Reduce VAT by 2% until the end of the year, increase basic salary for 9 groups of people

National Assembly agrees to reduce VAT by 2% until the end of the year

On the afternoon of June 24, the National Assembly passed a joint resolution of the 5th session of the 15th National Assembly, which resolved to continue reducing value-added tax (VAT) by 2% according to Resolution 43 of 2022. This tax reduction will be implemented from July 1 to the end of 2023.

Thus, VAT will be reduced from 10% to 8%. However, according to Resolution 43, the tax reduction will not apply to groups of goods such as telecommunications, information technology, finance, banking, securities, insurance, real estate business, metals, prefabricated metal products, mining products, refined petroleum, chemical products and items subject to special consumption tax.

National Assembly approves 2% VAT reduction until end of year (Illustration: Hoang Ha)

Request banks to provide information to prevent tax losses

The General Department of Taxation has just issued a document requesting commercial banks and other credit institutions to provide transaction information via accounts, account balances, and transaction data at the request of the Director of the Tax Department to serve the purpose of inspection, examination, determination of tax obligations and implementation of measures to enforce administrative decisions on tax management according to the provisions of the law on tax, within 10 working days from the date of receipt of the written request from the tax authority.

In case commercial banks and other credit institutions do not provide data as requested by tax authorities, they will be subject to administrative sanctions.

Vietnamese fruit and vegetable exports hit record high

Preliminary statistics released by the Vietnam Fruit and Vegetable Association after extracting data from Vietnam Customs show that in just 20 days of June 2023, Vietnam's fruit and vegetable exports reached 723.3 million USD.

Mr. Dang Phuc Nguyen - General Secretary of the Vietnam Fruit and Vegetable Association - said that if the last 10 days of June are added together, fruit and vegetable exports could reach nearly 1 billion USD this month, an estimated increase of nearly 282% compared to June 2022. According to Mr. Nguyen, within just 1 month, fruit and vegetable exports earned 1 billion USD, an unprecedented record in the history of more than 30 years of this industry participating in exports.

From the beginning of the year to June 20, exports of this group of goods helped Vietnam earn 2.75 billion USD, an increase of 63.6% over the same period in the first 6 months of 2022. (See details)

From July 1, basic salary officially increased for 9 groups of subjects

From July 1, 2023, Decree No. 24/2023 of the Government issued on May 14, 2023 regulating the basic salary for cadres, civil servants, public employees and armed forces will officially take effect.

Accordingly, from July 1, the basic salary will be 1.8 million VND/month. The Decree also stipulates 9 groups of subjects entitled to receive salaries and allowances.

Still capping domestic airfares

On the afternoon of June 19, nearly 93% of National Assembly deputies voted to pass the revised Law on Prices. Notably, regarding the State's pricing of domestic air passenger transport services, the majority of opinions agreed with the Government's proposal: The State sets a maximum price (ceiling price) to ensure the people's interests; some opinions suggested that the regulation on price frames should be removed.

Based on the actual context, carefully studying different opinions, and based on the principle of majority decision, at the present time, the National Assembly Standing Committee requests the National Assembly to allow the regulation of ceiling prices for domestic air passenger transport services.

Proposing a series of incentive mechanisms for rooftop solar power

The Ministry of Industry and Trade has just issued a document seeking opinions from ministries, ministerial-level agencies and Vietnam Electricity Group on the Draft Decision of the Prime Minister on the mechanism for developing rooftop solar power in Vietnam.

Ministry of Industry and Trade proposes support mechanism for rooftop solar power (Photo: EVN)

In particular, the Ministry of Industry and Trade proposes that organizations and individuals investing in developing rooftop solar power systems are exempted from electricity operation licenses and electricity business registration certificates; exempted or reduced from taxes, fees, and loans with preferential interest rates... (See details)

From June 23, will meet the electricity demand in the North

On June 22, Vietnam Electricity (EVN) said that in recent days, the water level of hydroelectric reservoirs has increased, and some thermal power plants that encountered problems have been repaired, thereby improving the electricity supply situation. From June 23, the Northern power system will basically meet the demand for electricity.

However, EVN also noted that because the Northern power system does not have reserve capacity, extreme situations may still occur in the coming time, leading to load adjustment and power reduction. (See details)

Vietnamese rice is highly competitive.

Statistics from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development show that in the past 5 months, rice exports have brought in more than 2 billion USD, an increase of 49% in value compared to the same period last year.

Vietnam’s rice exports continue to flourish thanks to factories continuously searching for and expanding markets and investing in improving product quality to enter segments with good selling prices. The prices of many types of Vietnamese rice remain 10-50 USD/ton higher than those of Thailand and India. Investing in processing over 80% of fragrant, high-quality rice for export to demanding markets helps Vietnamese rice become more competitive.

Extension of special consumption tax payment for domestically manufactured and assembled cars

The Government has just issued Decree No. 36 dated June 21, 2023 on extending the deadline for paying special consumption tax on domestically manufactured or assembled automobiles.

The Decree clearly states the extension of the tax payment deadline for the amount of special consumption tax payable arising from the tax calculation period of June, July, August, September 2023 for domestically manufactured or assembled automobiles.

The extension period is from the end of the deadline for paying special consumption tax according to the provisions of the law on tax administration until November 20, 2023.

Falling interest rates: A fulcrum for stocks to continue rising? The stock market has peaked since the beginning of the year amid continuous interest rate cuts. However, the lack of orders and rolling power outages have made many investors cautious about the economic outlook.

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