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The government has proposed removing a fixed tax-exemption threshold for household businesses from the draft law amending several tax laws, while the National Assembly’s reviewing body recommends setting the threshold at 2 billion dong.
On the morning of April 20, the Standing Committee of the National Assembly provided feedback on the draft Law amending and supplementing several tax laws, including Personal Income Tax (PIT), Value-Added Tax (VAT), Corporate Income Tax, and Special Consumption Tax.
Under the proposal, the government would not lock in a rigid threshold for revenue exempt from PIT and VAT for household businesses as currently applied. The existing threshold is 500 million dong, which has been in effect since the start of this year under the amended Personal Income Tax Law. For corporate income tax, the revenue exempt from tax could also be determined by the government rather than fixed in the law.
Phan Văn Mãi, head of the Economic–Finance Committee, said that most opinions within the Standing Committee agree the threshold for household businesses not subject to tax could be adjusted. However, he urged careful consideration of the specific tax-exemption level.
He noted that 500 million dong is viewed as too low. The Small and Medium Enterprise Association proposed raising it to as much as 3 billion dong. Based on this, the Economic–Finance Committee proposed studying a minimum taxable threshold for household businesses of around 2 billion dong, aiming to ensure humane treatment and reflect practical conditions.
Mr. Mãi said: “Tax policy needs to be designed to provide substantive support, avoiding piecemeal, micro adjustments that do not reflect the full spirit of supporting private sector development.” He added that household businesses and small and medium enterprises contribute to the budget and also play a major role in job creation, social welfare, and maintaining economic vitality.
According to the Ministry of Finance, in the 2022–2025 period Vietnam has about 3–4 million household businesses, of which more than 2 million file taxes regularly. This sector contributes about 2% of total budget revenue.
Last year, tax revenue from household businesses reached 32,840 billion dong, up 37.5% year on year.
Finance Minister Ngo Văn Tuấn said delegating the threshold-setting authority to the government is necessary to ensure policy flexibility in implementation.
He pointed out that since the start of this year, global conditions have contributed to domestic economic volatility. Rising fuel prices have increased input costs, reduced purchasing power, and made it harder for household businesses to operate.
The minister said the drafting agency initially planned to keep a specific provision in the law, but due to unpredictable international developments—especially energy price volatility and the risk of supply disruption—granting the government authority to decide at any time would allow faster and more practical policy responses.
He also emphasized that without a flexible mechanism to adjust tax and fee thresholds, it would be difficult to achieve the goal of double-digit growth while maintaining macroeconomic stability.
At the end of the session, Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly Nguyen Thi Hong proposed that the Government incorporate the Standing Committee’s and reviewing agency’s opinions to complete the bill dossier for submission to the National Assembly.
The draft law will be reported to the National Assembly for inclusion in the agenda of the first session of the 16th tenure.
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