Ministry of Finance seeks to keep jet fuel tax low

By Anh Tu November 22, 2020 | 07:05 pm PT

An employee pumps petrol into a car at a petrol station in Hanoi, Vietnam. Photo by Reuters/Kham.

The Ministry of Finance wants the environment tax rate on jet fuel kept at VND2,100 (9 cents) per liter through 2021 to support the aviation industry.

In July, the National Assembly’s Standing Committee had approved a cut in the tax from VND3,000 to VND2,100 until the end of 2020 to help airlines weather the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The ministry has recently been soliciting opinions about maintaining this rate for another year. This would reduce the government’s revenues by VND860-960 billion, it estimated.

Besides airlines, it would also help other sectors like trade, tourism and services.

Vietnam Airlines and Vietjet had reported losses of VND10.7 trillion and VND925 billion for the first three quarters of this year.

Between 2015 and 2019 the environment tax on jet fuel more than doubled from VND1.7 trillion to over VND3.5 trillion, according to figures from the ministry.