Expanding the scope of the revised policy contents.
At the session, delegates heard Minister of Finance Ho Duc Phoc present the Proposal; and Chairman of the National Assembly's Finance and Budget Committee Le Quang Manh present the Verification Report on the draft Law on Value Added Tax (amended).
Chairman of the National Assembly's Finance and Budget Committee, Le Quang Manh, stated that the Standing Committee agreed on the necessity of amending the Law to address practical shortcomings and improve revenue policies, in line with the objectives set out in the Socio-Economic Development Strategy, the Tax System Reform Strategy until 2030, and Plan No. 81/KH-UBTVQH15 of the National Assembly Standing Committee on implementing Conclusion No. 19-KL/TW of the Politburo .
National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue delivers closing remarks at the session. Photo: Van Diep/TTXVN
Regarding the objectives, perspectives, and scope of the amendments, the submission outlines general guidelines for all tax law projects but does not closely adhere to the specific objectives of the Tax Reform Strategy for the Value Added Tax Law. Accordingly, some specific directions in the Tax Reform Strategy related to value added tax have not been implemented, such as the orientation towards comprehensive coverage, expanding the tax base, moving towards essentially applying a single tax rate, and implementing tax rate increases according to a roadmap. It can be seen that the categories of goods and services exempt from tax and those subject to a 5% tax rate have not been significantly narrowed.
Minister of Finance Ho Duc Phoc presents the proposal. Photo: Van Diep/TTXVN
It has been suggested that many of the amendments and additions are provisions already stipulated in sub-legal documents or are intended to align with the provisions of specialized laws. The number of articles and clauses with new content compared to current regulations on value-added tax is still limited, and therefore not truly commensurate with the scale of a comprehensive amendment to the Law after a long period of implementation. Therefore, it is proposed that the Government adhere closely to the objectives and directions identified in the Strategy for Tax System Reform until 2030 to consider expanding the scope of the amended policy contents, ensuring comprehensiveness and overall coverage of revenue sources, at least in the medium term, for the value-added tax policy system.
Furthermore, some argue that, given the relatively limited amendments presented in the draft law, and considering the context of an economy that has not yet recovered from the pandemic and is still implementing a 2% reduction in value-added tax, further consideration should be given to the necessity of amending the Value-Added Tax Law at this time.
Proposal to adjust regulations on annual revenue thresholds.
Clause 25 of Article 5 of the draft amended Law stipulates that goods and services of household and individual businesses with annual revenue of 100 million VND or less, which are not subject to value-added tax according to the current Law, are changed to "below the level prescribed by the Government".
Regarding this matter, the Standing Committee of the Finance and Budget Committee believes that amending and adjusting the regulations on the annual revenue threshold for value-added tax exemption is necessary to align with current socio-economic development realities and should be specifically stipulated in the Law to establish a clear legal basis. Therefore, it is proposed that the Government consider relevant factors on a general level of current policies, such as the personal income tax deduction for dependents, the new multidimensional poverty line, and the fact that GDP per capita has more than doubled compared to 2013 when the 100 million VND revenue threshold was established, in order to specifically define this threshold in the draft Law.
Chairman of the National Assembly's Law Committee, Hoang Thanh Tung, speaks. Photo: Van Diep/TTXVN
At the meeting, the Chairman of the National Assembly's Law Committee, Hoang Thanh Tung, suggested that, to ensure the transparency and specificity of the law, it is necessary to study and include specific regulations in the law, rather than leaving it to the Government to regulate as proposed by the Government.
Sharing the same view, Secretary General and Head of the National Assembly Office Bui Van Cuong said that the 100 million VND limit stipulated in the current law has many shortcomings due to adjustments in the consumer price index and GDP per capita.
"Adjusting the limit to 100 million VND is appropriate. However, to ensure transparency and immediate application upon the Law's effective date, based on the average GDP per capita growth rate, inflation rate in the socio-economic development strategy, and the actual situation, I agree with the opinion of the reviewing agency and propose that the Government study the regulation of the service revenue threshold for household and individual businesses not subject to value-added tax in the draft Law," said Mr. Bui Van Cuong.
The scene at the meeting. Photo: Van Diep/TTXVN
Speaking at the session, regarding tax-exempt items, National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue noted that the draft Law has listed 26 groups of tax-exempt items and transferred 10 groups of goods to the 5% and 10% tax categories. However, many businesses have suggested arranging these 26 groups of items to be consistent with the classification of business sectors in the system of economic sector indicators for the statistical field, ensuring compatibility between accounting, statistics, and taxation, for easier monitoring, easy searching, and to avoid omissions.
Regarding specific items exempt from value-added tax, the Chairman of the National Assembly suggested further research into the opinions of scientists on the proposal to include monographs and journalistic works in the field of value-added tax exemption.
According to VNA/News Agency
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