On November 5th, the Vietnam General Department of Taxation organized a working session with a delegation from the Lao Department of Taxation to exchange experiences in managing taxes on e-commerce activities. The session focused on sharing effective tax management solutions in the context of rapid e-commerce development, especially for domestic and foreign individuals and legal entities.

Deputy Director of the Department of Small and Medium Enterprises and Households, Ly Thi Hoai Huong, shared the challenges that Vietnam is facing in managing e-commerce taxes, such as difficulties in determining the tax base, controlling cash flow, and clearly distinguishing types of income.

Vietnam’s E-commerce Tax Management Solutions 

To address these challenges, the Vietnamese tax authorities have implemented many solutions, including:

• Improving legal regulations: Adjusting and supplementing legal regulations to suit the characteristics of e-commerce.
• Strengthening communication: Raising awareness of tax obligations for e-commerce activities among businesses and the public.
• Building a database: Collecting and analyzing data on e-commerce activities to serve tax management.
• Modernizing management tools: Applying information technology to improve tax management efficiency.
• Interdisciplinary coordination: Strengthening cooperation with relevant ministries and agencies to share information and jointly resolve issues.

Representatives of the Lao Department of Taxation appreciated the experiences shared by Vietnam and said they would refer to them for application in tax management practices in Laos. The two sides also agreed to continue strengthening cooperation in the future.

Tools to Support E-commerce Tax Management in Vietnam 

At the working session, the Vietnam General Department of Taxation introduced a number of tools to support e-commerce tax management such as:

• Electronic portal for foreigners: Helps foreign businesses easily register, declare, and pay taxes.
• E-commerce portal: Collects information about organizations and individuals doing business on e-commerce platforms.
• Tool for scanning information on e-commerce platforms: Collects public information of stalls on large e-commerce platforms.
• Data warehouse system: Supports analysis and processing of data to serve tax management.

Conclusion 

The working session between the Vietnam General Department of Taxation and the Lao Department of Taxation created an opportunity for the two countries to share experiences and seek common solutions to effectively manage taxes in the e-commerce environment. Strengthening cooperation between the two countries will contribute to improving tax management efficiency, ensuring fairness and transparency in the digital business environment.