutes late in paying taxes, they were harassed, so they later asked to be transferred from the enterprise to the business household ," Mr. Dong said, adding that implementation is very important, especially when people and businesses are having to adapt to rapid and numerous policy changes like this time.

From the issue of lump-sum tax, Mr. Dong said that, looking more broadly, it is the issue of improving Vietnam's investment and business environment in recent times. " I am quite impatient because the process of improving our business environment is slowing down, and in some places, at times, it is even going in the opposite direction, " Mr. Dong acknowledged.

He said that the Politburo 's resolutions 57, 66, and 68 are very clear, but the situation of businesses reflecting on difficulties in the business environment is still very much, "even more and more difficult problems as many delegates have stated before me".

" If we do not accept a revolution in the business environment, I am afraid that small improvements will not make a difference, " Mr. Dong said, emphasizing that without a breakthrough, the long-term double-digit growth target for the next two decades certainly cannot be achieved.

Delegate Ha Sy Dong (Quang Tri delegation) expressed his opinion at the meeting.

Even if we keep the high growth target in 2026 and 2027 and use fiscal and monetary measures, the macro risks are very high.

Mr. Dong cited an example: In the past, many investment and business conditions were reduced, but now there are signs of a comeback. For example, in the rice export sector, by 2018, business conditions had been significantly reduced. But recently, there was a draft amendment to Decree 107 requiring rice exporting enterprises to own warehouses and not be allowed to rent warehouses anymore.

The Quang Tri delegation also cited a report from the Vietnam Federation of Commerce and Industry reflecting that investment in land-using projects in Vietnam is currently a jungle of procedures, a mountain of procedures, from applying for construction planning, land use planning, investment policy approval, design appraisal, environment, fire prevention and fighting, land use fees, construction permits, project acceptance...

" With such a jungle of procedures, it is difficult for us to mobilize enough private investment to serve growth ," Mr. Dong said, and suggested that the Government must be very determined in this regard.

Social trust is established on the foundation of the legal system.

Sharing the same view, delegate Phan Duc Hieu (Thai Binh delegation) said the most important task in the coming time is still institutional reform.

" My concern is that institutional reform must be substantial, correct, and meet the requirements of the business community ," said delegate Phan Duc Hieu.

Mr. Hieu said that the National Assembly and the Government are focusing on amending laws, decrees and circulars to remove obstacles and improve the investment and business environment, but there are directives and official documents issued a long time ago that have caused great difficulties for production and business activities.

Delegate Phan Duc Hieu (Thai Binh delegation) said that a revolution in the business environment is needed.

Delegates cited that at a conference with the business community chaired by Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, many businesses proposed abolishing a directive from 2012 requiring investment projects to be concentrated in industrial parks. The application of this directive by many localities has made it difficult to implement some very large investment projects, due to being located near ports and rivers, causing many difficulties and problems. " There may be more documents like this ," Mr. Hieu said.

From there, he suggested that the Prime Minister review all documents issued by the Government, including directives and official dispatches up to now. Any documents that hinder production and business activities should be publicly abolished so that localities and enterprises can implement them.

" Resolving this difficulty is very practical ," Mr. Hieu emphasized, and suggested that in the long term, an institutional reform committee should be established, which is a popular model in many countries such as Korea, the US, the UK, Australia, etc.

Delegate Le Huu Tri (Khanh Hoa delegation) said that social trust is established on the foundation of a legal system and policies that ensure long-term stability and are strictly enforced.

Therefore, delegates proposed to soon systematize and codify laws, overcome the overlapping, fragmented and scattered situation in the current legal system, to ensure transparency, easy access, and create conditions for law enforcement officers and citizens to fully understand and comply with legal regulations.

A stable and transparent legal system is the basis for building trust among people, investors and businesses, and is the standard for all behaviors in society, creating a favorable environment for national construction and development.

“ It is necessary to completely resolve barriers to the private economy, especially barriers in administrative procedures and the request-grant mechanism to reduce informal costs and legal risks, ” the delegate said.

According to the delegate, currently, people and businesses are facing many major barriers, especially barriers in administrative procedures, the mechanism of asking for and giving, setting many conditions for management that have existed and are still existing in the legal corridor of our legal system and these conditions are fertile ground for negative harassment to arise, increasing informal costs, distorting the business environment, and losing transparency and fairness.

“ Many issues, although having a clear legal framework, when public servants have incorrect or incomplete awareness or are afraid of responsibility, the problems of the people and businesses will not be solved. This is the biggest bottleneck of many bottlenecks in the current period, contributing to the difficulties for the people and businesses, ” said the delegate.

Besides strongly innovating legislative thinking, it is necessary and urgent to quickly promote the application of information technology and digital transformation in public administration when shifting to a three-level government model.

Phi Long (VOV.VN)

Source: https://vtcnews.vn/dbqh-ho-tro-ho-kinh-doanh-ke-khai-thue-den-khi-lam-duoc-thay-vi-cu-cham-la-phat-ar949418.html