Business support policies need to be consistent to achieve growth targets.

Sharing at the discussion, Ms. Chu Thi Van Anh, Vice President and General Secretary of the Vietnam Beer-Alcohol-Beverage Association (VBA) said that the beverage industry contributes to the state budget about over 60,000 billion VND/year and has many enterprises contributing the most to the local budget, creating millions of direct and indirect jobs in manufacturing facilities and in the supply chain, services from raw material suppliers, packaging, warehousing, distribution, service industries, tourism , restaurants, logistics...

However, the growth of the whole industry has shown signs of decline, even negative growth. Specifically, the growth rate of the whole industry in the period 2019 - 2022 reached 3.2% but in the period 2022 - 2024, the growth slowed down to 1%, reflecting a clear weakening of purchasing power and consumer demand. Notably, by July 2025, this industry had negative growth, at -7.8% compared to the same period last year, marking a shift from slow growth to real decline.

Photo caption

Seminar scene.

In addition, the prolonged shocks from the COVID-19 pandemic, natural disasters and global economic and political instability have disrupted supply chains and pushed up costs for raw materials, transportation and warehousing. In addition, significant changes to the legal framework, especially in the areas of environmental protection, extended producer responsibility (EPR), and the increase in value-added tax on sugar from 5% to 10%, have created a heavy financial burden for the business community. The challenge is even more difficult when, from January 1, 2027, the special consumption tax on sugary soft drinks will officially be applied at a rate of 8% and increase to 10% from January 1, 2028.

The Vice President and General Secretary of the Vietnam Beer-Alcohol-Beverage Association recommended,
In order to be able to relax the beverage industry, support businesses and consumers to promote domestic consumption, it is necessary to consider extending the policy of reducing value added tax by 2% for beverage products until the end of 2027; Reduce, postpone, and exempt some fees and charges; Delay the implementation of special consumption tax; Coordinate and solve the problem of craft alcohol, fake, counterfeit, and poor quality beer; Reduce business conditions; promptly resolve difficulties and problems of businesses.

“The Association hopes to be able to clearly stipulate that soft drinks with sugar content over 5g/100ml will enjoy a 2% value added tax reduction policy until the end of 2026, before being subject to special consumption tax from January 1, 2027 to ensure consistency of legal documents and at the same time not affect the legitimate interests of businesses,” Ms. Chu Thi Van Anh emphasized.

Dr. Nguyen Anh Tuan (Chairman of the Association of Foreign Investment Enterprises VAFIE) said that the National Assembly has considered postponing the application of special consumption tax from January 2027 to ensure time for investment in product conversion, businesses to overcome difficulties, and recovery before implementing special consumption tax...

“Therefore, the problems of the beverage industry mentioned in Appendix 2 of Decree 174 may be due to the incomplete review of the Appendix, creating an understanding that is disadvantageous to businesses when implementing. Therefore, this Appendix needs to be adjusted in the direction of removing this item from Appendix 2 so that sugary beverage products can continue to enjoy the 2% value-added tax reduction policy in 2026,” said Mr. Nguyen Anh Tuan.

Sharing the same view, tax expert Ms. Nguyen Thi Cuc, President of the Vietnam Tax Consulting Association, shared that in Law No. 66/2025/QH15 of the National Assembly on Special Consumption Tax, the implementation time for the beverage industry (alcohol and beer) was carefully considered when postponing the implementation time from January 1, 2027, the new subject is soft drinks with sugar over 5g/100ml from January 1, 2027, the tax rate is 8% then up to 10% from January 1, 2028 to reduce difficulties for businesses although the Special Consumption Tax Law takes effect from January 1, 2026. The National Assembly continues to reduce value added tax by 2% for groups of goods until the end of 2026.

However, in 2026, there will be a problem that soft drinks with sugar content of 5g/100ml or less will still enjoy a 2% value-added tax reduction, while those with sugar content of more than 5g/100ml will not enjoy this benefit even though they are not yet subject to special consumption tax. Thus, there is a lack of consistency in understanding here.

“Businesses want to continue to enjoy the benefits according to their argument so that they have more time to prepare before the application of special consumption tax in 2027 and at the same time, consumers will not be confused when buying soft drinks, the value added tax is 8%, the tax is 10%. So it needs to be considered reasonably so as not to affect the legitimate interests of businesses and consumers. In my personal opinion, it is necessary to consider allowing the item "soft drinks according to Vietnamese standards with sugar content over 5g/100ml" to continue to enjoy the 2% value added tax reduction policy from January 1, 2026 to December 31, 2026 to ensure the legitimate rights of businesses and the consistency and uniformity of tax policies", Ms. Nguyen Thi Cuc proposed.

Mr. Dau Anh Tuan, Deputy General Secretary of the Vietnam Federation of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), said that recently, some problems that may affect the stimulation of consumption are policies related to business households and problems related to the policy of reducing value added tax by 2% for soft drinks with sugar content of more than 5g/100ml in 2026. According to businesses, this policy shows inconsistency with the special consumption tax policy in the context that these products will be subject to special consumption tax from January 1, 2027.

Mr. Dau Anh Tuan said that stimulating demand from fiscal policies is an important solution, therefore, any solution that can be implemented immediately should be focused on, such as allowing the product "soft drinks according to Vietnamese standards with sugar content over 5g/100ml" to continue to enjoy the 2% value added tax reduction policy from January 1, 2026 to December 31, 2026, creating momentum for growth and recovery for the soft drink industry before the period before starting to be subject to special consumption tax from January 1, 2027.

Source: https://baotintuc.vn/kinh-te/cac-chinh-sach-ho-tro-doanh-nghiep-can-nhat-quan-de-dat-muc-tieu-tang-truong-20250925134728851.htm