Are warehouse disinfectants subject to environmental protection tax in Vietnam?

Are warehouse disinfectants subject to environmental protection tax in Vietnam?

According to Clause 1, Article 2 of the Environmental Protection Tax Law 2010, environmental protection tax is an indirect tax levied on products and goods (hereinafter referred to as goods) that cause adverse environmental impacts when used.

According to Article 3 of the Environmental Protection Tax Law 2010, the taxable objects for environmental protection tax include:

Taxable Objects

1. Gasoline, oil, lubricants, including:

a) Gasoline, except ethanol;

b) Aviation fuel;

c) Diesel oil;

d) Kerosene;

e) Mazut oil;

f) Lubricating oil;

g) Lubricating grease.

2. Coal, including:

a) Brown coal;

b) Anthracite coal;

c) Fat coal;

d) Other types of coal.

3. Hydro-chloro-fluoro-carbon (HCFC) solution.

4. Taxable plastic bags.

5. Herbicides under restricted use.

6. Termite control chemicals under restricted use.

7. Wood preservation chemicals under restricted use.

8. Warehouse disinfectants under restricted use.

9. If necessary, the Standing Committee of the National Assembly shall consider and prescribe additional taxable objects to be suitable for each period.

The Government of Vietnam shall specify this Article.

Warehouse disinfectant is subject to environmental protection tax if it falls under restricted use.

Are warehouse disinfectants subject to environmental protection tax in Vietnam?​ (Image from the Internet)

How much environmental protection tax in Vietnam does warehouse disinfectant bear?

According to Article 8 of the Environmental Protection Tax Law 2010, the tax bracket for environmental protection tax is as follows:

The specific tax amount is prescribed in the tax bracket below:

Thus, the environmental protection tax rate applicable to warehouse disinfectants under restricted use is 1-3 thousand VND/kg.

Note: Based on the prescribed tax bracket, the Standing Committee of the National Assembly shall specify the specific tax rate for each taxable good, ensuring the following principles:

+ The tax rate for taxable goods must be consistent with the State's socio-economic development policy in each period;

+ The tax rate for taxable goods is determined according to the level of adverse impact on the environment caused by the goods.

What are methods for declaration of environmental protection tax in Vietnam?

Based on Subsection 21, Section 2 of Administrative procedures issued with Decision 1462/QD-BTC of 2022, taxpayers shall declare environmental protection tax in one of the following three ways:

- Submit directly at the headquarters of the tax authority.

- Send via the postal system.

- Send electronic documents to the tax authority through electronic transactions (the General Department of Taxation’s electronic portal/ the electronic portal of the competent state agency or the T-VAN service provider).

According to Subsection 21, Section 2 of Administrative procedures issued with Decision 1462/QD-BTC of 2022, the procedures for declaring environmental protection tax are as follows:

Step 1: The taxpayer prepares the data, creates the tax declaration, and submits it to the tax authority no later than the 20th of the month following the month in which the tax arises. Specifically:

- Taxpayers submit the environmental protection tax declaration at the place of production of taxable goods, the place of production and business of coal, except for the environmental protection tax on petroleum business activities (regulated at point a, clause 4, Article 11 of Decree 126/2020/ND-CP), and the environmental protection tax on coal mining and domestic consumption (regulated at point b, clause 4, Article 11 of Decree 126/2020/ND-CP).

- For petroleum business activities:

+ Direct importers, manufacturers, and processors of petroleum submit the tax declaration to the directly managing tax authority for the amount of petroleum directly exported or sold, including export for internal consumption, export for exchanging goods, export for returning entrusted imports, and sales to other organizations and individuals other than affiliated units and subsidiary companies under the Enterprise Law of the traders; excluding the amount exported and the quantity of petroleum entrusted for import by other traders.

+ Subsidiaries under the Enterprise Law of the traders or affiliate units of subsidiaries, affiliated units of the main traders submit the tax declaration to the directly managing tax authority for the amount of petroleum exported or sold to other organizations and individuals, excluding the parents' company and affiliates of the subsidiaries.

+ Main traders or their subsidiaries under the Enterprise Law that have affiliated units conducting business in provinces and cities outside the central area where the main traders or their subsidiaries are headquartered but cannot account separately for environmental protection tax must submit the tax declaration to the directly managing tax authority; calculate taxes, and allocate tax obligations to each locality where the affiliated units are headquartered according to regulations of the Minister of Finance.

- For coal mining and domestic consumption:

Enterprises mining and consuming domestic coal through management and assignment to subsidiaries or affiliates for mining, processing, and consumption shall submit the tax declaration file for all environmental protection tax on taxable coal to the directly managing tax authority, accompanied by a table determining the tax amount payable for each locality where coal mining companies are headquartered according to the regulations of the Minister of Finance.

Step 2: Tax authority's acceptance:

- Tax authorities receive the tax declaration file and notify of receipt of the tax declaration file; if the file is illegal, incomplete, or not in the prescribed form, notify the taxpayer within 03 working days from the date of receipt.

- In the case of receiving files through the General Department of Taxation's electronic portal, tax authorities shall receive, check, and process files through the tax authorities' electronic data processing system:

+ The General Department of Taxation's electronic portal sends a notice of receipt to the taxpayer within no later than 15 minutes from the time of receiving the taxpayer's electronic tax declaration.

+ Tax authorities check and process the taxpayer's tax declaration according to the Tax Administration Law and related guidelines, then send a notice of acceptance/non-acceptance to the portal chosen by the taxpayer to create and send the file (the General Department of Taxation's electronic portal/ the competent state agency’s electronic portal or the T-VAN service provider), no later than 01 working day from the date mentioned in the notice of receipt of the electronic tax declaration file.