Need to increase taxable revenue threshold, change tax calculation method
The Ministry of Finance said that this agency is planning to report to the Government on the plan to adjust the non-taxable revenue level of business individuals, ensuring compliance with socio-economic conditions and demonstrating the State's sharing with households with revenue of VND3 billion or less.
At the same time, the Ministry is also studying a new tax calculation method, shifting from calculating on revenue to calculating on interest (revenue minus expenses), to ensure "correct income tax nature" and more fairness between business households, salaried workers and small businesses.
Recently, many businesses, especially small-scale groups, have continuously reported high costs, making it increasingly difficult to make a profit, even having to resist to overcome difficulties. In that context, business households have simultaneously proposed adjusting the taxable revenue threshold, or applying a profit-based tax calculation method to accurately reflect the actual costs.
Mr. Pham Van Hung (58 years old), owner of a construction materials store in Cau Giay (Hanoi) said that the tax revenue threshold of 200 million VND or more is only suitable for the period many years ago. In the context of today's operating costs, this level "nearly exceeds every household", including very small-scale households.
A small store rents premises for 1520 million VND/month, pays wages to two workers, plus transportation costs, electricity, water, goods, etc. If the 200 million VND is applied, almost all businesses will have to pay taxes, even though it is very difficult, the profit is not significant - Mr. Hung said.
Mr. Hung believes that applying a tax rate of VND500 million/year would be more reasonable. "This figure is both enough for small households to maintain operations and create conditions for transparent State management, encouraging people to register and declare in accordance with regulations".
Ms. Vu Thi Mai, owner of a grocery store in Cau Giay (Hanoi) also proposed to increase the taxable revenue threshold to 1 billion VND/year. Site rental prices, goods and operating costs have all increased sharply. A small grocery store with a revenue of 8090 million/month is normal, but the net profit is not much".
According to Ms. Mai, if calculated from 1 billion VND/year, it will accurately reflect the current scale and costs, helping businesses to survive, then calculate the tax payment. The goal is not to reduce obligations, but to put the policy into practice, making people see that the tax they pay is reasonable.
Calculating tax on interest is not easy to do
Regarding the plan to calculate tax on profit according to the new proposal of the Ministry of Finance, Ms. Nguyen Hien - owner of a household appliance store on Lac Long Quan Street, Hanoi said: "If chosen, I think that a business household like us will calculate tax on interest more feasibly. However, I have also been reminded by accountants that when applying this calculation method, I must be very careful, strictly control the input invoices, otherwise I will easily be punished. My store still has a lot of old inventory that cannot be processed, so I am very worried.
Evaluating the new proposal of the Ministry of Finance, Dr. Nguyen Ngoc Tu (Hanoi University of Business and Technology) said that the option of calculating business household tax on interest instead of revenue is a positive approach, but the implementation process will not be simple.
According to him, to calculate taxable income correctly, business households must ensure a system of invoices and documents for full and transparent input - output of revenues - expenditures. In fact, the goods of many business households currently do not have input invoices; many stores are in stock of a large quantity of goods without accompanying documents. When selling, households can create an output invoice, but if there is no input invoice, there is no basis to determine the actual interest.
Dr. Nguyen Ngoc Tu also added that many large expenses such as rent, cars, electricity, water, etc. are not currently clearly separated by households between business service and personal consumption costs, leading to difficulties in deductible costs. " busines pay taxes on the interest rate, it is beneficial, but if they do not calculate carefully and quickly choose this method, they may have to pay higher taxes than the method of calculating on revenue" - he warned.
According to Mr. Tu, in order for the tax calculation based on income to be feasible and truly beneficial for business households, a long roadmap and strong support from management agencies are needed. Business households must gradually restructure their source of goods and business activities; and managers need to take timely measures to resolve the issue. Regarding inventory, it is necessary to support households in inventorying, appraising and determining prices to have a basis to include in input costs.
In addition, it is also necessary to clearly stipulate the principle of allocating a certain proportion for expenses such as renting houses, electricity, water, etc. to business expenses. This rate is relative, but it is an important basis for businesses to determine the profit side close to reality.
