Banks to offer online tax payment service   Customers at a branch of the AB Bank, one of 15 commercial banks that will introduce online tax payment services. - VNS Photo Truong Vi HA NOI (VNS) - Fifteen commercial banks have signed a cooperative agreement with the General Department of Taxation under the Ministry of Finance to offer online tax payment services. These include the An Binh Commercial Joint Stock Bank (AB Bank), the Maritime Commercial Joint Stock Bank of Viet Nam (Maritime Bank) and the Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB). According to the agreement, these banks will build and implement a system for exchanging information and managing the database on online tax payments. The service will also use digital signatures to verify the validity of data. Speaking at the signing ceremony on March 10, the department's Director General Bui Van Nam said the service would be convenient because tax payers would be able to make online payments at anytime and anywhere. He added that they could also track and update the status of their tax payments, as well as use value added services offered by the banks. Nam pointed out that this year, 90 per cent of the enterprises would pay taxes online and would continue to sign cooperative agreements with all banks until the end of 2016. Le Thi Bang Tam, chairwoman of the HD Bank, said the signing marked a big step in cooperation between tax authorities and commercial banks in the state budget collection. It would also help tax authorities update information on tax payers in a timely fashion, and reduce mistakes that had led to the process of tax administration reform, she added. Earlier in 2014, the department had signed a cooperative agreement with five local commercial banks to carry out the service, including Vietcombank, VietinBank and Agribank. The service was implemented from February 2014, and is now available in 18 cities and provinces. About 24,000 companies have registered to use it. The total amount collected via the online tax payment portal was more than VND14 trillion (over US$666.6 million) at the end of February 2015. - VNS