According to the tax inspection plan that the department submitted to the finance ministry recently, supermarket giant Big C, Nguyen Kim Trading Joint Stock Company which distributes electrical appliances, Binh Son Refining and Petrochemical Company Ltd, and An Phong Investment Corporation, were included on the list for inspection this year, Vietnam News Agency reported.

The tax authority said it would focus on the large trading companies and firms that had a high potential for tax evasion.

In the first quarter of this year, the focus would be on inspecting about 10 companies in Ha Noi, HCM City and the southeast region that were considered high risk for central budget collection.

As of March 25, the tax authorities had carried out inspections and checks at more than 6,500 firms nationwide, or 7.2 per cent of the plan for the full year, collecting an additional VND1.6 trillion (US$714.3 million) in taxes.

Earlier, the General Department of Taxation said that it planned to inspect and check at least 18 per cent of the total number of firms and collect an additional VND13 trillion.

The tax authorities will pay special attention to new sectors such as e-commerce, online businesses and multi-level marketing.