Specifically, the Ho Chi Minh City Customs Department has stopped import and export procedures for Gia Dinh Textile and Garment Company over VND 100 billion (US$4 million) in unpaid taxes, VN Express is reporting. 

This is yet another instance of Vietnam customs being used to collect tax debts. At the end of February, the Ho Chi Minh City Customs Department took similar action against the Trung Nam Group.

This could be problematic in that firms need to be able to import and export goods in order to generate income to pay back these huge tax debts. At the same time, it’s not clear that debts of this size can be paid back in the immediate future, or ever, for that matter. In this context, this may be a step toward pushing these businesses to a point that insolvency proceedings can begin.