The application of information technology was one of the key reforms needed for the administration of taxation and customs.

This was stated at the 2015 Viet Nam Finance Conference, which opened in Ha Noi on September 17.

Time and costs spent on completing procedures in taxation and customs had already been significantly reduced thanks to a series of measures promoting administrative reform, including the application of IT in tax and customs management, said Deputy Minister of Finance Tran Van Hieu.

Customs procedures are implemented at a customs office in the Vung Ang Port, Ha Tinh Province

Deputy Head of the Tax General Department, Nguyen Dai Tri, said IT application was considered a key foundation in all steps of tax management, from tax registration, tax filing and tax payment.

Positive signs had been recorded in the field of taxation, he said, adding that more than 510,000 businesses had electronic tax filing at present, accounting for 98 percent, and more than 25 million online records.

The time required to pay taxes for each business was cut by 370 hours to 167 hours per year from early this year. The country targets to reduce taxpaying hours to 121.5 hours by the end of this year.

Export tax payments were now done automatically through the exchange of information on budget and revenues between customs and commercial banks, Tri said.

(Source: VNA)