What does the Ministry of Finance say about the proposal not to increase special consumption tax on alcohol and beer?

ANTD.VN - Businesses and a number of economic experts have unanimously recommended not to increase special consumption tax on alcohol and beer products in the context of businesses in this field facing great difficulties.

Businesses recommend not to increase taxes

Mr. Nguyen Hoang Giang, member of Sabeco's Executive Board, said that since the beginning of the year, input costs of enterprises have increased sharply while selling prices have not increased correspondingly, consumption has slowed down due to economic difficulties along with Decree No. 100/2019/ND-CP, making it extremely difficult for enterprises in the beer and alcohol industry. Therefore, if the special consumption tax is increased at this time, enterprises will fall into a difficult situation.

The Vietnam Beer - Alcohol - Beverage Association (VBA) also proposed temporarily stabilizing the special consumption tax policy and postponing the amendment of the Special Consumption Tax Law until at least 2025 to help businesses overcome difficulties and recover.

One of the contents of the draft Law on Special Consumption Tax proposed by the Ministry of Finance to be amended is to change the tax calculation method and adjust the special consumption tax (SCT) rate on tobacco, alcohol, and beer.

Regarding the special consumption tax rate on alcohol and beer, the Ministry of Finance proposed to adjust the special consumption tax rate to increase the selling price of alcohol and beer by at least 10% according to the recommendation of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the tax increase roadmap according to income growth and inflation.

Mr. Nguyen Van Viet, Chairman of VBA, said that tax policy reform under Decision 508/QD-TTg requires scientific research and calculation, practicality in Vietnam to ensure it is suitable to the current production and business conditions of the industry in Vietnam, transparent, with a clear, simple roadmap, and feasibility.

In particular, it is necessary to harmonize the interests of the State (regulating consumption, increasing budget revenue and nurturing sustainable revenue sources) - Enterprises (not causing major impacts, creating stability) and consumers (protecting health).

Some experts also recommended not to increase the special consumption tax on beer and alcohol. Dr. Vo Tri Thanh, Director of the Institute for Brand and Competition Strategy, recommended not to adjust the special consumption tax rate on beer and alcohol, especially beer, until 2025. The special consumption tax rate may increase in 2026, by about 5-10%.

Alcohol and beer businesses recommend not to increase special consumption tax on this item

Prof. Dr. Nguyen Mai, Chairman of the Vietnam Association of Foreign Invested Enterprises (VAFIE), also said that at this time, there should not be any policy to increase any type of tax. “I suggest that the Ministry of Finance should study more carefully the issues related to taxes, not just think about state budget collection, because increasing taxes does not always mean increasing revenue,” he said.

Lawyer Nguyen Thi Quynh Anh, Vice President of the Vietnam Bar Federation, also said that in terms of the global trend, adjusting the Special Consumption Tax on alcohol and beer products to regulate production and consumption in a reasonable manner is appropriate and inevitable.

However, the beer and alcohol industry is currently facing many difficulties, causing beer production and consumption to decrease by about 20% compared to before, with negative growth rate; About half of businesses saw a decrease in profits in the 2020-2021 period, more than 70% of businesses had to apply measures to reduce costs and labor...

Therefore, she believes that more than ever, this is the time when the beer industry needs the support and cooperation of the State to maintain production and development.

New Special Consumption Tax Law Project at the proposal stage

Responding to the petitions of businesses and some experts, Ms. Le Thuy Linh, Deputy Head of the Tax Policy Department, Ministry of Finance, said that the draft revised Law on Special Consumption Tax is only at the proposal stage and has been submitted to the Government, while the proposals are entirely based on the policies of the Party and State.

Specifically, Resolution No. 07 of the Party Central Committee on solutions to restructure the state budget, Resolution 20 of the Party Central Committee on strengthening the work of protecting and improving people's health, which proposes increasing special consumption tax on goods harmful to health; The 10-year socio-economic development strategy 2021-2030 provides directions on amending and supplementing tax laws;

Resolution 43 of the National Assembly on supporting development recovery, it is necessary to develop a plan to increase special consumption tax on goods subject to consumption tax, promptly applying it during the implementation of the socio-economic recovery and development program; Decision 02 of the Prime Minister on building a national strategy for the 2021-2030 period with a vision to 2045, which proposes imposing special consumption tax on alcoholic beverages; Decision 568 of the Prime Minister in 2023 approving the national strategy on tobacco harm prevention.

“Currently, the draft amendment to the Law on Special Consumption Tax has been submitted to the Government and is in the proposal stage. The Ministry is continuing to synthesize opinions to submit to competent authorities for consideration, approval and passage,” said Ms. Linh.

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