Director of Ho Chi Minh City National University: Taxing educational activities creates tuition burden for parents

The 2% tax on education activities will be included in tuition fees, meaning a burden on students and parents.

Delegate Vu Hai Quan - Director of Ho Chi Minh City National University - Photo: QUANG PHUC

National Assembly Delegate Vu Hai Quan - Director of Ho Chi Minh City National University - raised this issue at the group discussion session on the draft Law on Corporate Income Tax (amended) on November 22.

Taxes are included in tuition fees.

Speaking at the discussion, Mr. Quan raised a question about tax policy for higher education: "Should we consider higher education as a type of service activity to be taxed?"

According to Mr. Quan, in a survey of some countries, such as the US, non-profit universities are often not subject to taxes.

Meanwhile, in Vietnam, educational, medical and performing arts activities are considered services and are subject to a 2% tax under current regulations.

"This raises the question of whether tuition fees are a type of service or not? If tuition fees are considered a service activity, public universities currently have to pay a 2% tax.

However, tuition is the amount of money that students and parents contribute to cover the school's operating costs, not the profit," Mr. Quan raised the issue.

The Ho Chi Minh City delegation said that currently, public universities basically operate on a non-profit basis. When calculating tuition fees, schools only charge enough to cover operating costs, fund contributions, and the final balance is usually zero.

If a 2% tax rate is applied, this tax will also be included in tuition fees, meaning a burden for students and parents.

"In the context of universities implementing autonomy, the state budget no longer provides funds for regular expenses. Therefore, collecting tuition tax will increase financial pressure on students, especially those from poor families. I propose considering applying this tax rate," Mr. Quan suggested.

Worry about the impact on the quality of student meals

In addition to tuition fees, Mr. Quan raised the issue that universities also have a number of other service activities, such as cafeterias. If cafeterias are considered a type of service with revenue, tax regulations will be applied or 50% of service revenue will be required to be paid to the governing body.

Thus, tax or money paid to the governing body will also be included in the food rations and will directly affect the quality of service for students.

Mr. Quan cited that when bidding or auctioning to operate a canteen, the contractor needs to pay a sum of money to win the bid. This sum is often directly charged to the students' meals, leading to a decrease in the quality of the meals.

"This has been reported recently in the press, showing that student meals are of low quality, causing great concern in the community. Amendments to the Law on Corporate Income Tax need to carefully consider the issue of tax collection for educational activities, especially public higher education," Mr. Quan suggested.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/giam-doc-dh-quoc-gia-tp-hcm-danh-thue-hoat-dong-giao-duc-tao-ganh-nang-hoc-phi-cho-phu-huynh-20241122151038464.htm