A reasonable roadmap for implementing special consumption tax is the best way to support businesses.

At the workshop “Supporting economic growth - Perspective from enterprises subject to special consumption tax” organized by Nhan Dan newspaper on the afternoon of April 22, many experts and enterprises recommended that the roadmap for increasing special consumption tax (SCT) should be implemented reasonably to support enterprises to overcome difficulties and achieve high growth targets in 2025.

Tạp chí Doanh Nghiệp•23/04/2025

Business is facing many difficulties

According to Mr. Le Quoc Minh, Editor-in-Chief of Nhan Dan Newspaper, in the second quarter of 2025, Vietnam's socio-economy will continue to face many difficulties, being affected by intertwined fluctuations in the world economy, politics, epidemics, and unpredictable natural disasters.

In that context, the GDP growth target of 8% or more in 2025 is a big challenge, requiring the joint efforts and consensus of the Government, businesses and people nationwide. “This is the time to focus on solutions to increase domestic production and have policies to promote domestic consumption to become an important driving force for economic growth,” Mr. Le Quoc Minh emphasized.

According to the National Assembly's Law-making Program, the draft Law on Special Consumption Tax will be considered and approved by the National Assembly at the 9th session, opening in May 2025, with the goal of orienting production, regulating social consumption behavior, and restricting the import, production, and consumption of products harmful to health and the environment.

According to Mr. Le Quoc Minh, the proposals to add more taxable items, increase tax rates... in the Special Consumption Tax Law this time will have a big impact on the production chain of many industries, manufacturing, trading, distribution and service enterprises. In particular, changing the way tax is calculated at the present time will affect the operations of many enterprises.

Notably, the Draft Law on Special Consumption Tax is being revised in the direction of increasing the special consumption tax rate on beer (currently 65%) with 2 proposed options. Option 1 is to increase the tax from 2026, increasing it annually by 5% each year so that by 2030 the special consumption tax rate on beer is 90%; Option 2 is to increase the tax from 2026 by 15%, then from 2027 increase it annually by 5% each year so that by 2030 the special consumption tax rate on beer is 100%.

Experts say that the sudden increase in tax rates and the timing of the implementation are too sudden, leaving businesses and suppliers in the industry unable to react in time. With both tax increases, businesses in the alcohol industry will be greatly affected.

Many opinions say that a more reasonable roadmap with a lower increase and a longer application period will both support the growth target and aim to create civilized habits in the responsible use and consumption of alcohol.

"The special consumption tax will have a strong impact on many manufacturing and business sectors that are already facing many difficulties. Many businesses have reduced production output by 20-30%, forcing them to cut labor and income. Many businesses that contribute thousands of billions of VND to the budget each year have even closed down," said Mr. Nguyen Van Viet, Chairman of the Vietnam Beer - Alcohol - Beverage Association (VBA).

VBA recommends postponing the application of the increase in special consumption tax on alcohol and beer and not increasing it dramatically to reduce the impact on businesses, creating motivation for businesses to recover and develop production and business, contributing to economic growth in the coming time.

Currently, beverage businesses contribute about 60,000 billion VND to the budget each year, creating jobs for millions of workers. If they have to pay a high excise tax rate in 2026, it will negatively affect about 20 related industries.

Stimulate domestic consumption, nurture revenue sources

According to tax expert Nguyen Van Phung, in order to stimulate domestic consumption, nurture revenue sources and support the market, in order to prioritize rapid and sustainable economic growth, Vietnam needs to urgently carry out tasks and solutions to promote and renew traditional growth drivers, and promptly submit to the National Assembly the reduction of value-added tax (VAT) from 10% to 8% with a longer term, at least until the end of 2026.

At the same time, it is proposed to expand the application to all goods and services (including items subject to special consumption tax) to ensure fairness, science, and conformity with the VAT's continuous deduction mechanism, avoiding the consequences of "tax transfer and tax increase" for items subject to a tax rate of 10%. Regarding the Draft Law on Special Consumption Tax, Mr. Nguyen Van Phung said that option 1 of the Draft Law on Special Consumption Tax should be prioritized over option 2, if it is only selected within the framework of the Draft.

Enterprises also gave many comments to complete the draft Law on Special Consumption Tax. Representing the Vietnam Beer - Alcohol - Beverage Association, Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Van Viet suggested that when issuing tax policies, the Ministry of Finance and the Government need to study more carefully the economic conditions and actual conditions of the industry; be cautious and support businesses. Accordingly, for the beer and alcohol industry, it is proposed to postpone the increase in Special Consumption Tax until 2028; increase tax by 5%/year for 5 years...

“We hope that the tax policies issued must ensure the harmony of interests between enterprises, the State and the people. Our wish is to make the best contribution to socio-economic development, especially with the scenario of 8% economic growth and double-digit growth in the coming years,” Mr. Nguyen Van Viet expressed.

Source: https://doanhnghiepvn.vn/doanh-nghiep/lo-trinh-thuc-hien-thue-tieu-thu-dac-biet-hop-ly-la-cach-ho-tro-tot-nhat-cho-doanh-nghiep/20250423090128222

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