On the morning of August 14, Dau Tu Newspaper organized a workshop on "Tax amendment to promote business activities" with the participation of experts, researchers, and businesses.
Attending the workshop were Mr. Phan Duc Hieu, Standing Member of the National Assembly Economic Committee, Prof. Dr. Hoang Van Cuong, Member of the National Assembly Finance and Budget Committee, Mr. Le Tuan Anh, Director of the Department of Industrial and Service Economics, Ministry of Planning and Investment, Mr. Nguyen Van Viet, Chairman of the Vietnam Beer, Alcohol and Beverage Association, along with many experts and business representatives.
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| Mr. Le Trong Minh, Editor-in-Chief of Investment Newspaper, spoke at the Workshop (Photo: Chi Cuong) |
Speaking at the opening of the workshop, Mr. Le Trong Minh, Editor-in-Chief of Investment Newspaper, said that any changes in taxes are always of special interest to the business community and the whole society. Tax increases or decreases not only directly impact the State budget because taxes are the main source of revenue, but also create effects that promote or inhibit certain business sectors due to the role of taxes in managing and regulating the macro economy.
“With that meaning, Dau Tu Newspaper organizes a series of seminars and talks with the theme “Tax amendment to promote business activities” with the aim of creating forums for policy makers to listen, exchange and discuss with experts, researchers and especially an important subject of the economy, which is businesses, so that when tax policies are planned, there will be more channels of feedback from reality, thereby achieving harmony of interests including mobilizing more sources of state budget revenue, regulating production, consumption and income according to the actual situation but still ensuring a stable investment and business environment, promoting production and business activities, creating new tax revenue areas in line with international practices”, the Editor-in-Chief of Dau Tu Newspaper shared.
At the Workshop, the discussion will focus on a special tax related to the beer - alcohol - beverage industry, estimated to contribute about 60 trillion VND, equivalent to about 3.4% of the State budget revenue in 2023. This is also the content that the Ministry of Finance is seeking comments on in the draft Law on Special Consumption Tax, which is expected to be commented on by the 15th National Assembly at the 8th session (October 2024) and approved at the 9th session (May 2025) to regulate the amount of use and limit alcohol/beer abuse.
The draft Law on Special Consumption Tax (amended) proposed by the Ministry of Finance has received support and high appreciation from many businesses and experts. The objective of the special consumption tax policy on alcoholic beverages in Vietnam is considered to be quite similar to the basic objectives in countries around the world, in which the most basic objective is still to protect the health of consumers, regulate the amount of use and limit the abuse of alcohol/beer. In addition, the objective of ensuring sustainable State budget revenue is also emphasized.
However, the tax increase roadmap proposed in the draft is also raising concerns, in the context that the business community in general and beer, alcohol and beverage businesses in particular are still facing many difficulties.
The beverage industry alone has witnessed a continuous decline in average industry-wide profits since 2021, with the industry's budget revenue decreasing by an average of 10% per year in the 2020-2023 period. Inventory in the first 6 months of 2024 alone increased by 29% over the same period last year... Therefore, a sharp and rapid increase in special consumption tax on alcoholic beverages could create a "difficult on top of difficult" situation for businesses and workers in the industry as well as related industries.
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| Overview of the Workshop (Photo: Chi Cuong) |
The Editor-in-Chief of Investment Newspaper said that in order to help answer the above concerns and provide reference information as a basis for perfecting policies in the most harmonious and reasonable way, representatives of the parties participating in today's workshop will clarify some main contents.
Firstly, what is a reasonable tax increase roadmap to ensure the goals of regulating consumption, reducing the negative impacts of alcoholic beverages on human health; ensuring stable and sustainable revenue for the state budget; and ensuring fairness of tax policy for society and businesses, protecting the domestic beverage industry.
Second, how will consumer psychology and behavior change and what solutions are needed to respond to the shift in consumer behavior to unofficial products that do not guarantee quality when prices increase due to high taxes?
“As a field that not only involves businesses and workers directly in the industry but also millions of workers in related industries, the impacts from adjusting the special consumption tax will certainly not be small. Therefore, the Organizing Committee hopes that the analysis and interpretation from representatives of the parties participating in the workshop will provide more scientific arguments and profound practical experience, making reasonable and practical proposals so that policy makers will create a reasonable tax, achieve the set goals, harmonize the interests of the state, businesses and society, and stabilize the investment and business environment.”, Mr. Le Trong Minh emphasized.
Source: https://baodautu.vn/sua-thue-de-hai-hoa-loi-ich-giua-nha-nuoc-va-doanh-nghiep-d222368.html
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