In comments sent to the Ministry of Finance, the Vietnam Confederation of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) said that gasoline is subject to two taxes that restrict consumption: special consumption tax and environmental protection tax. .
According to this agency, gasoline is not a luxury item, so imposing a special consumption tax on this item is also to protect the environment. Therefore, they asked the drafting agency to study removing this tax on domestic fuel.
"If necessary, the authorities can adjust the Environmental Protection Tax to suit the objectives of this tax," VCCI commented.
Currently, the Special Consumption Tax tax rate applied to gasoline is 10%, E5 gasoline 8% and E10 gasoline 7%; Oil is not subject to this tax. RON 95-III gasoline is currently at 22,880 VND, diesel 20,320 VND. Thus, in each liter of gasoline there is currently more than 2,000 VND as special consumption tax (price calculated before VAT).
At the same time, each liter of gasoline sold is also subject to an environmental protection tax of 2,000 VND, E5 is 1,900 VND and diesel is 1,000 VND.
Mr. Le Song Song Ngoc - CEO of E-Solution Media Joint Stock Company, co-founder of the Vietnam Small and Medium Enterprise Support Community, told Lao Dong that gasoline accounts for about 40% of the service cost structure. Road transport, when gasoline increases, transportation costs also increase "water with rain", many businesses have had to adjust selling prices.
But the price adjustment, according to Mr. Ngoc, "means that the problem of supply and demand faces many problems because many contracts were signed before gasoline prices increased."
"Through the survey, we found that many SMEs have difficulty with cash flow to ensure operating structure and personnel. Therefore, to maintain production and business activities, we have to cut back production and business activities." costs, optimizing operating and personnel costs," Mr. Ngoc said.
Mr. Le Song Song Ngoc said that, in addition to supporting the reduction of costs for transport businesses such as inspection fees, rolling fees, etc., the State needs to adjust taxes such as Special Consumption Tax on certain aspects. goods use transportation resources.
"VCCI's proposal to reduce the Special Consumption Tax on gasoline at this time is very meaningful, helping people and businesses reduce the cost burden and have more resources to invest in production and business," Mr. Ngoc speak.
Previously, VCCI had expressed this opinion many times when commenting on amending the Law on Special Consumption Tax. Last year, expressing its opinion on this issue, the Ministry of Finance said that the special consumption tax on gasoline was appropriate and could not be abandoned in the context of combating climate change, committing to reducing net emissions to zero by 2050. .
The financial management agency argues that special consumption is a tax collected on goods and services that the State does not encourage consumption, or need to be consumed economically and regulate income. Gasoline is a fossil fuel, not renewable, needs to be used sparingly, so most countries collect this tax.
Each year Vietnam consumes 22-23 million m3, tons of petroleum of all kinds. According to data from the Ministry of Industry and Trade, in the first half of this year, the whole country consumed about 13.2 million m3, tons of gasoline. This level is down about 0.2% compared to the first 6 months of 2023.
