Thoroughly study tax policies related to scientific and technological development

Adding key chemical industry to the industries and professions with corporate income tax incentives

Clause 2, Article 12 of the draft Law currently stipulates the industries and occupations that enjoy preferential corporate income tax. Concerned about this content, National Assembly Deputy Nguyen Truong Giang (Dak Nong) pointed out that the Politburo recently issued Resolution No. 57-NQ/TW on breakthroughs in science, technology, innovation and national digital transformation. The National Assembly also issued Resolution No. 193/2025/QH15 on piloting a number of special mechanisms and policies to create breakthroughs in science, technology, innovation and national digital transformation, which also mentions tax issues.

Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Nguyen Duc Hai moderated the content. Photo: Ho Long

Therefore, delegate Nguyen Truong Giang said that it is necessary to continue to carefully study Resolution 57-NQ/TW to fully institutionalize the Party's viewpoints on science and technology development, especially tax issues. For example, at point b, clause 2, Article 12 of the draft Law stipulates the production of digital technology products. However, one of the solutions that Resolution 57-NQ/TW mentioned is tax incentives in research, testing, application, and development of production of digital technology products and services. Thus, the provision as in Article 12 of the draft Law is that there are no digital technology services in the preferential industries and occupations. The delegate suggested that the drafting agency coordinate with the agency in charge of the appraisal to continue to fully study the Party's viewpoints in Resolution 57-NQ/TW to institutionalize them in the draft Law when submitted to the National Assembly.

National Assembly Delegate Nguyen Truong Giang (Dak Nong) speaks. Photo: Ho Long

Sharing the same view, National Assembly Deputy Ta Dinh Thi (Hanoi) affirmed that corporate income tax incentives are very important and have a great impact on investment decisions as well as business development, therefore, it is necessary to review and ensure full and comprehensive institutionalization of the contents related to Resolution 57-NQ/TW of the Politburo.

However, the delegate also noted that the provisions in the draft Law do not include the key chemical industry sector and need to be reviewed to ensure consistency with other laws, such as the Investment Law and the draft Chemical Law (amended). According to delegate Ta Dinh Thi, Clause 2, Article 20 of the Investment Law stipulates the subjects of application of special investment incentives and support. Clause 4, Article 4 of the Investment Law also stipulates: "In case another law promulgated after the effective date of the Investment Law requires specific investment regulations different from the provisions of the Investment Law, it is necessary to specifically determine the content of implementation or non-implementation according to the provisions of the Investment Law, the content of implementation according to the provisions of that other law".

National Assembly Deputy Ta Dinh Thi (Hanoi) speaks. Photo: Ho Long

On the other hand, in the draft Law on Chemicals (amended) attached to the Government's Submission dated July 30, 2024, the Government proposed to stipulate key chemical industry sectors and investment projects in this sector in accordance with the chemical industry development strategy with investment capital scale and disbursement progress as prescribed by the Government to enjoy special investment incentives and support according to the provisions of the Investment Law and other relevant laws. This is also stipulated in Clause 3, Article 7 of the draft Law, ensuring consistency with the reality of chemical projects and fair support for investors.

Therefore, delegate Ta Dinh Thi proposed to add the key chemical industry sector to the preferential corporate income tax sectors and occupations specified in Clause 2, Article 12 and enjoy incentives equivalent to other basic industries, such as energy industry, mechanical engineering, and materials industry.

Avoid double taxation

Clause 2, Article 9 of the draft Law stipulates that expenses and business income will not be recorded for expenses that do not meet the spending conditions and spending contents as prescribed by specialized laws. This is a new content in this draft Law, but according to National Assembly Delegate Trang A Duong (Ha Giang), this provision is still unreasonable, unfeasible and creates great pressure on tax officials and taxpayers.

Because, enterprises have very wide and diverse fields of operation. According to the draft Law, tax officers conducting tax inspections must review all regulations of other specialized laws for each arising expense, the scope and quantity are extremely large, not in line with their expertise. Therefore, with this regulation, it will be unfeasible, prolonging the inspection time, having to get confirmation from specialized agencies, and for items without confirmation, tax officers must self-assess, leading to the risk of incorrect application or delay in exclusion, causing great damage to taxpayers. Taxpayers reduce work efficiency and increase costs for each expense process with many expenses from specialized tax agencies.

National Assembly Delegate Trang A Duong (Ha Giang) speaks. Photo: Ho Long

According to delegate Trang A Duong, tax costs should not be linked to avoid "tax on tax". Cases of intentional violations are only secondary, secondary content, and do not affect the development of the business community in general. Therefore, the delegate proposed to remove this regulation, when the tax authority inspects and audits taxes, it will transfer the suspected violation to the specialized agency and continue to record tax costs.

In his concluding remarks at the meeting, Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Nguyen Duc Hai suggested that it is necessary to continue considering issues related to taxpayers, tax-exempt income, tax period, and taxable income.

Regarding the regulations on specific deductions, tax calculation methods, corporate tax incentives, scope, for example, preferential tax fields for expansion investment and special incentives, incentives to encourage development in a number of fields, the Vice Chairman of the National Assembly stated that the delegates mentioned many fields such as chemicals, pharmaceuticals, minerals, mountainous enterprises... and all these issues need to be thoroughly analyzed and explained.

The Vice Chairman of the National Assembly also noted a very topical issue: tax policies related to science and technology development; the press sector; and global minimum tax. In particular, the content related to science and technology needs to absorb the content that can be handled, while the long-term content needs to be studied more thoroughly. “Recently, the National Assembly's resolution only stipulates extremely urgent and necessary issues to handle financial and tax issues, mechanisms for investment in science and technology development, innovation and digital transformation, and this is an issue that needs to continue to be studied carefully,” the Vice Chairman of the National Assembly emphasized.

Minh Trang

Source: https://daibieunhandan.vn/nghien-cuu-ky-luong-chinh-sach-thue-lien-quan-den-phat-trien-khoa-hoc-cong-nghe-post408427.html