City firms with tax arrears subject to investigation

As of April this year, 763 firms in HCMC were over six months late in paying their social and healthcare insurance, totaling more than VND981 billion (US$42 million), according to the insurance agency.

Among these firms, Saigon Posts and Telecommunications Service Joint-Stock Corporation (SPT) in District 1 is the largest debtor, at roughly VND30 billion.

Following closely were Nam Phuong Co. in the outlying district of Cu Chi, at nearly VND29 billion in arrears, and Vietnam Petro Shipping JSC, known as Falcon Shipping, in District 3, at over VND15 billion.

Five other major companies had social insurance arrears totaling over VND10 billion each.

The agency claimed that District 1 has the most firms with social insurance arrears, and 104 of them owed the highest amount of over VND130 billion. The districts of Tan Binh and Binh Tan are ranked second and third, with respective late payment sums of VND63 billion and VND62 billion.

In an attempt to handle the long-delayed payments, which will adversely affect the lives of the relevant employees, Pham Van Men, director of the HCMC Social Insurance, told the local media that the agency had submitted the case files to the municipal police for investigation.

The 10 firms under investigation include Hoang Quan Consulting, Trading and Service Real Estate Corporation (Phu Nhuan District), Thuong Thang Production Shoes JSC (Binh Chanh), Industry Construction Corporation (District 1), Hung Dung Steel Co., Ltd (Hoc Mon) and Dinh Phong Manufacturing and Trading Co., Ltd (Binh Tan District).

The rest are Ha Nam Investment and Production Co., Ltd; Luc Giac Construction Trading Investment Co., Ltd (both in Binh Thanh); Thai Son Investment Construction and Housing Business JSC (District 10); BYS JSC (Tan Binh); and Mien Dong Investment and Construction Corporation (Thu Duc).

The agency inspected these firms in 2018 and even imposed fines for administrative violations. However, the firms have yet to make amends. “This forced us to ask the police to launch an investigation and handle them in line with the law,” Men said.