Illustrative image (Source: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) - The business licence fee for enterprises is likely to double or triple in the coming period, according to a draft decree by the Ministry of Finance.
Under the draft decree, the ministry has proposed four fee levels for businesses.
For instance, businesses with registered capital of between 10 billion VND (447,828 USD) and under 100 billion VND will have to pay a fee of 5 million VND per year, while those with over 100 billion VND will be regarded as large businesses and would have to pay a business licence fee of 10 million VND per year.
Businesses with charter capital of under 10 billion VND will pay 3 million VND per year.
Business households and individuals with an annual turnover of over 300 million VND will have to pay 1 million VND per year. Those earning between 100 million VND and under VND 300 million per year will have to pay 300,000 VND.
Business households and individuals with an annual turnover of below 100 million VND will be exempt from paying this fee.
To encourage fishermen to hold onto their sea-based business, the ministry proposed an exemption for salt-making households, fisheries and aquaculture households and fishery logistics service providers.
If the draft decree is approved by the Prime Minister, it will replace the current business licence tax from January 1, 2017, when the new Law on Charges and Fees takes effect.
Under the new decree, it will be called a fee rather than a tax.
Currently, the State budget’s annual revenue from business licence tax is around 1.7 trillion VND (75.5 million USD). Once the draft decree is enacted, the ministry expects to collect some 2.7 trillion VND (120 million USD) per year.
Speaking at a press conference held by the Finance Ministry in Hanoi on March 31, Deputy Minister Vu Thi Mai said the current decree was outdated as it was issued in 2002, when the minimum salary was 290,000 VND per month. Meanwhile, the current minimum salary is 1.15 million VND, which will be raised to 1.21 million VND in the future.
"The new decree does not originate from the State budget’s difficulties. It’s intended to match the business situation of the last 14 years," she said.
"The business licence tax was based on the minimum salary level. Therefore, the current tax level is not suitable for the increased minimum salary," she said.
Mai said the ministry is gathering ideas from other ministries, sectors and localities to revise other unreasonable issues or to provide an explanation for them.
The draft decree was made public on March 25. The ministry will complete it and submit it to the Government in July.
It is expected to go into effect on January 1, 2017.-VNA
