Paradox of paying taxes and then getting tax refunds, export enterprises complain 'waste of time'

Enterprises and businessmen offered ideas to remove obstacles in many fields at the high-level dialogue session of the Private Economic Forum 2025 (VPSF 2025) held on the afternoon of September 16.

Mr. Phan Minh Thong - General Director of Phuc Sinh Joint Stock Company - Photo: T.HAI

The forum was attended and delivered a speech by Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh .

Removing tax, credit and land policies

As an agricultural product exporting enterprise with an annual scale of 350 million USD to 120 countries, Mr. Phan Minh Thong - General Director of Phuc Sinh Joint Stock Company - said that promoting enterprises to invest in deep processing in raw material areas will help solve the problem of rescuing goods, concentrating crops, helping to increase the value and position of Vietnamese enterprises, and solving employment.

Vietnam is the second and third largest exporter of many agricultural products, trading all over the world , so Mr. Sinh believes that it is necessary to establish commodity exchanges to create jobs, attract capital, and standardize businesses to ensure transparency and data.

This model also creates products for financial centers, small and medium-sized company business operations.

Regarding the VAT issue, Mr. Thong said that from July 1, agricultural export enterprises must issue invoices with a VAT rate of 5% and make tax refunds after export. Many items such as pepper are exported at over 90%, coffee at over 85%, and cashew nuts at over 80%. Having to pay VAT and then get a tax refund has created a huge amount of work and is time-consuming.

"Paying taxes like that does not create value. For example, Phuc Sinh exports 1,000 billion VND per month, pays 50 billion VND in VAT and then refunds 50 billion VND in VAT, wasting a lot of time.

"If one file is blocked, the whole file will be returned. The US has imposed a 20% tax, while we impose a 5% tax, which means two difficulties. Therefore, we recommend that VAT should be exempted for businesses exporting over 80% of raw materials," Mr. Thong said.

Meanwhile, Mr. Do Vinh Quang - Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of T&T Group , Chairman of the Board of Directors of Vietravel Airlines - proposed to continue to improve transparent institutions, healthy competition, and remove barriers for private enterprises to access resources such as land, credit, infrastructure, tax policies, etc. to reduce policy risks.

Along with that, build a general and long-term capital incentive mechanism, especially for key, dynamic industries that require large, long-term capital such as logistics, energy, infrastructure, aviation, etc. Increase preferential credit associated with the development of a healthy capital market, promote the issuance of safe corporate bonds, infrastructure investment funds, innovation funds, etc.

Along with that is promoting digital transformation, opening national data and simplifying administrative procedures. One of the difficulties for businesses is the time and cost involved in accessing information, completing procedures for land investment, tax construction, customs, etc.

Therefore, synchronizing data between ministries and sectors, promoting online public services, and expanding the national land database helps save significantly and ensure transparency, a global governance trend.

There is a need to put strategies into practice more strongly.

With products exported to more than 50 countries around the world, Mr. Trinh Tien Dung - Chairman of Dai Dung Mechanical Group - said that the Party and Government are interested in developing key industries, including mechanical engineering. However, in order for the mechanical engineering and steel structure industry to be a pillar in the industrialization process, it is necessary to put into practice stronger strategies.

In particular, it is necessary to upgrade the strategy to a national program on mechanical engineering and steel structures with specific goals, roadmaps, and resources, directly linked to priority areas such as renewable energy, transport infrastructure, smart cities, green industry, freight transport industry, logistics, and comprehensive digital transformation.

Along with the national innovation center, there needs to be a specialized center for mechanical engineering so that businesses, research institutes, and universities can research and develop core technologies, automation, green products, and receive technology transfer and cooperation in developing technology, to create products made by Vietnamese people.

"As with Dai Dung, from the simple steel structure manufacturing industry, mechanical engineering, over time with many preferential policies, we have had the capacity to manufacture products serving heavy industrial projects, traffic projects, sea tunnels, airports, stadiums, high-rise buildings in many countries," Mr. Dung shared and recommended the need to plan a supply chain, a synchronous mechanical ecosystem when there are currently industrial parks but they are scattered and lack cohesion.

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Source: https://tuoitre.vn/nghich-ly-dong-thue-roi-lai-hoan-thue-doanh-nghiep-xuat-khau-keu-mat-thoi-gian-20250916202540311.htm