Legal document newsletter week 10/09/2024

OFFICIAL WARNING REGARDING TAX AUTHORITY FORGERY

On July 26, 2024, the Large Enterprise Tax Department – General Department of Taxation issued the Official Letter No. 910/CT-THNV addressing a critical concern related to the falsification of tax authority information. Accordingly, in the context of the Tax sector promoting modernization and application of information technology to enhance electronic transactions, providing information to taxpayers and bringing about efficiency recognized by the Government, society, people and businesses. However, taking advantage of the Tax sector’s deployment of electronic tax services for taxpayers, scammers have used a number of technological and technical tricks to impersonate tax officers and tax authorities, fraudulently stealing and appropriating information and assets of taxpayers. Specifically, according to the Large Enterprise Tax Department, recently, there has been a continued increase in the trick of impersonating emails and websites of the General Department of Taxation or the Large Enterprise Tax Department to send Personal Income Tax Finalization Status Notifications to approach and defraud taxpayers. To ensure the rights and interests of taxpayers, in the face of the above situation, the Large Enterprise Tax Department strongly advises the following precautions:
1. Guard Personal Information
– Refrain from disclosing personal details or bank account information over the phone or through social networks.
– Exercise vigilance when assessing communication requests, particularly those related to fund transfers or sensitive data sharing.
2. Caution Regarding Application Installation
– Avoid downloading or installing applications for smart devices from unofficial links (URLs) or other unverified sources.
– Be alert to warning signs when installing applications—for instance, if an app requests excessive permissions (such as screen access, data input, or control), thorough scrutiny is essential before granting such permissions.
3. Valid Communication Channels
– The official email address for delivering results to taxpayers via the electronic tax system of the General Department of Taxation is thuedientu@gdt.gov.vn (note that the email format must adhere to @gdt.gov.vn).
– The Electronic Information page of the General Department of Taxation and affiliated tax agencies strictly employs the secure protocol https:// (avoid any links using the incorrect format http://) and the Vietnamese national domain name “.vn.”
4. Authoritative Applications
The General Department of Taxation provides essential applications at the following verified addresses:
• Tax Declaration Support Application: Available on the tax industry’s information page at https://www.gdt.gov.vn
• Electronic Tax Service Portal: Accessible via https://thuedientu.gdt.gov.vn
• XML Tax File Reading Application (iTaxviewer): Provided at https://thuedientu.gdt.gov.vn
• eSigner Installation Package: Obtainable from the Electronic Tax Service Portal at https://thuedientu.gdt.gov.vn
• Electronic Invoice Plugin Installation Package: Accessible at the Electronic Invoice Information Portal https://hoadondientu.gdt.gov.vn
• eTax Mobile Application, Invoice Lookup Application: Accessible through Google Play or Apple Store.
5. Beware of Social Network Requests
The Tax sector does not engage in phone calls or social network interactions (e.g., Zalo, Facebook) to solicit support for installing Tax sector applications on computers, mobile devices, or other networked equipment. Any such requests should be treated with suspicion.
For businesses, the Department of Enterprise Taxation emphasises compliance with accurate information when declaring employee numbers and labour costs. Falsely manipulating these figures constitutes a violation of civil, administrative, and criminal laws. Offending businesses will be closely monitored and subject to appropriate legal action by the tax authorities.
The Tax Department also recommends that businesses continue to inform employees about registering and using electronic transaction accounts with tax authorities to facilitate personal income tax settlement and encourage employees to install the EtaxMobile application. At the same time, businesses should disseminate and warn their individuals and employees about the above-mentioned fraudulent acts.