HANOI – Tuesday, August 11, 2015 16:29

Taxpayers wait at a tax office in Vietnam. Photo credit: VietNamNet

thanhniennews – Nearly a third of companies in Vietnam say they have to pay “unofficial fees” to tax officials, even as recent tax procedure reforms have improved the country’s business environment, a new report found.

The Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), which represents thousands of businesses in the country, on Tuesday released the report based on its survey of more than 2,500 companies last year.

The General Tax Department said it has saved businesses more than 420 hours at tax offices by abolishing hundreds of procedures. And yet half of the businesses questioned said they still faced trouble in certain procedures, especially tax registration and tax declaration.

“Tax officials usually demanded different unnecessary papers and dragged cases out for a long time,” VCCI said in the report.

It said that 32 percent of companies in Vietnam had to pay “unofficial fees” and 40 percent believed that a business would be treated badly without that under-the-table money.

The survey was the first conducted by VCCI on tax procedures. It has given an idea of how prevalent corruption in the country can be.