The beverage industry hopes to delay the amendment roadmap to the Special Consumption Tax Law

DNVN – Mr. Nguyen Duy Hung – Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Alcohol – Beer – Beverage Association expressed his wish that the National Assembly and the Governmental ministries and branches consider delaying the amendment roadmap to the Special Consumption Tax Law, at least from 2025 onwards. Thereby, it can create appropriate conditions for business recovery, stabilization and gradual growth again.

In recent years, beer, alcohol, and beverage industries have encountered many difficulties due to COVID-19 and conflicts around the world. Policies regulating alcohol concentration, tightening management and control of alcohol concentration also caused consumption to decline sharply, especially in the restaurant and eatery channels.

The Vietnam Alcohol – Beer – Beverage Association (VBA) always supports the State’s rightful regulations and policies in preventing alcohol use when participating in traffic. However, the current absolute ban on alcohol concentration has been affecting the production and business of enterprises. Many restaurants and tourist areas are no longer able to do business without customers, leading to a decrease in labor, revenue, profits, and budget.

Businesses in the industries have tried to find ways to overcome difficulties with many solutions to increase resilience, stabilize production, and create jobs for workers. However, it is difficult for businesses to find opportunities to recover and grow again without breakthrough support policies and solutions from the National Assembly and the Government.

Sharing at the conference “Meeting VBA member businesses in Hanoi”, on the afternoon of March 15, Mr. Nguyen Duy Hung – Vice Chairman of VBA, expressed his wish for the authorities to pay attention, assess, consider and evaluate policies that are in consonance with actual conditions. Promulgated policies need to be congruent with pragmatic solutions so that legal policies are applicable.

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Mr. Nguyen Duy Hung – Vice President of VBA shared at the conference

Mr. Hung expressed his wish that the National Assembly, the Government, and ministries consider delaying the amendment roadmap to the Special Consumption Tax Law, at least from 2025 onwards. Only then will we create conditions to help businesses recover, stabilize and grow gradually again.

“The beverage industries and businesses are always committed to actively contributing to socio-economic development: contributing to national budget, protecting the environment, stabilizing social security and jobs for workers,” Mr. Hung said.

Experts recommend continuation in policies reducing taxes and fees to support beer, alcohol and beverage businesses.

At the conference, experts also acknowledged that in the challenging market conditions in which orders decline and businesses are still facing difficulties, the current solution needs to be “empathetic” toward businesses. The National Assembly and the Government need to maintain policies which reduce taxes, fees and payables.

At the same time, experts also recommend that policies expected to be revised in the near future need a carefully considered timeline due to the current strenuous market conditions.