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Vietnam: Finance ministry slashes fees to support enterprises

The Hanoitimes – The Ministry of Finance recently issued regulations on cutting fees for enterprises in a bid to help them achieve better growth.
Under Circular No.130/2017, which has taken effect from January 20 this year, the fees for new business registration, business registration certificate adjustment, and business registration certificate re-issuance will be halved from VND200,000 to VND100,000.
The charge for providing companies with registered information will be lowered from VND5 million to VND4.5 million (US$220 to US$198) for 125 documents or above per month. 
The circular also stated that fees for new business registration are abolished for small and medium-sized enterprises which are transferred from business households.
Last year, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc required ministries and agencies to slash fees and charges to support the local business community in pursuit of the government’s Resolution 75/NQ-CP.
Under the resolution, the Ministry of Finance was directed to co-ordinate with relevant ministries, sectors, and localities whose agencies and units provide public services and collect charges and fees to agree on reduction levels for enterprises’ expenses and submit them to the competent authorities for approval.
According to Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), the Ministry of Finance’s fee cut was a positive move, but stronger cuts or even abolishment were needed to support businesses.
VCCI said that many kinds of fees were unnecessary, such as the fee for certifying business information, which was VND20,000. Although the fee was low, it was unnecessary, VCCI said, adding that it was compulsory for firms to publish their information on the national business registration portal—which makes paying fees to get this information unreasonable.
Regarding the fee for verifying the origin of fishery raw materials, the finance ministry proposed a cut by 10 per cent from VND700,000 (US$31) to VND630,000 (US$28), which is still high and a burden to businesses, VCCI noted.
VCCI said that a small-sized fishery processing company must have around 220 certificates to certify the origin of materials to be able to export to European markets every year, which would cost the firm VND154 million overall.
The fee is a constant burden to businesses, especially exporting firms, VCCI said, adding that the firms proposed to cut the fee to around VND100,000-350,000 (US$4.4-15.4) per certificate.
Dau Anh Tuan, head of VCCI’s Legal Department, expects the Ministry of Finance to implement more cuts. “In the short term, fee collection might drop, but in the long term, the fee cuts will promote the development of businesses, and as a result, tax collection will improve and more jobs will be created that will lead to a more sustainable economic development,” he said.
It was estimated that the collection of fees and charges accounted for 3-5 per cent of the total budgetary revenue.
Source: http://www.hanoitimes.vn/economy/2018/01/81E0C124/finance-ministry-slashes-fees-to-support-enterprises/