HCMC – Business households and individuals operating in all sectors and areas are expected to be exempt from taxes in the second half of this year, according to one of the Ministry of Finance’s draft measures to support businesses and people affected by the Covid pandemic.
The ministry proposed that business households and individuals operating in all fields and places as well as using all forms and methods of tax declaration and payments would be exempted from personal income tax, value added tax, environmental protection tax and other taxes arising from production and business activities in the third and fourth quarters of 2021, instead of a 50% reduction as proposed earlier.
For business households and individuals that have paid taxes for months in the second half of the year, the tax agencies would carry the overpaid amount over to offset further tax debts in the next taxation period.
However, this tax exemption policy will not be applied to individuals who earn income from digital products and services.
The ministry also proposed a 30% reduction of corporate income taxes for businesses whose total revenues in 2021 are lower than VND200 billion and declined against the figure in 2019, when the Covid pandemic had yet to break out.
For newly-founded companies or taxpayers that have changed their business sectors, ownership, or their businesses have merged, divided, disbanded or gone bankrupt during the taxation period in 2020 and 2021, the ministry will not apply the total revenue criterion. Instead, it will apply a formula to identify whether their 2021 revenue was above or below VND200 billion.
In addition, the ministry is set to implement a 30% reduction of value added tax from October 1 to the end of 2021 for a number of services and production activities, aimed at benefitting consumers and not offering reductions to the sectors that were beneficiaries during the pandemic.
Accordingly, businesses operating in the transport, lodging, catering, travel, publishing, film, television, recording and music production, art, and other cultural, sports and entertainment sectors would be subject to the 30% reduction in value added taxes in the last three months of the year. However, software publishing activities and services conducted online are excluded from the 30% reduction.
By Hoang Thang
