On June 19, 2024, the General Department of Taxation issued Official Letter No. 2633/TCT-QLN addressing issues encountered during the implementation of tax debt enforcement through measures such as garnishing and freezing taxpayers' accounts. Regarding this matter, after consulting with relevant departments within the Ministry of Finance, the General Department of Taxation stated the following opinion:
1. Regarding the responsibilities of commercial banks in coordinating the provision of information about taxpayers' accounts:
If the tax authority does not have a specific written request asking a commercial bank to provide information about the payment account of a taxpayer held at the bank, and the taxpayer opens a new payment account at the commercial bank, the commercial bank is responsible for electronically updating the information about the new payment account of the taxpayer to the tax authority monthly, within 10 days of the following month when the information needs updating.
In cases where the tax authority issues a written request for information using Form 01-1/CC in Appendix III issued together with Decree No. 126/2020/NĐ-CP, the commercial bank must provide the information in writing to the tax authority within 3 working days from the date of receiving the request for information using Form 01-1/CC.
2. Regarding the responsibilities of commercial banks in enforcing decisions on forced execution by garnishing or freezing the accounts of taxpayers:
During the effective period of the enforcement decision, if a commercial bank fails to fulfill its obligation to transfer the amount specified in the enforcement decision from the taxpayer's account to the state budget account as requested by the tax authority, the bank will be fined an amount corresponding to the untransferred amount into the state budget account (after deducting the minimum balance required to maintain the account). This penalty applies unless the taxpayer's accounts have no balance or the entire balance has already been transferred to the state budget account but is still insufficient to cover the taxpayer's obligations. The imposition of administrative fines follows thae procedures and authorities prescribed by law regarding administrative violation penalties.
