Vietnamese consumers have been rushing to buy cars on fear of soaring prices after state media said that the Ministry of Finance was consulting with relevant ministries about the tentative tax increase to 80 percent-85 percent.
Almost all Hanoi-based car sales agents have witnessed a sharply increase of 50 percent in the number of clients, mostly individual clients, in recent days.
“It remains unclear when and how much the tax will be raised, but it is certain that the tax increase will occur”, said the owner of an electronics company in Haiphong city.
“If I do not buy a car right now, I will have to pay tens of thousands of dollars more for a car worth over US$100,000 in the future, when the decision on the tax increase comes into effect.”
Meanwhile, sellers do not intend to sell cars in big quantities at the moment, while they tend to limit sales, and will only sell later, when the decision on the tax increase becomes effective.
A company will have to pay the total tax of VND8.4 billion (70 percent) for importing 40 cars which have the taxable value of VND12 billion. However, the tax they have to pay when the tax rate is raised, for instance, to 80 percent, will be VND9.6 billion.
If delaying their sales, the importer will be able to apply the new sale prices, higher than the current price, while they still have to pay the current tax rate. That explains why car importers are ready to pay high fees for storage, and do not intend to boost sales now.
According to the General Statistics Office, Vietnam imported about 15,000 cars valued US$293 million in the first quarter of this year, up 605.2 percent on year in volume and 497 percent in value. (VietnamNet)
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