Tax levels 2018

Beverage leaders plead for excise tax postponement, illustration photo/ Dung Minh The Vietnam Beer-Alcohol-Beverage Association met in the central city of Danang last week to discuss the Ministry of Finance’s (MoF) proposed tax increase on alcohol and sugary drinks. The association asked for a postponement of the excise tax for at least the next two years, as well as the removal of sugary drinks, barley drinks, and non-alcoholic beverages from consumption tax obligations. “We acknowledge that there may be a need for additional taxes and fees in the future, but their effects should be carefully evaluated to make sure they help business recovery and do not hinder economic progress. For instance, the government should research how the proposed tax hike could affect both consumers and businesses,” said Nguyen Quoc Viet, deputy director of the Institute for Economic and Policy Research. Viet explained that the beverage industry has grown in production, but its performance had … [Read more...] about Beverage leaders plead for excise tax postponement

At a Thursday meeting on the impacts of sweetened drinks on health, Tran Thi Trang, deputy head of the legislation department under the Ministry of Health, said the ministry is proposing to apply excise tax based on the amount of sugar contained within 100 ml of the drinks. The proposal was made as the Ministry of Finance was building a draft law on excise tax for sweetened drinks. Trang said there should be sugar thresholds to determine the amount of taxes to be applied, with a higher level of sugar resulting in more taxes. Drinks with a sugar level below a certain threshold would not need to be imposed such a tax, she suggested. However, the health ministry has yet to provide exact sugar level thresholds for this policy. The ministry said certain food products with low levels of sugar, such as milk and dairy products, would not be applied excise tax. In accordance with WHO definitions, sweetened drinks are those that contain added sugar, such as sweetened soda water, … [Read more...] about Health ministry proposes excise tax on sweetened drinks

Illustrative image (Photo source: vneconomy.vn) Hanoi - Vietnam is studying and adjusting its investment policies to adapt to the global minimum corporate income tax which is scheduled to be applied from 2024, said Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Thi Bich Ngoc. The global minimum corporate income tax is part of the Action Plan on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS), which involves the participation of 141 member countries. Accordingly, large companies with annual global consolidated revenue of at least 750 million EUR (806 million USD) over at least 2 years of the preceding 4-year period will be subject to a minimum tax rate of 15 per cent. If they are currently paying a tax rate lower than 15 per cent in the country where they are investing, they will have to pay the remaining "shortfall" at a tax rate of 15 per cent to the country where they have their headquarters. According to economists, investment exporting countries’ application of the global … [Read more...] about Vietnam adjusting policies to adapt to global minimum corporate income tax: Official

Soybean meal is the main raw material in the formulation of pork bran. (Photo: sggp.org.vn) Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - The Government has received a proposal from the Vietnam Feed Association to eliminate the import tax on soybean meal, currently set at 2%. In response to the proposal, Deputy Prime Minister Le Minh Khai, under the direction of Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, instructed the Ministry of Finance to work with relevant ministries and branches to study and consider the association's recommendations and submit them for consideration and decision following the law. The Ministry of Finance shall assume the prime responsibility with relevant ministries and branches to study, consider and handle the association's recommendations on amending relevant documents on import tax and submit them to competent authorities for consideration and decision according to law. Before that, the Vietnam Feed Association sent a written proposal to reduce the import tax on soybean meal near … [Read more...] about Animal feed industry asks for import tax reduction on raw materials

The ministry made this proposal in a draft law on special consumption tax that is being reviewed by other government agencies. Taxing online games was last discussed by the National Assembly in 2014 but not approved since many feared it could lower the competitiveness of domestic companies against foreign players. But the situation seems to have changed. In 2020 Vietnam had five of the 10 biggest video game publishers in Australia, New Zealand and Southeast Asia, according to ranking platform Data.ai. Out of every 25 games downloaded globally, one was made by a Vietnamese company, which put Vietnamese producers in seventh place in game downloads. In 2021 revenues from online games in Vietnam were worth $665 million, according to the Authority of Broadcasting and Electronic Information. It said many Vietnamese companies are based in Singapore, which makes it difficult to collect taxes. … [Read more...] about Finance Ministry wants online game companies taxed

Enterprises in the beverage industry need stable policies in terms of taxes and fees to return to pre-pandemic growth. — Photo plo.vn Enterprises urge careful consideration to be given to the Ministry of Finance’s proposal to impose a special consumption tax on sugary drinks to ensure harmonisation of benefits between the State, consumers and producers. Nguyen Quoc Viet, deputy director of the Viet Nam Institute for Economic and Policy Research, said production and business remain difficult. To ensure macro-economic stability, it is necessary to maintain policies which energise enterprises and promote domestic consumption. Policy changes, if any, should be studied carefully to ensure benefits harmonisation. Viet said that it was not a good time to change taxes as it might further burden enterprises and consumers, especially when efforts are being made to recover growth. He added that the adjustments might cause instability in the institutional and legal environment and have … [Read more...] about Careful consideration of special consumption tax on sugary drinks urged

Panasonic Life Solutions Viet Nam in Viet Nam - Singapore Industrial Park, Binh Duong Province. Viet Nam would adjust investment policies to adapt to the global minimum tax rate and remain an attractive destination for investment. — VNA/VNS Photo Vu Sinh Viet Nam will adjust investment policies to adapt to the global minimum tax rate and remain an attractive destination for investment. The move comes amid concerns that this measure might undermine the competitive advantage of developing countries in attracting foreign investment through offering tax incentives. The global minimum tax was Pillar Two of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation Development (OECD)’s base erosion and profit-shifting (BEPS) framework. To date, the solution drew the participation of over 140 countries and jurisdictions, including Viet Nam, which aimed to reform international taxation rules and ensure that multinational enterprises pay a fair share of tax wherever they operate through the … [Read more...] about VN to develop policies to adapt to global minimum tax

In December, the EU officially approved a directive for companies to pay a minimum tax rate of 15 per cent from 2024. Our neighbouring markets such as Malaysia, Singapore, and Hong Kong are heading towards the official application of GMT policy from 2024 or 2025. Thomas McClelland - Country tax leader Deloitte Vietnam Countries with foreign investment in Vietnam, like South Korea and Japan, will implement new tax policies or announce a draft tax reform, moving towards the application of the GMT from the fiscal year 2024. The impact of the policy on Vietnam is clear and urgent, and requires the authorities to take timely action before it is too late. Firstly, to protect tax collection, Vietnam could consider the immediate solution of implementing a qualified domestic minimum top-up tax to gain the right to collect the top-up tax rather than the tax going to another country. This mechanism can simply be understood as a domestic mechanism in which the calculation of … [Read more...] about Vietnam must revisit policies to develop implementation of global minimum tax

The 15% tax on profits, which was approved by 136 countries in 2021, is considered the deepest overhaul of cross-border tax rules in decades. The purpose of the overhaul is to ensure that tech giants such as Apple and Google will not have an unfair advantage by booking their profits in low-tax countries such as Ireland. The tax applies to multinationals with total revenues of at least EUR750 million ($819 million) in two of the preceding four years. This means that a company that invests in a foreign country will have be taxed by that country by at least 15%. Vietnam, along with the United Kingdom, Japan, South Korea, and the E.U. plan to start collecting the tax next year. It is estimated that 100 multinationals will be affected by the tax, which is expected to yield an extra $220 billions in tax income globally. Nguyen Thi Thu Huyen, deputy director of publicity at Canon Vietnam, said that tax incentive is one of the key factors for the company to maintain its large-scale … [Read more...] about New global tax to diminish Vietnam’s FDI attractiveness

At a meeting with the largest U.S. business delegation to ever come to Vietnam, which included the representatives of Coca-Cola and PepsiCo, Hue said that the recently proposed special consumption tax has been under consideration for a long time to curve consumer shopping habits and to protect their health. The process of applying this tax, however, will be considered thoroughly, taking into account the situation of businesses post-pandemic, he said, adding that there will be no sudden application of the tax. The Ministry of Finance has recently proposed a special consumption tax on sweetened beverages as well as the same tax on alcoholic beverages and cigarettes. The Ministry last made this proposal in 2014 calling for a tax 10% tax on sweetened beverages, but the proposal was not approved by many government agencies. Most businesses have said that the tax should be delayed until 2025 as they need time to recover from the Covid pandemic. They also said that sweetened … [Read more...] about Tax on sugary drinks proposed for the benefit of people’s health: NA chairman