State budget facing shortfall as tax collection lags behind target State budget collection in the first nine months of the year met only 66.6 per cent of the annual target.   The figure was released at a meeting on Thursday to review the Ministry of Finance's results in the January-September period. The ministry said total collection last month was VND52.8 trillion (US$2.5 billion), increasing 5.4 per cent from the previous month. In the first nine months of the year, the collection rose 8.7 per cent over the same period last year. However, taxes in most sectors were lower than the target. Value-added tax reached 65.5 per cent, corporate tax 58 per cent, personal income tax 67 per cent and environment tax 60 per cent. There were 23 localities that met their targets, while 40 did not complete the task including Ha Noi, HCM City, Hai Phong, Quang Ninh, Da Nang, Khanh Hoa, Binh Duong and Ba Ria-Vung Tau. Total tax collection from crude oil in the period was estimated to meet 84 per cent of the target while export taxes met 67 per cent of the target. Tax collection from exports was still low despite increasing export turnover in the nine-month period, which rose 15 per cent from last year, due to low export turnover of high value items. Deputy minister Vu Thi Mai said the ministry had asked tax departments to strengthen management on State budget collection at their localities as well as VAT refunds on exported goods through boundaries. It also asked the General Department of Customs to work harder to prevent smuggling, trade fraud and fake goods and review and classify tax debts. In the first eight months of the year, the General Department of Taxation carried out inspections of more than 36,600 businesses, collecting VND6.5 trillion ($309 million). In an attempt to prevent losses, the ministry proposed limiting the number of businesses that could create their own invoices. Under the proposal, enterprises could print bills themselves if their charter capital was more than VND15 billion ($714,000). But Cao Anh Tuan, deputy head of the General Department of Taxation, said this practice increased tax evasion. Tuan said companies with charter capital less than VND15 billion would use invoices printed by local tax agencies. Source: VNS