National Assembly to amend tax laws, debate growth targets
08-MAY-2008 Intellasia | The Saigon Times Daily page 1
May 8, 2008 - 7:00:00 AM
|
|
The third sitting of the 12th National Assembly begins today in Hanoi, where lawmakers will amend key tax laws and debate on the Government's proposal to revise down growth targets for this year.
At the month-long NA session, deputies will discuss amendments to the Law on Value Added Tax (VAT) and the Corporate Income Tax Law besides some 12 other laws and supplements. They will also make change to provisions in the Civil Code relating to the lending rate ceiling in relation with the prime rate announced by the central bank, the NA Office said in an announcement.
According to the draft amendments, the number of commodity and service groups subject to VAT will reduce from 28 to 25. Moreover, some VAT-free groups will be subject to the rate of 5%, while certain other groups will see the VAT rate double to 10%.
Meanwhile, the new Corporate Income Tax Law regulates that only enterprises are subject to the tax, while individual and household businesses will be subject to the Individual Income Tax law from January 1 next year., In addition, the amended Corporate Income Tax will have a rate of 25% compared to the high level of 28% now to encourage enterprises to invest further in the economy.
New enterprises in poverty-stricken areas and in key sectors such as high technology will enjoy a softer tax of 10% in 15 years, in addition to a tax holiday of a maximum of four years, and a tax reduction of 50% in a maximum of the nine subsequent years.
Lawmakers will also debate to make change to provisions in the Civil Code specifying the lending rate ceiling.
Under the current law, the maximum lending rate is capped at 150% of the basic rate announced regularly by the State Bank of Vietnam, but the amended provisions will allow for a cap as high as 200%. This is because the basic rate given by the central bank is usually much lower than the market rate, and commercial banks have to breach the rate in their borrowing and lending activities.
Besides, the new Oil and Gas Law will open up opportunities for foreign investors, listing coal-to-gas projects as preferential areas for foreign investment. Changes will also be made to the transfer of oil and gas contracts and obligations of parties involved in oil and gas contracts to make regulations more transparent.
Other draft laws to be debated at the NA sitting include the Nationality Law, which will abolish the mono-nationality rule towards Vietnamese nationals living abroad, and some requirements to reclaim Vietnamese citizenship.
Of special note should be the debates in the first few days of the NA sitting, as deputies will take a look into proposals by the government to revise down growth targets for this year. The government has suggested that the GDP growth be revised down to 7% from the earlier target of 8.5%.
Vice chairman of the NA Office Nguyen Sy Dung said the NA sitting would likely grill the government over its role in administrating socio-economic issues in the past months, especially in relations to social security and the fight against inflation.
|
Advertising
