Leaders of the Hanoi Municipal Department of Finance stated that the 20% increase in budget revenue, equivalent to approximately 80 trillion VND (over 3.1 billion USD), holds significant implications for the development of both the capital and the nation.
Domestic revenue sees significant increase
According to the Hanoi Statistics Office, the total state budget revenue of the capital city for the first 11 months of 2024 was estimated at 447.2 trillion VND (nearly 17.6 billion USD), exceeding the annual forecast by 9.5% and rising 18.3% year on year. Domestic revenue reached 416.6 trillion VND (nearly 16.7 billion USD), surpassing the forecast by 10.1% and increasing by 18.5% compared to the same period last year. It is anticipated that the total state budget revenue for the entirety of 2024 in the capital will surpass 500 trillion VND (over 19.6 billion USD).
All 30 districts, towns, and cities within the municipality have exceeded revenue targets and achieved 100% collection of taxes and fees. Notably, domestic revenue accounted for nearly 94% of the city's budget revenue structure. This included revenues from state-owned enterprises, foreign-invested enterprises, non-state enterprises, personal income tax, and land-use fees, all of which have seen double-digit growth compared to 2023.
With nearly 400,000 businesses, accounting for one-third of the country's total enterprises, the business community in Hanoi has actively collaborated and partnered with tax authorities to effectively implement policies and guidelines. They consistently demonstrate a high level of compliance with tax laws and strive to overcome challenges to recover and grow production and business activities.
Nguyen Thi Tuyet, Chief Accountant of Atlantic International Joint Stock Company, shared that in 2023, the company achieved a revenue of 250 billion VND (over 9.8 million USD) and contributed 17 billion VND (over 667,846 USD) to Hanoi's budget revenue. In 2024, the company expects revenue growth of 10%, which will result in an increased contribution to the budget. Tran Van Nam, General Director of Vision Technology Joint Stock Company, noted that the company achieved a 30% growth rate this year and has expressed the desire to contribute as much as possible to the national budget through taxes.
A significant revenue stream with impressive growth in 2024 comes from land-related income. Over the past 11 months, the city collected 35.2 trillion VND (nearly 1.4 billion USD) in land-use fees, achieving 97.4% of the target and tripling the figure compared to the same period last year. Of this, revenue from the auction of land-use rights reached nearly 18.6 trillion VND (730.7 million USD). The Hanoi Municipal Department of Natural Resources and Environment stated that the city's target for budget revenue from land-use rights auctions in 2024 is over 25.1 trillion VND (nearly 986.1 million USD). By the end of 2024, it is estimated that the city will have achieved this target, nearly doubling the figures from previous years. Moreover, the effective organisation of land auctions has contributed significantly to state budget revenue while ensuring efficient land access and utilisation.
Cao Van Thang, Head of the Dong Anh District Tax Department (in Hanoi), stated that this year, the Dong Anh District Tax Department has achieved the highest revenue among all tax departments under the Hanoi Tax Department, with over 21.6 trillion VND (nearly 848.6 million USD). This remarkable result stems from the city's and district's economic development policies aimed at enabling Dong Anh to soon meet the criteria for becoming an urban district. Numerous major projects implemented in the area have generated nearly 18 trillion VND (707.1 million USD) in revenue in 2024, accounting for 83% of the district's total budget revenue.
Taxes from e-commerce activities, which were largely overlooked in previous years, have become a focus of enhanced management in Hanoi in 2024. The city's tax department has implemented various measures to strengthen the oversight of this revenue source. It has actively disseminated information to individuals, business households, and enterprises engaged in e-commerce, encouraging them to proactively register, declare, and pay taxes in compliance with regulations.
Based on a large data infrastructure, the city’s tax department has digitised and integrated information to build and develop an E-commerce Database System, enabling precise identification of taxpayers engaged in online business activities. With over 117 million transaction records, the tax department has identified and mapped more than 325,000 online stores corresponding to 222,000 tax codes associated with business owners and operators on e-commerce platforms, along with detailed information. As a result, in the first 10 months of 2024, the total state budget revenue from e-commerce activities in Hanoi reached nearly 35 trillion VND (nearly 1.4 billion USD), an increase of 9 trillion VND (353.6 million USD), equivalent to 136% of the figure from the same period last year.
Sustainable revenue growth
With the responsibility of managing over 236,000 businesses, 235,000 business households, and more than 10 million individual tax codes, the task of collecting state budget revenue in Hanoi requires significant effort from management agencies and local authorities.
The Hanoi Tax Department has implemented numerous administrative reform measures to support taxpayers, including policies on tax deferral, exemption, and reduction, facilitating favourable conditions for production and business activities. Additionally, it has intensified tax inspections, audits, and management, addressed tax arrears, and focused on urging and enforcing tax collection in cases of deliberate tax evasion or non-compliance.
Recently, the Hanoi Tax Department launched a virtual assistant to support taxpayers. By consolidating and categorising the entire database of legal regulations, policies, and tax administrative procedures (covering 100 specialised laws), editing over 10,000 bilingual questions, and fine-tuning it with artificial intelligence technology, the virtual assistant can automatically answer taxpayers’ questions quickly and accurately with detailed and easy-to-understand content. It also integrates current administrative procedure forms and straightforward instructional videos. Taxpayers can easily use and interact with the virtual assistant anytime, anywhere, via technological devices.
Do Huong Giang, Chairwoman of the Board of Directors and General Director of ICT Clean Technology and International Trade Company, shared: “The efforts in digitalisation, innovation, and even AI application by the Hanoi Tax Department have supported businesses in carrying out tax procedures more quickly and transparently.”
Alongside administrative reforms in tax collection, Hanoi has also implemented policies for tax exemptions, reductions, deferrals, and support for businesses. According to Vu Manh Cuong, Director of the Hanoi Tax Department, the department granted exemptions, reductions, and deferrals to nearly 150,000 taxpayers in 2024, amounting to 52.56 trillion VND (nearly 2.1 billion USD across seven types of taxes and 36 types of fees.
The city has also intensified tax inspections and audits, publicly disclosing businesses with tax arrears. The Hanoi Tax Department actively reviews tax obligations to identify entities with signs of violations, collaborates in providing related information and documentation, and refers cases to law enforcement for strict handling of tax law violations.
Notably, the Hanoi Tax Department collaborated with the Hanoi Police to investigate and handle violations by NAC High-Tech Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (Bac Tu Liem District), which used two accounting systems to conceal hundreds of billions of Vietnamese dong in sales revenue in an attempt to evade tax obligations.
Experts noted that while Hanoi’s 2024 budget revenue exceeded the assigned target, the city must continue to exploit revenue sources in certain districts and counties, particularly from land auctions. Additionally, the city should strengthen efforts to cultivate and exploit revenue sources, implement measures to control new revenue streams arising from intermediary transactions and e-commerce, and accelerate the adoption of electronic invoicing.
Recently, the Hanoi Municipal People's Council resolved that the total state budget revenue in the city for 2025 will be VND 505.437 trillion (over 19.8 billion USD), a 2.7% increase compared to the estimated implementation in 2024, with domestic revenue projected at 473.9 trillion VND (over 18.6 billion USD).
To achieve this goal, Ha Minh Hai, Vice Chairman of the Hanoi Municipal People's Committee, said that the city will continue to direct tax authorities and local levels to focus on administrative reform, enhance the efficiency of state management, support businesses in accessing financial resources, adopt new technologies, and encourage innovation and startups. These efforts aim to sustain a stable budget revenue, thus providing resources for the development of the capital and the nation.
