Automakers Ask for Tax Decreases This Year

Domestic automobile manufacturers have recently asked the government to delay the implementation of tax policies related to the automobile industry in order to help rescue the industry, a recent meeting attended by Deputy Minister of Industry Le Duong Quang heard.

 

The automakers asked for the delay of the implementation of the luxury tax law, under which the tax will increase to 45 per cent-60 per cent from 30 per cent-50 per cent; the ownership registration tax, under which the tax rate in Hanoi will be raised to 12 per centon less-than-9-seat cars from 10 per cent; and the value added tax, to 10 per cent from 5 per cent.

 

They have called for the government to lower the taxes on automobiles, at least to the levels applied before April 2008, in the context of the big difficulties of the local automobile industry.

 

Nguyen Chi Cong, deputy general director of Mercedes Benz Vietnam, representing Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (VAMA) members, said at the meeting that automobile production was being negatively affected by sharp falls in consumption due to the global economic recession.

 

Moreover, changes in automobile tax policies in 2008 have narrowed the market’s scale.

 

VAMA’s average sales in the last three months of the year saw a decrease of 50 per cent in comparison with the first eight months of the year as the result of the ownership registration tax increase from 5 per cent to 10 per cent. The difficulties of the automobile industry have made manufacturers think of cutting 2-3,000 jobs, or 20-30 per cent of total laborers. (Labor)