HÀ NỘI – The Việt Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) said that the Ministry of Finance’s proposed fee cuts was a positive move, but stronger cuts or even abolishments were needed to support businesses.

The VCCI said that many kinds of fees were unnecessary, such as the fee for certifying business information, which was VNĐ20,000 (US$0.9). Although the fee was low, it was unnecessary, VCCI said, adding that it was compulsory for firms to publish their information on the national portal about business registry.

So, paying fees to get this information is unreasonable, it said.

Regarding the fee for verifying the origin of fishery raw materials, the finance ministry proposed a cut by 10 per cent from VNĐ700,000 to VNĐ630,000, which was still high and burdened businesses, the VCCI noted.

The VCCI said that a small-sized fishery processing company must have around 220 certificates about the origin of materials for exporting to the European markets per year, which would cost the firm VNĐ154 million overall.

The fee remained a burden to businesses, especially exporting firms, the VCCI said, adding that the firms proposed to cut the fee to around VNĐ100,000 to VNĐ350,000 per certificate.

Đậu Anh Tuấn, head of the VCCI’s Legal Department, expected the Ministry of Finance to implement more fee cuts. “In the short term, fee collection might drop, but in the long term, the fee cuts will promote the development of businesses, and as a result, tax collection will improve and jobs will be created for the sustainable development of the economy,” Tuấn said.

It was estimated that the collection of fees and charges accounted for 3 per cent to 5 per cent of the total budget revenue.

The Vietnamese Government has targeted the year 2017 to reduce the costs of businesses.

However, the ministry has proposed to increase the value-added tax from 10 per cent to 12 per cent to cope with the shrinking budget revenue and public overspending. - VNS