The Ministry of Finance is seeking opinions on the Resolution of the National Assembly Standing Committee stipulating the environmental protection tax rate for gasoline and oil.
Accordingly, the environmental protection tax on gasoline (excluding ethanol) will be reduced from 2,000 VND to 1,000 VND per liter. The tax on diesel oil is also proposed to be reduced by half, from 1,000 VND to 500 VND per liter. For aviation fuel alone, the expected tax rate will be reduced from 1,500 VND to 1,000 VND per liter.
If approved, the new tax rate will take effect from the date of signing and promulgating the Resolution until the end of June 30 of this year. In case it is necessary to extend the application time, the Ministry of Industry and Trade will have a written proposal for the Ministry of Finance to summarize and submit to the Government for consideration.
This plan is built on the basis of the proposal of the Ministry of Industry and Trade. Currently, environmental protection tax accounts for about 6.7% in the structure of factors constituting the base price of gasoline and oil. Bringing the tax to the level of 0 VND is under the authority of the National Assembly for consideration and decision, while adjusting it down in the current tax framework is under the authority of the National Assembly Standing Committee.
It is estimated that if the proposed tax reduction plan is implemented, the state budget can reduce revenue by an average of about 1,790 billion VND per month, including the value-added tax reduction.
Environmental protection tax is an indirect tax and is included in the selling price of goods. According to calculations, if the reduction level is applied to gasoline (except for ethanol), diesel and aviation fuel as proposed, in the condition that other factors constituting the base price do not change, the retail price will decrease accordingly.
For gasoline (excluding ethanol), a reduction in environmental protection tax of 1,000 VND per liter will reduce the retail price by about 1,080 VND per liter, including a reduction in value-added tax. For aviation fuel and diesel, a reduction in tax of 500 VND per liter will reduce the retail price by about 540 VND per liter, also including a reduction in value-added tax.
However, the retail price of gasoline and oil in the country mainly depends on fluctuations in the price of finished gasoline and oil products in the world market, so the actual reduction depends on the diễn biến of international prices at each time.
According to calculations by the Statistics Office, the implementation of this solution may cause the general consumer price index in March 2026 to increase by about 1.63 percentage points compared to the time before the conflict in the Middle East occurred. Direct impact makes the consumer price index in the first quarter of 2026 increase by about 0.43 percentage points compared to the same period last year. At the same time, the average consumer price index in 2026 compared to 2025 is estimated to increase by about 1.35 percentage points.
This increase is still lower than the scenario of maintaining the environmental protection tax on gasoline and oil. Accordingly, if the current tax rate is maintained, the average consumer price index in 2026 compared to 2025 may increase by about 1.4 percentage points. Thus, tax reduction is assessed to contribute to curbing inflation.
The Ministry of Finance believes that the adjustment plan still ensures that it is within the tax bracket according to the provisions of the Law on Environmental Protection Tax, within its authority and is a solution to support the implementation of socio-economic development goals in 2026, including the requirement to control inflation.
