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Parliamentarian Nguyễn Duy Thanh, representing the Ca Mau delegation, has proposed raising the tax-exempt threshold for household businesses to 3 billion đồng per year—three times the Finance Ministry’s proposal—while the National Assembly discussed a draft law amending four tax laws on the morning of 23 April.
Continuing the agenda of the first session, lawmakers debated the draft Law amending four laws: Personal Income Tax, Value-Added Tax, Corporate Income Tax, and Special Consumption Tax. Thanh said the draft law has a broad scope and directly affects enterprises, household businesses, consumers, and government budget revenue.
He described the revisions as a move toward more flexible tax administration that reflects practical requirements. Thanh pointed to feedback from household businesses and individuals regarding the 500 million đồng turnover threshold, noting that the government also recognizes current realities.
Thanh said the draft law assigns the Government the responsibility to set tax-exempt thresholds for individuals and households under the Value-Added Tax and Personal Income Tax laws. He argued this would improve policy responsiveness given the wide variation in the scale of household businesses.
He cited that even within the same service sector, revenue can differ significantly between small neighborhood shops and larger chains in urban centers. Thanh said that if the tax-exempt provision is too rigid, it would be difficult to reflect changes in prices or shifts in consumer behavior in a timely manner.
However, he assessed that the draft law does not clearly specify adjustment options.
Thanh referenced that at the Standing Committee’s morning session on 20 January, the Economic-Finance Committee suggested studying a minimum tax threshold for household businesses of around 2 billion đồng to better match “humanity” and current conditions.
Thanh proposed a 3 billion đồng threshold, explaining that if this amount is spread across 12 months, monthly revenue would be about 250 million đồng. After deducting costs such as rent, interest, and labor, household businesses would have around 10% profit—roughly 20 million đồng.
He added that if a couple supports two children, 20 million đồng would be a very low profit, and urged the drafting agency to study the issue further.
Thanh cautioned that granting the Government authority to set tax-exempt thresholds without a clear guiding framework could cause policy instability for taxpayers, particularly small household businesses that are more sensitive to tax obligations.
He proposed two possible directions:
Regarding corporate income tax exemptions, Thanh said the law should also consider the specifics because they directly affect state budget revenue. He noted that expanding the exempt threshold for small and micro enterprises in the short term could reduce state revenue, but in the long term could help the sector develop, create jobs, and increase sustainable tax revenue.
He emphasized that a full impact assessment quantifying the effect on state budget revenue is needed.
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