Businesses face difficulties, VCCI proposes to reduce VAT on goods and services to 8%

DNVN - Enterprises have reported facing many difficulties when applying the policy of reducing value added tax (VAT) from 10% to 8%. Difficulties in determining the tax rate of 8% or 10% cause many social costs and increase risks in production and business activities.

The Ministry of Finance is seeking comments on the proposal to develop a National Assembly Resolution on reducing value added tax (Draft). After consulting with businesses and experts, the Vietnam Confederation of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) has the following initial comments:

According to VCCI, the policy of reducing value-added tax (VAT) from 10% to 8% implemented in recent times has brought many positive impacts to the Vietnamese economy. In the context of many economic difficulties, continuing the policy of reducing VAT in the first 6 months of 2025 is extremely necessary.

However, according to VCCI, businesses encounter many difficulties when applying this policy, mainly stemming from the classification of which goods are subject to 10% tax and which goods have their tax reduced to 8%.

Although the Government has issued Decree 15/2022/ND-CP, Decree 44/2023/ND-CP, Decree 72/2024/ND-CP providing guidance, the implementation process is still confusing. These decrees are based on Vietnam's economic sector codes, while this document has been mainly used for statistical purposes and is rarely considered the basis for determining the rights and obligations of enterprises.

According to VCCI, businesses encounter many difficulties in classifying which goods are subject to 10% tax and which goods have their tax reduced to 8%.

"It is very difficult to specify groups of goods and services, especially in cases where there is no specialized law. For example, the group of telecommunications and information technology goods is very difficult to identify because there is no clear definition in other legal documents. Many other types of goods and services also have problems with classification, such as the production of prefabricated metal products and the production of chemicals, which are also very general and difficult to classify," VCCI stated.

Many businesses look up the appendixes of the above guiding decrees but do not dare to confirm that their goods and services are subject to the tax rate of 10% or 8%. Some businesses ask the tax authorities, customs authorities, and the Ministry of Finance, but these agencies also give very general answers.

VCCI believes that the difficulty in determining the tax rate of 8% or 10% causes many social costs and increases the risks of production and business activities. Many businesses reported that they had to hire additional accountants to adjust invoices and books to match the new tax rate. Many businesses reported that they negotiated the purchase and sale of goods, agreed with customers on quantity, quality, and price but could not agree on the tax rate of 8% or 10%, so they could not sign the contract. There have been cases where businesses implementing construction contracts had disputes with partners when settling accounts simply because the two parties had different views on the tax rate.

For the above reasons, VCCI recommends that the drafting agency consider the option of reducing value-added tax for all types of goods and services from 10% to 8%.

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