HCMC – The Ministry of Finance has asked the Government to seek approval from the National Assembly Standing Committee to lower the environmental protection tax on fuels to the lowest level possible amid surging fuel prices, reported the local media.
For the sixth time this year, fuel prices have been adjusted up. The high-grade RON95 gasoline on Monday, June 13, picked up by VND800 per liter to an all-time high of VND32,270 a liter while other fuels jumped by over VND2,000 per liter.
The fuel price spike has sparked strong debate at the ongoing National Assembly session in Hanoi.
Earlier the National Assembly Standing Committee issued a resolution halving the environmental protection tax on gasoline, diesel oil, heavy fuel oil and lubricating products, and cutting the tax on kerosene by 70%.
Currently, the tax is VND2,000 per liter of gasoline; VND1,000 per liter or kilo of diesel oil, heavy fuel oil and lubricating products; VND300 per liter of kerosene; and VND1,000 per kilo of lubricant.
In the latest proposal sent to the Government, the Finance Minister wants the above tax levels to fall to the lowest level possible in a bid to prevent the soaring fuel prices from putting inflationary pressure on the economy.
There is growing concern that increasingly high fuel prices will make it tough for the Government to tame rising inflation and even derail the country’s Covid economic recovery effort.
Fuels are now subject to three other taxes — a 10% value-added tax, a 10% import tax, and a 10% special consumption tax.
