Only gold bar investment should be taxed, 3 specific options proposed

Experts believe that there should be no tax on the purchase of wedding gold or consumer jewelry, but only on income from investing in gold bars. Since this is a new issue in our country, there are three specific proposals.

It is necessary to distinguish between "consumer gold" and "investment gold".

The Government's request to include income from gold trading in the personal income tax, according to economic expert Associate Professor Dr. Ngo Tri Long, is the right and urgent step to make the market transparent, limit speculation and create fairness among investment channels.

According to Mr. Long, it is necessary to distinguish between "consumer gold" and "investment gold".

Gold jewelry and fine art are consumer goods, subject to value-added tax as currently applied; no personal income tax is imposed on small retail transactions of consumers (except in cases of regular business activities). Gold bars/ingots are investment assets; income from transfer is subject to personal income tax according to the direction of amending the Law on Personal Income Tax.

Dr. Nguyen Ngoc Tu, lecturer at Hanoi University of Business and Technology, said that the original laws clearly stipulate that any organization or individual doing business, buying and selling goods and having income must pay tax. Therefore, it is necessary to clarify what tax rate will be applied to gold, how to collect, the collection agency and the form of payment (deduction at source or self-declaration).

“Taxing income from gold trading will reduce investors' motivation to speculate and 'surf',” said Mr. Tu.

According to experts, there should be no tax on wedding gold or consumer jewelry purchases, only on income from investing in gold bars.

Meanwhile, sharing with VietNamNet reporter, Dr. Le Xuan Nghia, former Vice Chairman of the National Financial Supervision Committee, expressed his opinion that income from gold trading should not be taxed. According to him, it is necessary to carefully calculate whether the tax collected is enough to cover the tax collection costs or not.

"The lack of supply leads to speculation," Mr. Nghia emphasized.

According to this expert, there are many solutions to stabilize the gold market and limit speculation. Among them, the simplest solution is to soon allow businesses and commercial banks to import gold and open a public wholesale gold trading floor, using the world price as the standard. Those who buy gold at the floor will retail to the market, thereby limiting speculation.

Proposal to consider 3 options

According to Associate Professor Dr. Ngo Tri Long, imposing personal income tax on gold transactions is a new issue in our country. He proposed three technical options to consider.

Option 1 : Contract based on transaction value (similar to securities). Calculation method: 0.1-0.2% deduction on each sale price. The point of sale is the organization that deducts and pays on behalf.

According to Mr. Long, this solution is simple; good at preventing tax evasion; compliance costs are almost zero for people. However, the disadvantage is that it does not reflect net profit/loss; sellers still pay losses as current securities. When using it, priority should be given to quick and large-scale implementation when simplicity is needed.

Option 2: Calculate tax on net profit annually. Calculation of taxable income = selling price - (purchase price + reasonable expenses), determined by the first-in, first-out (FIFO) method. Recommended tax rate is 10-20% on annual net income; provisionally pay 0.05-0.1% when selling to reduce the incentive to avoid finalization.

The advantage of this option is economic fairness, because it only collects when there is profit; accurately reflects investment efficiency. The disadvantage requires cost documents, interconnected data infrastructure; increases settlement load for frequent traders. When used appropriately, investors are methodical, keep documents and are ready to settle.

Option 3: Dual option. Accordingly, the default rate is 0.1% as in option 1; voluntarily switch to calculating annual net profit according to option 2 (proposed tax rate of 10%) if there are sufficient documents; the amount of lump-sum tax paid is deductible.

This maintains simplicity for the majority of small transactions, while ensuring fairness for professional investors; inheriting the experience of recent securities policy improvements.

In addition, it is necessary to strengthen communication, emphasizing that there is no tax on the purchase of wedding gold or consumer jewelry, only on income from investing in gold bars. At the same time, it is clarified that there is no double tax, gold bars are not subject to value added tax, and personal income tax is only levied on income, not on the value of goods.

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/chi-nen-danh-thue-voi-dau-tu-vang-mieng-de-xuat-3-phuong-an-cu-the-2446172.html