Today's conference of specialized National Assembly deputies discussed the draft revised Law on Special Consumption Tax.

The draft regulation stipulates that votive paper and votive goods, excluding children's toys and teaching aids, are subject to special consumption tax at a tax rate of 70%. This content received the attention of a number of delegates at the meeting.

According to delegate Nguyen Van Canh (Binh Dinh delegation), in addition to applying special consumption tax on some products with the aim of limiting their use, there are many products that "even if restricted, people still use them".

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Delegate Nguyen Van Canh. Photo: QH

Mr. Canh gave an example of votive paper items. No matter how the special consumption tax is applied, people still use them. According to him, this tax is not worth much compared to demand. But if the propaganda is good, people will limit it.

“Nowadays, people burn a lot of votive paper money, but if we recommend that people burn a pile of money, which is very polluting, we can make a visa or mastercard, just one of those bills is equivalent to a value of several billion VND. We burn one of those bills, which is enough money for people below to use, so the mentality is very good,” said Mr. Canh.

The representative of Binh Dinh delegation said that the belief is that when we take our ancestors to the cemetery, we must burn money along the way so that they know the way home. But if we say we get lost at a crossroads, we can burn a piece of paper right at the crossroads, and they will still know the way home. That way, burning about 5-6 pieces of paper along the way is enough, instead of spreading them like now.

Thus, according to the delegate, if the propaganda is good, it will harmonize between religious goals and environmental goals. "Even if only the tax on votive paper is high, people will still burn it normally, because people's spirituality thinks that tax is not important," Mr. Canh expressed.

Sharing the same concern, delegate Pham Thi Thanh Mai (Hanoi delegation) said that, according to folk understanding, votive paper (also known as hell money) is a type of item that is considered to be burned for the underworld in Vietnamese culture, expressed in many different forms such as money, clothes, cars, houses, etc.

According to the delegate, votive paper is often used on holidays, worshiping occasions, and death anniversaries. Although the government currently discourages this, it still happens in practice. Meanwhile, children's toys and school supplies are tools to support children, students, and university students in entertainment and learning, and are not used for burning, so they cannot be equated.

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Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Nguyen Duc Hai. Photo: National Assembly

Moderating the discussion, Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Nguyen Duc Hai said that in the process of digital transformation, we will also move towards “digital transformation of votive paper”. According to him, in some countries, when entering religious and worshiping establishments, people do not burn votive paper, burn incense a lot and now have switched to electric incense.

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