HANOI, June 7 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam is considering hike in special consumption tax applied on big automobiles and pick-up trucks, as well as in registration fees for pick-ups, the Ministry of Industry and Trade said on Wednesday.
The ministry has proposed the government assign the Ministry of Finance to increase special consumption tax on automobiles with engine capacity of more than 2,500 cubic centimeters, and raise certain kinds of tax on oversized vehicles which are not suitable with Vietnam's infrastructure now, and on pick-ups whose tonnage is below 1,500 kilograms.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade has also suggested imposing no special consumption tax on parts of automobiles produced domestically to encourage firms to raise added value in Vietnam.
Now, special consumption tax rates applied on automobiles vary from 5 percent to 70 percent. The lowest rate is imposed on electric passenger vehicles with the number of seats ranging from 16 to below 24.
Vietnam spent over 2.2 billion U.S. dollars importing completely-built automobiles and components for assembly in the first five months of this year, down 3.7 percent on-year, said the country's General Statistics Office.
Vietnam, home to 173 automobile manufacturers and assemblers, churned out over 283,000 vehicles in 2016, up 38 percent against 2015, according to the statistics from the Ministry of Industry and Trade.
By the end of last year, Vietnam had over 2.5 million automobiles, including nearly 1.3 cars with nine seats or fewer, over 136,700 passenger vehicles with more than nine seats, more than 1 million trucks, and roughly 105,000 special-purpose vehicles and other kinds of vehicles, according to the Transport Ministry.
