Paksan International Customs in Bolikhamxay Province has failed to meet its revenue target between January and August amid a drop in the volume of imports.
The Paksan checkpoint, which connects Thailand, Vietnam and Laos by road, serves as an economic and services gateway, facilitating trade, investment and tourism and contributing to the country’s revenue collection.
The customs checkpoint was only able to collect revenue amounting to LAK 132 trillion (USD 14.9 billion) in the first eight months of this year, meeting only 43.81 percent of its planned LAK 302 trillion. The customs met 57.68 percent of its target last year during the same period.
This is mainly because of the decrease in imports of fuel, vehicles, spare parts, gas, electric appliances, and other goods this year, according to Mr. Xayxana Vongsomphou, Deputy Chief of Paksan International Customs.
In particular, Mr. Xayxana cited the drop in imports of fuel for Nam Ngiep 1 Hydropower Construction project and Phubia Mining projects as the main reason for the decrease in revenue this year.
The customs checkpoint collected LAK 106 trillion in tax in the first eight months of last year through the imports of 51 million liters of fuel, while it only collected LAK 90 trillion of tax during the same period of this year through 43 million liters of imported fuels.
In addition, Lao Thani Company imported 650 vehicles, paying about LAK 97 trillion in tax in the first eight months last year, but the company only imported 55 vehicles during the same period of this year, amounting to taxes of only LAK 11.7 trillion.
Meanwhile, Mr. Vongvilay Lordpany, the Deputy Chief of the Customs, said there are other obstacles that the customs point needs to overcome in order to collect higher revenue.
“The location [of the checkpoint] bears risks of accidents as it is narrow… the transportation of goods through the checkpoint still takes a long time. The warehouse area is still under renovation. The services have not yet reached international standards, such as CIQ [Customs, Immigration and Quarantine],” said Mr Vongvilay.
Going forward, the customs has set up a goal to collect LAK 170 trillion of revenue in the remaining four months this year.
To that end, it plans to work with the Provincial Tax Surveillance Division to protect and monitor imported products for export as well as various investment projects.
The Paksan customs checkpoint will also monitor the behavior of employees to ensure ethnical behavior while cracking down on smuggling activities both in and out of the checkpoint.
