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| Add sales tax to be fair and in line with international practices. Photo: TL |
On September 6, the First National Conference on the Implementation of Laws and Resolutions of the 15th NA was held to thoroughly understand and implement the laws and resolutions adopted at the 5th Session, as well as to evaluate the implementation of laws and resolutions promulgated by the NA from the beginning to the end of the 4th Session.
The Ministry of Finance (MoF) discussed the situation and results of Plan No. 81/KH-UBTVQH15 implementation and the Law and Ordinance Development Program implementation of MoF in the last months of 2023 and 2024 at this conference.
Urgently amend plenty of tax laws
Hence, on February 18, 2022, the MoF issued Decision No. 173/QD-BTC promulgating the Plan for the Implementation of Conclusion No. 19-KL/TW of the Politburo and the Scheme on the Orientation of the Law-making Program for the 15th NA tenure, based on Plan No. 81/KH-UBTVQH15 and Decision No. 2114/QD-TTg of the Prime Minister. It was determined that the primary task was to focus on research and review to propose amendments, supplements, or research and proposals for the development of 13 new laws to report to the Government and the NA Committee on research and review results.
With regard to the Price Law in particular, the 15th NA voted to approve the Price Law (amended) at the 5th Session (June 19, 2023) at a rate of 459 out of 476 NA members (reaching 92.91%).
The MoF summarized the process of implementing the Law on Management and Use of State Capital Invested in Production and Business in Enterprises, studied, reviewed, and reported to the Government.
In accordance with the NA Committee's recommendations, the MoF reported to the Prime Minister on July 31, 2023, on the completion of the dossier for the Law project, and thus on that basis, reporting to the NA and NA Committee for additional registration in the Law and Ordinance Development Program 2024.
On March 31, 2022, the MoF reported to the Government on the results of research and review of the three tax laws, including the Law on Value Added Tax (VAT), the Law on Excise Tax, and the Law on Corporate Income Tax (CIT). The MoF has developed projects for the Law on Internal Revenue Tax (amended), the Law on CIT (amended), and the Law on VAT (amended) based on the Chairman of the NA's conclusion in Notice No. 1486/TB-TTKQH dated September 27, 2022.
As a result, the MoF submitted to the Government a proposal to amend the Internal Revenue Tax Law and a proposal to amend the VAT Law. The Government issued Resolution No. 115/NQ-CP on July 28, 2023, approving the proposal to develop two laws. The MoF is currently finalizing an urgent proposal to develop two laws for submission to the Ministry of Justice for report to the NA and the NA Standing Committee for inclusion in the Law and Ordinance Development Program.
In terms of the amended Law on CIT, the MoF is currently synthesizing and absorbing the opinions of relevant ministries, branches, localities, agencies, and organizations, completing the proposal to develop the law to obtain the appraisal opinions of the Ministry of Justice, and submitting it to the Government for approval of the law development proposal. On that basis, it then registers to supplement the Law and Ordinance Development Program 2024 of the NA and the Standing Committee of the NA.
Submit the Real Estate Tax Law to the National Assembly by the end of 2024
In addition to the laws mentioned above, there are seven more that require the Standing Committee to report on the results of the review by December 31, 2022. In particular, in the report on the results of the review of the State Budget Law, the MoF has just proposed to continue studying and then report to the Government on the amendment and supplementation of the State Budget Law after the conclusion of the Politburo on the Scheme on decentralizing the management and allocation of the State budget to ensure the central budget's leading role and the initiative of the local budget, relevant agencies and units. On the basis, specific proposals for inclusion in the Law and Ordinance Development Program will be made at the appropriate time, ensuring compliance with the provisions of the Law on Promulgation of Legal Documents.
The MoF has completed the results of research, review, and report to the Government on the Tax Administration Law. As a result, the MoF has not yet proposed amendments and supplements to a number of articles of the Tax Administration Law to ensure the feasibility, quality, thorough review, and proposal of synchronous amendments, as well as adherence to the objectives and orientations defined in the Strategy for Tax System Reform to 2030. The MoF, on the other hand, stated that it would continue to carefully study the necessity and scope of amending the Law on Tax Administration on problems in tax administration in order to report to the Government on the consideration and registration of the Law on Tax Administration (amended) into the law and ordinance development program of the NA at an appropriate time in line with the process of the Law on Promulgation of Legal Documents.
With regard to the remaining laws, the Government has reported to the NA Standing Committee , based on the MoF's report, to propose a project of tax laws with an expected progress from 2024 to 2027. The revised Personal Income Tax Law, in particular, is expected to be submitted to the NA for comment in October 2025 and approved in May 2026. The amended Environmental Protection Tax Law is anticipated to be presented to the NA for comment during the 11th Session (May 2026). The Law on Real Estate Tax that replaces the Laws on Non-agricultural Land Use Tax and Agricultural Land Use Tax is prospected to be submitted to the NA for comment at the 8th Session (October 2024) and approved at the 9th Session (May 2025). The Law on Export Tax, Import Tax (amended) is expected to be submitted to the NA for comments and approved at the May 2027 session, according to the one-session process. The amended Natural Resource Tax Law shall be submitted to the NA for comments and approval at the May 2027 session./.
