Proposal to reduce corporate income tax by 50% for press agencies

According to Chairman of the Culture andEducation Committee Nguyen Dac Vinh, currently printed newspapers enjoy a corporate income tax incentive of 10%, while electronic newspapers do not, so it is very difficult.

National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man speaks. (Photo: Doan Tan/VNA)

Continuing the working program at the 37th Session, on the morning of September 23, the National Assembly Standing Committee gave opinions on the draft Law on Corporate Income Tax (amended).

Apply preferential tax rate of 15-17% for small-scale enterprises

Presenting a summary of the draft Law on Corporate Income Tax (amended), Deputy Minister of Finance Cao Anh Tuan said that the draft Law closely followed the policy groups in the dossier for proposing the draft Law on Corporate Income Tax (amended) that was approved by the National Assembly, including: perfecting regulations related to taxpayers and taxable income; tax-exempt income; determining taxable income and tax calculation methods; deductible and non-deductible expenses when determining taxable income; adjusting tax rates for a number of groups of subjects.

Regarding taxable income, the draft supplements regulations on taxable income arising in Vietnam of foreign enterprises with permanent establishments in Vietnam and of foreign enterprises without permanent establishments in Vietnam as income originating from Vietnam, regardless of the business location and details the specific sources of income of this group of subjects to ensure transparency and legal basis for implementation.

Regarding the tax period, Deputy Minister Cao Anh Tuan said that the draft Law supplements regulations that for foreign enterprises with income from providing goods and services in the form of e-commerce and digital technology platforms, regardless of the location of business, the tax period shall be implemented in accordance with the law on tax administration.

Along with that, the draft also adds regulations on tax rates for small-scale enterprises and criteria for application to promote the development of these types of enterprises. Specifically, the draft stipulates a tax rate of 20%, with enterprises with total annual revenue of no more than VND3 billion being subject to a tax rate of 15%; enterprises with total annual revenue from over VND3 billion to no more than VND50 billion being subject to a tax rate of 17%.

Presenting the preliminary review report of the draft Law on Corporate Income Tax (amended), Chairman of the National Assembly's Finance and Budget Committee Le Quang Manh said that the draft Law stipulates the right to collect corporate income tax on e-commerce business activities of foreign suppliers without permanent establishments in Vietnam through the provision "not depending on the business location" to expand the scope of tax collection.

View of the meeting. (Photo: Doan Tan/VNA)

However, this provision has not resolved the issue of tax collection for foreign suppliers via e-commerce platforms, because in reality, foreign suppliers are mainly residents of countries that have signed double tax avoidance agreements with Vietnam. Vietnam is only entitled to tax income generated in Vietnam by foreign enterprises in cases where these enterprises have permanent establishments in Vietnam.

Therefore, the National Assembly's Finance and Budget Committee recommends clarifying the effectiveness of these regulations and studying other policy solutions to ensure tax collection from foreign suppliers through e-commerce platforms.

Regarding tax calculation method, Clause 2, Article 11 stipulates the tax calculation method for foreign enterprises with income arising in Vietnam according to the percentage of revenue arising in Vietnam, including securities transfer activities (0.1%), capital transfer (2%).

Speaking at the meeting, Chairman of the Culture and Education Committee Nguyen Dac Vinh said that currently, print newspapers are enjoying a corporate income tax incentive of 10%, while electronic newspapers are not, so it is very difficult.

According to Mr. Vinh, press agencies, whether print, electronic, television or radio, are all revolutionary press, public service units under state agencies. Currently, the income of press agencies mainly depends on advertising; however, the advertising pie is also shrinking, causing many difficulties for press agencies.

"We propose a common income tax incentive for print newspapers, electronic newspapers and other types of newspapers as currently applied to print newspapers," Chairman of the Culture and Education Committee Nguyen Dac Vinh proposed.

According to the current Law on Corporate Income Tax, the income of press agencies from print newspaper activities, including advertising on print newspapers as prescribed by the Law on Press, enjoys a preferential corporate income tax rate of 10%. There are no regulations for press agencies of other types such as electronic newspapers, television, and radio.

Chairman of the National Assembly's Law Committee Hoang Thanh Tung suggested that the Finance and Budget Committee should continue to study new approaches in building tax laws to ensure stability, because not only the Law on Corporate Income Tax but also many other tax-related laws need to be amended in the near future.

Chairman of the National Assembly's Economic Committee Vu Hong Thanh said that according to international practice, we often levy direct taxes rather than indirect taxes. However, in the coming time, the Law needs to ensure fairness for taxpayers. The revised content has many legalized contents from new sub-law documents including decrees and circulars, so it needs to be considered and studied more specifically and in detail.

Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Tran Quang Phuong chaired the meeting. (Photo: Doan Tan/VNA)

According to Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Tran Quang Phuong, it is necessary to approach all tax-related criteria comprehensively, carefully evaluate taxes, and from there conduct comprehensive research to clarify major goals more comprehensively when drafting the Law on Corporate Income Tax (amended).

Agreeing with the need to amend the Law on Corporate Income Tax to overcome current shortcomings, National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man said that this is a very important Law, related to deductible and non-deductible expenses. The drafting committee has worked very hard and enthusiastically, but the draft Law must be more comprehensive, explaining in detail why it needs to be amended and how, with the goal of immediately amending any problems.

National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man emphasized that this is a law related to domestic and foreign enterprises, so amending the Law must ensure budget revenue, overcome tax evasion and tax losses, but must be fair, consistent with trends and international practices.../.

Source: https://baolangson.vn/de-xuat-giam-50-thue-thu-nhap-doanh-nghiep-cho-co-quan-bao-chi-5022632.html