Any enterprise or individual who exploits, produces or imports five groups of products classified as hazardous to the environment will be imposed with an environment tax in the near future, according to the Draft Law on Environment Tax.
Under the draft law being prepared by the finance ministry and the National Assembly's Financial and Budgetary Committee, products to be subject to the new tax are petrol and oil, coal, freezing substances containing hydro-clorofluoro-carbon (HCFC), plastic bags and substances for plant protection.
Vu Van Truong, head of the finance ministry's Department of Tax Policy, told a seminar on contributing suggestions for the new draft law held here yesterday that if the law was passed and enforced by the National Assembly in October 2011, it would become effective on January 1, 2012..
According to the draft law, the main products to be taxed are petrol, diesel oil, coal (except peat), HCFC substances, plastic bags (except biological bags), mosquito repellent, chemicals for agricultural cultivation and decontaminating substances.
According to the draft law, the environment tax is between 1,000 and 4,000 dong on each litre of petrol, between 500 and 2,000 dong on each litre of diesel oil, between 6,000 and 30,000 dong on each tonne of coal, between 20,000 and 30,000 dong on each kilogram of plastic bags and between 1,000 and 5,000 dong on each kilogram of plant protection substances.
Truong of the tax policy department-says it is necessary to promulgate the environment tax law because the country lacks essential financial means to protect the environment as pollution mounts day by day.
"The law will help create more positive awareness of environment protection, reduce harmful effects on public health and generate budget for the activity of environment protection; 'Truong told the seminar.
Vietnam each year spends some four trillion dong from the state budget for environment protection, but the fees on environment protection collected annually is only 1.2 trillion dong.
Truong said levying the tax on the five groups of products would help the country collect some 50 trillion dong each year. The money will be re-invested into environment protection activities.
Many environmental experts at the seminar said the law makers should carefully consider each level of environment tax on particular products in accordance with the degree of harm to the environment.
Most of the scientists and environmental experts at the seminar agreed on the need for enforcing the law on environment tax. But they suggested the environment fee be dropped when the new law takes effect.
Nguyen Dinh Tuan, rector of the HCM City College of Natural Resources and Environment, said it would be illogical for enterprises or individuals to pay both environment protection fees and environment tax for producing one product.
"In my opinion, we don't need fees for environment protection when the environment tax is levied. It's also important to expand the tax to producers and importers of tobacco and batteries;' Tuan said.
Tuan added that producers would increase their prices and that in the end the environment tax would fall on the consumers.
|
