Expenditure for environmental protection is higher than the revenue from environmental protection fees

The expenditure for environmental protection which has been allocated for Thai Nguyen in recent 4 years has been 100.34 billion vnd higher than the revenues from environmental protection fees. Photo: the internet.

Expenditure are higher than revenue

The Thai Nguyen’s National Assembly Delegation proposed the Government to allow the revenue from environmental protection fees to be returned to the place where the mineral exploitation was performed, which was not allocated for the general expenditure so that the localities had budgeted for environmental protection and investment.

According to Article 8 of the Government's Decree No. 164/2016/ND-CP on environmental protection fees for mineral exploitation, the Ministry of Finance said that 100% of revenues from environmental protection fees for mineral exploitation excluding crude oil, natural gas and coal gas will be paid to the budget of a locality where minerals are exploited in order to support its environmental and investment protection under the Law on Environmental Protection and State Budget Law.

This regulation took effect from January 1st, 2017.

In addition, Article 3 of Decree 164 also stipulates that provincial People's Committees shall submit to People's Councils at the same level for using of revenue from environmental protection fees for environmental protection of locals where the mineral exploitations are performed.

Pursuant to these regulations, revenue from environmental protection fees for mineral exploitation shall be paid for the environmental protection at the places where the mineral exploitation are performed, which shall be decided by the localities.

According to statistics from the Ministry of Finance, from 2014 to 2017, the total assigned revenue from environmental protection fees for mineral exploitation for Thai Nguyen province is 340 billion vnd, including 80 billion vnd in 2014, 97 billion vnd in 2015, 90 billion vnd in 2016 and 73 billion vnd in 2017.

The total budget allocated for environmental protection in Thai Nguyen was 440.35 billion vnd. 80.24 billion vnd in 2014, 81.84 billion vnd in 2015, 84.12 billion vnd in 2016 and 194 billion vnd in 2017.

That proves that the expenditure for environmental protection which has been allocated for Thai Nguyen in recent 4 years has been 100.34 billion vnd higher than the revenues from environmental protection fees.Thus the current policy has exactly met the proposal of Thai Nguyen voters.

Tax policies aim to protect resource

Also related to resource exploitation, the delegation of Quang Ninh province stated: The taxes and fees in the price of domestically produced coal continuously have increased in recent years, increasing domestic coal production cost and reducing competitiveness compared to imported coal.

If adding the licensing charge of exploitation rights (2%), the current natural resource tax for coal mine is about 12%, for opencast mining is about 14%, much higher than those in many other countries such as Indonesia (3-7%) and China (0-4%).

Therefore, Quang Ninh voters proposed that the Government should adjust the Natural Resources tax to the lowest level in the frame of tax rate applying for coal to improve the competitiveness of domestic coal with imported coal and reduce the inventory of coal of Vietnam National Coal - Mineral Industries Group contributing to the development of Coal industry.

Explaining this issue, the Ministry of Finance said: According to the Law on Natural Resources Tax, tax rate frame for coal is 4-20% and 6-20% and under Resolution 1084/2015 / UBTVQH13 is 10% and 12%. This Resolution took effect on July 1st, 2017. The consideration and amendment of the tax rate of the Natural Resource Tax under the competence of the National Assembly Standing Committee.

The natural resource tax rate is stipulated in Resolution No.1084 which has just been issued, so it takes the time to review and evaluate. On the other hand, the proposal of a province’s voters to amend the tax rate of each tax type should be carefully considered in the overall economy.

According to the Ministry of Finance, each country has different views on the tax policy for resources depending on the conditions of each country. By studying the experience of some countries, it can be seen that the tax policy for the Natural Resources Tax of countries in the world is very diverse and often does not follow a common form.

The specific expenditure norm for environmental protection activities VCN- The Ministry of Finance issued Circular No. 02/2017/TT-BTC guiding on expenditure management for environmental protection activities.

For example, Canada regulates the highest rate is 16%, Argentina is 3%; Chile is 14%; Myanmar is 7.5%. The specific tax rate for each type of resource depends on the importance of each resource as well as country’s policies on environmental protection and ensuring the source of raw materials for domestic production.

Natural resources (including coal) are one of the important resources for our socio-economic development. The current collection policy for resources (taxes and fees) is associated with a specific adjustment objective and is a financial tool expressing the State ownership of national resources and implement State management for using and exploiting resources of individuals and organizations.

Policies on collection for Natural resources tax in the recent time are promulgated, amended and supplemented in order to implement the Party's and State's policies in each period for the protection and use of natural resources economically and effectively.