What did the representative of the Ministry of Finance say about increasing special consumption tax on alcohol, beer, and soft drinks?

(NLDO)- According to the representative of the Ministry of Finance, this agency has reported to the Government on adjusting the roadmap to increase special consumption tax on a number of goods.

On April 22, at the workshop "Supporting economic growth - Perspective from enterprises subject to special consumption tax" organized by Nhan Dan Newspaper, Mr. Le Quoc Minh, member of the Party Central Committee, Editor-in-Chief of Nhan Dan Newspaper, Deputy Head of the Central Propaganda and Education Commission, Chairman of the Vietnam Journalists Association , said that the domestic economic situation is affected by unpredictable developments in the world.

Editor-in-Chief of Nhan Dan Newspaper Le Quoc Minh speaks at the conference

In that context, according to Mr. Le Quoc Minh, the goal of striving for GDP growth of 8% or more, creating a solid foundation for double-digit growth in the following years, is becoming more challenging, requiring ministries, branches and localities to implement many synchronous solutions. "In particular, improving the endogenous capacity of the economy through supporting production and business, helping enterprises recover and develop sustainably is an urgent requirement" - Mr. Le Quoc Minh emphasized.

According to the Editor-in-Chief of Nhan Dan Newspaper, the draft Law on Special Consumption Tax (amended) will be submitted by the Government to the National Assembly for consideration and approval at the 9th Session of the 15th National Assembly scheduled to open in May 2025, with the goal of orienting production, adjusting social consumption behavior, and restricting the import, production, and consumption of products harmful to health and the environment.

However, through proposals to add more items subject to special consumption tax (SCT), increase tax rates, tax increase roadmap, etc., the contents of this amendment to the Law on Special Consumption Tax will have a great impact on the production chain of many industries, from manufacturing and trading enterprises to distribution and services.

According to Mr. Le Quoc Minh, there should be solutions that are most suitable to reality and highly feasible to complete the draft law according to the general principle of harmonizing the requirements of protecting people's health, socio-economic development goals and business production activities of enterprises.

From the perspective of an economic expert, Associate Professor, Dr. Tran Dinh Thien also said that based on the fact that the number of Vietnamese enterprises withdrawing from the market is increasing over time, it can be concluded that: The current business environment has many internal problems.

Mr. Thien also pointed out some paradoxes of the Vietnamese economy, typically the phenomenon of high GDP growth but "sustainably" low inflation, too high interest rates; the economy is abundant in money but businesses are "thirsty" for capital...

Mr. Luu Duc Huy, Deputy Director of the Department of Tax, Fee and Charge Policy Supervision and Management (Ministry of Finance) spoke.

Also concerned about the difficulties of enterprises, Mr. Nguyen Van Viet, Chairman of the Vietnam Beer - Alcohol - Beverage Association, suggested that when issuing tax policies, the Ministry of Finance and the Government need to study more carefully the economic conditions and actual conditions of the industry; be cautious and support enterprises.

Accordingly, for the beer and alcohol industry, it is proposed to delay the increase in special consumption tax until 2028; increase the tax by 5%/year for 5 years. For the beverage industry, sugary soft drinks should not be added to the list of subjects subject to special consumption tax.

Dr. Le Duy Binh, Economic Expert, CEO of Economica Vietnam, said that a reasonable tax increase roadmap, both in terms of tax rate and application time, will help harmonize the achievement of the target of the special consumption tax for the alcohol industry as proposed by the drafting agency. At the same time, it will help ease the burden on businesses, support recovery and contribute to the goal of high economic growth this year and in the coming years.

At the workshop, National Assembly delegate Ta Van Ha, Vice Chairman of the National Assembly's Committee on Culture and Society, said that the decision to increase taxes is an important issue as it directly affects the interests and health of consumers, especially for items such as cigarettes, alcohol, beer and sugary soft drinks.

According to the Commission’s report, it is predicted that by 2030, 2 million Vietnamese children will be obese. Therefore, we need to harmonize common interests, but also focus on protecting children’s rights and, more importantly, human rights.

According to Mr. Ha, it is even necessary to consider taxing sugary drinks or sugar, which is related to candies that also contain very high sugar content. However, the National Assembly delegate noted that this issue needs to be viewed from many angles, and it is necessary to find a solution that is in harmony with businesses, with a roadmap and appropriate timing.

Responding to some opinions at the workshop, Mr. Luu Duc Huy, Deputy Director of the Department of Tax, Fee and Charge Policy Management and Supervision (Ministry of Finance) said that the Tax System Reform Strategy to 2030 stated the direction to amend and supplement the special consumption tax.

Mr. Luu Duc Huy affirmed that in the strategic orientation, there is no mention of increasing special consumption tax with the aim of increasing budget revenue. Obviously, the law was enacted to limit the consumption of alcohol, beer, and soft drinks, so it cannot increase budget revenue.

The US announcement of reciprocal tariffs will have a strong impact on the production and business activities of enterprises. Mr. Huy said that the Government has issued instructions, the Ministry of Finance has researched and reported to the Government to consider a number of issues regarding the draft Law on Special Consumption Tax (amended). In particular, considering extending the tax increase roadmap for items in the draft law, including beer and wine, proposed to be implemented from 2027, instead of 2026 as previously planned.

Source: https://nld.com.vn/dai-dien-bo-tai-chinh-noi-gi-ve-tang-thue-tieu-thu-dac-biet-voi-ruou-bia-nuoc-giai-khat-196250422183530651.htm