About 1 million people won’t have to pay personal income tax

	Raising family circumstances-based reduction level must comply with current law
	Business households have been offset Family Circumstance Deduction when calculating Personal Income Tax
	Increasing family allowances: An additional one million people will not have to pay personal income tax

Reducing tax obligations will be a resource for taxpayers to reinvest. Photo: TL

Budget revenue to fall by VND10,800 billion

According to Clause 4, Article 1 of Law No. 26/2012 / QH13 (Law on Personal Income Tax), in case the consumer price index (CPI) changes by more than 20% compared to the effective time of law or the latest time of adjusting the family circumstance-based reduction level, the Government submits to the Standing Committee of the National Assembly for adjustment of the family circumstances-based reduction specified in this clause in conformity with changes of price in order to apply for the next tax term.

According to the General Statistics Office, the CPI at the end of December 2019 compared to July 1, 2013 was 123.2%, up 23.2%. Based on the provisions of Clause 4, Article 1 of Law No. 26/2012 / QH13, it is necessary to study the adjustment of family circumstance-based reduction for personal income tax.

Accordingly, the Government proposes to adjust the family circumstance-based reduction level specified in Clause 1, Article 19 of the Law on Personal Income Tax (amended and supplemented in Clause 4, Article 1 of Law No. 26/2012 / QH13) as follows: the deduction level for taxpayers is VND11 million per month (VND132 million per year); the deduction level for each dependent is VND4.4 million per month.

Mr. Nguyen Truong Giang, Vice Chairman of the Legal Committee and Deputy General Secretary of the National Assembly, said that at the 45th session, the National Assembly Standing Committee reviewed and decided to agree with the Government's proposal on raising the family circumstance-based reduction level as mentioned above. The new family circumstance-based reduction level will apply from the 2020 tax term.

The new family circumstance-based reduction level will reduce the level of PIT payable for all taxpayers, ensure consistency with changes in CPI and reduce the state budget revenue about VND10,800 billion per year (equivalent to a 14% reduction of the total state budget revenue on PIT from salaries and wages in 2019). The Ministry of Finance said that this adjustment will contribute to alleviating difficulties for taxpayers in the context of increasing prices and inflation compared to 2013. The tax payable will be reduced for all taxpayers, in which the reduction level of the tax payable by the group of taxpayers at the low level will be higher than those at the high level.

Those have income of more than VND20 billion must pay tax

Commenting on this content, Mrs. Pham Thi Thu,Director of Hung Linh International Trade Company, said that raising the family circumstance-based reduction level upon PIT calculation has been significant in the difficult economy situation due to the Covid-19 pandemic. This is a positive move of the State to support and share the burden with taxpayers. When the family circumstance-based reduction level increases, the PIT will falland the remaining income of taxpayers will increase. Thereby, taxpayers will face fewer difficulties and have conditions to take care of their lives, families and children. Especially, for taxpayers in the business sector, their incomes and employees’ incomes will be a source to reinvest in business and production activities, making more contributions to society.

As an expert, Mrs. Nguyen Thi Cuc, Chairwoman of the Vietnam Tax Consultants' Association (VTCA) said: motivated by this adjustment, about one million people who are paying the PIT at level 1 will not have to pay anymore because under the current deduction level, those who have two dependents and an income of over VND16.2 million per year have to pay PIT. When thefamily circumstance-based reduction increases to VND11 million per person, dependents is VND4.4 million each, this means that those who have income over VND19.8 million must pay PIT. Those who have higher incomes and have to pay taxes at the second level on wards will be benefitted when the tax payable falls significantly. The adjustment level is also quite reasonable and currently higher than many other countries in the world. Not to mention, an individual with an income of VND20 million per month from salaries and wages in big cities, this level is normal, but in rural and mountainous provinces, this level is relatively high.

From the research perspective, Mr. Truong Ba Tuan, Deputy Director of the Institute of Financial Strategy and Policy (Ministry of Finance), said that people with lower incomes will benefit more from this adjustment. However, in the long term, it is necessary to have a plan to summarize and assess the PIT Law, thereby reporting to the Government to submit to the National Assembly for consideration and amendment to the law at an appropriate time, to ensure consistency with the overall reform of tax policy system, and compliance withsocio-economic development.