HCMC may forgive $61 mln in unrecovered duties

                             People file tax forms in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo by VnExpress

Many of those responsible for the debt have disappeared, according to the municipal customs agency.

Ho Chi Minh City's General Customs Department has asked national authorities in Hanoi for permission to clear VND1,355 billion ($60.7 million) in tax debts owed by defunct import and export businesses.

A new report from the agency listed nearly VND1.6 trillion in unrecovered taxes.

The report described 85 percent of the money owed as “difficult to recover” since the responsible parties have either filed for dissolution, bankruptcy or disappeared from their registered area.

Some of those responsible for the outstanding taxes are under criminal investigation.

Half of the total tax debts were accumulated between 2007 and 2013. The businesses no longer operate in their registered areas and their representatives are nowhere to be found, the report said.

A total of 36,626 companies in Vietnam closed in the first six months of 2016.

The figure breaks down to 203 shutdowns per day, up 17 percent from the same period last year, according to data from the Ministry of Planning and Investment.