LookAtVietnam – The National Assembly deputies yesterday discussed amendments to the laws on Value-Added Tax and the Corporate Income Tax.

Workers of a machine spare parts company assemble rice harvesting machines. Amendments to the laws on Value Added Tax and the Corporate Income Tax were discussed on October 26 by NA deputies.

The amendments that are supposed to come into effect next year with the hope to help design a tax-favourable policy that will ensure long-term social security. The amendments would encourage businesses and authorise the construction of budget apartments for workers in industrial zones, low-income residents and students. One of the amendments suggested a 5 per cent-less tax for those kinds of budget conditions.

The Government, in the revised laws, is asking all of the projects that are building houses for students and low-income workers nation-wide to have a favourable tax status. This means that they will be exempt from paying tax for the first four years and will then enjoy a maximum tax-decrease in the next nine years.

The deputies agreed that the revised bills were much better than the previous ones. They agreed that the bills are congruent with their social security targets. However, they spoke out about the irrational parts in the amendments.

Pham Thi Loan from Ha Noi suggested that the government should direct their subsidies to students, workers and poor people instead of reducing tax.

“If the tax-decrease is applied equally for beneficiaries, it will be difficult to control and classify them, especially for enterprises, which do business in many sectors and don’t just build budget-houses for those mentioned people,” said Loan.

Another deputy from Ha Noi, Dang Van Khanh, said that the Government should entrust universities and industrial zones to provide accommodation for students and residents with support from State bonds and local governments.

The Government was also requested to review the implementation of the two laws in order to build up a case that would determine if the laws were a necessity, according to Vu Hong Anh from Ha Noi. The deputy pointed out that it would not be fair to give a favourable tax to students and workers in industrial zones and not to other poor, disabled and well-deserving people.

Dang Nhu Loi from southernmost Ca Mau and Nguyen Minh Thuyet from the northern border province Lang Son, said it was necessary to have particular solutions to the supervision and inspection procedures in order to make sure that the laws were effectively implemented.

Nguyen Ngoc Dao of Ha Noi said it was necessary to have revisions that would call on and encourage enterprises to help the Government solve pressing issues in social security and budget housing shortages.

University and college dormitories nation-wide only meet 20 per cent of the students’ demand. Eighty per cent of workers in industrial parks have to rent apartments and one-third of State workers do not have a stable residence.

Nguyen Dang Trung from HCM City also agreed with the amendments, but suggested changes in some revised regulations. He said that the corporate income tax incentive for expansion projects with investments that exceed VND20 billion will fail to encourage small and medium-sized enterprises.

Law on Radio Frequencies

National Assembly deputies yesterday discussed the draft Law on Radio Frequencies.

The meeting primarily focused on three groups of issues: the Government’s policies on radio frequencies; the responsibility of relevant government agencies and inspectors’ specialised duties in the field.

Most of the deputies agreed that in order to ensure the unified management and efficient use of the radio frequencies, it was imperative to place the job with a competent body.

Nguyen Thi Mai, from the central province of Ninh Thuan, said the law should have a separate article to create an authorised body that would oversee radio frequencies.

“Detailed regulations will be worked out by the government,” said Mai.

Duong Kim Anh, from the southern province of Tra Vinh, said that the regulations should be written down in the law to facilitate the implementation.

Echoing Mai’s idea, Le Van Cuong, from the central province of Thanh Hom, and Phan Xuan Dung, from central Thua Thien Hue city Province said that the authorised body would act as a co-ordinating agency to make sure everyone was working in the same direction.

However, a number of deputies argued that the National Assembly only has power to regulate the function, mission and rights and obligations of an agency whose top leader was appointed by the Assembly. In this case, the Ministry of Information and Communications is an authorised body and is subject to the leadership of the National Assembly.

Deputy Tran The Vuong, from the northern province of Hai Duong, said the task of overseeing the allocation and use of radio frequencies required highly trained technical expertise.

“We need to create a special body to undertake the job,” said Vuong. “Such a body would be under the direct leadership of the Minister of Information and Communications.”

Deputies Tran Du Lich, from Ho Chi Minh City, and Le Bo Linh, from southern An Giang Province, said the creation of the special body did not infringe upon the Constitution or any laws.

What’s more important is that the law should come up with principles, regulations and institutions to guide the implementation, they said.

In conclusion, National Assembly vice Chairman Nguyen Duc Kien said the authorised body would act as an assistant agency to the Minister of Information and Communications for issues surrounding radio frequencies.

“The National Assembly’s Standing Committee will consider your ideas and come up with specific functions and tasks to be assigned to relevant departments within the ministry. They will be covered in the Law on Radio Frequencies,” said Kien.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News