HCMC lawmakers discuss tax law changes

A workshop for National Assembly members representing HCM City discusses the Corporate Income Tax Bill and proposed amendments to the Special Consumption Tax Law on August 19. — VNA/VNS Photo

HCM CITY — The National Assembly delegation of HCM City held a workshop on Monday to discuss the Corporate Income Tax Bill and amendments to the Special Consumption Tax Law.

Trương Thị Hòa of the HCM City Bar Association said though the Special Consumption Tax Law has been amended many times in the last 16 years, it still has many inadequacies compared to similar laws in other countries.

For instance, there are no tax refund provisions, he said.

Phan Lê Minh, deputy director of the HCM City Customs Department, said the drafting committee needs to amend several clauses when stipulating who are subject to the tax.

He said the law should exempt certain product groups from special consumption tax, including “products that are imported materials for processing for foreign businesses, or to serve production activities of exporters”, “products produced in Việt Nam, temporarily exported to another country for research and development before being imported back to Việt Nam”, and “products imported only to used as samples, not for sales or consumption.”

Corporate Income Tax Bill

Nguyễn Đức Nghĩa, also of the HCM City Business Association, said that to ensure that preferential corporate income tax policies could be applied effectively, they should be easy to understand and equitable, but the bill’s provisions are too complicated and detailed, he pointed out.

Having too many tax slabs would cause confusion and make implementation difficult, and easily lead to wrong incentives being applied, he warned further.

He proposed a general minimum preferential tax rate of 15 per cent (as opposed to 10 per cent in the bill), and three rates of 15 per cent, 17 per cent and 20 per cent.

He called for increased duration of tax breaks for certain industries rather than lower rates to be in line with global practices and ensure a level playing field for Vietnamese and foreign businesses.

Trần Việt Hà, deputy head of the HCM City Export Processing and Industrial Zones Authority, said tax incentives have changed too many times over the years, causing businesses to struggle to find out which policies apply to them.

The two bills will be submitted for passage at the upcoming National Assembly session. — VNS