Fiscal Policy and Development Forum 2022

Đăng vào 26/12/2022

On the morning of November 24^th 2022, Vietnam Center for Economic and Strategic Studies (VESS), coordinating agency of Vietnam Alliance for Tax Justice (VATJ) organized the Fiscal Policy and Development Forum 2022. The forum has topic of “Post-Covid macroeconomic policy challenges”.

Download the presentation at HERE.

Event photos are constantly updated at HERE.

Live video of the Forum with presentations and opinions from experts at HERE.

Opening the forum, Assoc.Prof.Dr. Pham The Anh; Chief of Macroeconomics, National Economics University – Chief of Economics, Vietnam Center for Economic and Strategic Studies (VESS); had a presentation with the topic of “From macroeconomic policy to long-term growth”. The presentation provided a theoretical framework on the relationship between macroeconomic policies and growth in the long run. Next, the fiscal and monetary situation will be surveyed and evaluated to point out the shortcomings and challenges for Vietnam in the coming time. Finally, the presentation provided some recommendations for important fiscal and monetary policy directions towards macroeconomic stability and growth promotion in the long run.

Assoc.Prof.Dr. Pham The Anh; Chief of Macroeconomics, National Economics University – Chief of Economics, Vietnam Center for Economic and Strategic Studies (VESS)

Following the program, Assoc.Prof.Dr. Nguyen Duc Thanh, Director, Vietnam Center for Economic and Strategic Studies (VESS) presented a research paper with the topic “Update on some changes in tax policy in Vietnam after Covid-19 from the ASEAN perspective”. In this article, Assoc.Prof.Dr. Thanh has updated the changes in tax policy in Vietnam including: VAT, corporate income tax, property tax and some other taxes. Additionally, the presentation also updated the changes in tax policy in ASEAN countries, especially the issue of tax incentives and attracting FDI.

Assoc.Prof.Dr. Nguyen Duc Thanh presented at the forum

The last presentation of the Forum was on the issue of “The relationship between excise tax and health: The case of tobacco tax in Vietnam” which was presented by MSc. Dao The Son, lecturer at Thuong Mai University. The study presented an overview of tobacco use in Vietnam and the status of policies to prevent tobacco harms. Regarding the tax policy on tobacco prices, MSc. Dao The Son presented the situation and discussion in increasing tobacco tax for the purposes of health, household economy, employment and tobacco smuggling.

MSc. Dao The Son, lecturer at Thuong Mai University

After the presentation of the speakers, there was a discussion of the experts.

Dr. Nguyen Dinh Cung, Former Director, Central Institute for Economic Management (CIEM) shared at the forum: Vietnam’s fiscal and monetary policies currently only deal with the trivial problems. In times of need for intervention, such as epidemics, economic recession,… the role of the State has not been shown, and has not created a motivation for private company to develop. Corporate income tax has decreased, but revenues not related to business activities, such as 2% tax/union fee have increased, which also contributes to the lack of motivation for businesses to develop.

Dr. Nguyen Dinh Cung, Former Director, Central Institute for Economic Management (CIEM)

At the forum, Dr. Vu Dinh Anh commented that the current corporate bond market in Vietnam does not follow international practices. The nature of corporate bond is financial instrument. It is up to the business to how to use the loan, the problem is that whether the business has enough overall financial strength to pay these debts or not. However, the development of the corporate bond market is now “abrasive” like before when issuing construction bonds, when we force corporate bond issuers to comply with the correct use of bonds. purpose.

Economic Expert Vu Dinh Anh

Discussing at the forum, Dr. Nguyen Thi Kim Dung, Lecturer at School of Banking and Finance, National Economics University has had a positive share about tax policies in Vietnam today. According to Dr. Dung, we need to pay attention to tax compliance, how to make people automatically pay taxes, rather than chasing to collect taxes. Tax policies need to focus on negative issues (taxes on tobacco, alcohol, ..) instead of on wages and salaries of employees. Dr. Dung also gives recommendations on taxes in Vietnam such as: VAT: Should use a uniform tax rate, expand tax base, reduce incentives; CIT: No CIT reduction; PIT: Reducing tax burden from wages and salaries; Property tax: Consolidation of tax policies; Special Consumption Tax: Need to study more carefully; Carbon tax: A future revenue generator, more carbon tax research is needed; Resource tax: Create a large source of revenue to ensure sustainable development, reduce fiscal pressure,…