Does horse racing betting business have to pay excise tax in Vietnam?

Does horse racing betting business have to pay excise tax in Vietnam?

Based on the provisions of Article 2 of the Law on Excise tax 2008 as amended by Clause 1, Article 1 of the Law on Amendments to the Law on Excise tax 2014 regarding the subjects to excise tax as follows:

Subject to tax

1. Goods:

a) Cigarettes, cigars, and other products made from tobacco used for smoking, inhaling, chewing, sniffing, and sucking;

b) Alcohol;

c) Beer;

d) Automobiles with fewer than 24 seats, including those designed for both passenger and cargo transport with at least two rows of seats, designed with a fixed partition between the passenger compartment and the cargo compartment;

dd) Motorbikes, three-wheel motorcycles with a cylinder capacity of over 125cm3;

e) Aircraft, yachts;

g) All types of gasoline;

h) Air conditioners with a capacity of 90.000 BTU or less;

i) Playing cards;

k) Paper votives, substitutes for paper votives.

2. Services:

a) Nightclub business;

b) Massage, karaoke business;

c) Casino business; electronic gaming with prizes including jackpot machines, slot machines, and similar machines;

d) Betting business;

dd) Golf business including membership cards, golf tickets;

e) Lottery business.

According to Article 5 of Decree 06/2017/ND-CP, the types of bets permitted include:

- horse racing betting.

- Dog race betting.

- International football betting.

The horse racing betting business is one of the services subject to excise tax.

What is the excise tax rate for horse racing betting business in Vietnam?

Pursuant to Clause 1, Section 1 of the excise Tax Schedule stipulated in Article 7 of the Law on Excise tax 2008 (amended by Clause 4, Article 1 of the Law on Amendments to the Law on Excise tax 2014), the excise tax rate for horse racing betting business is 30%.

Does horse racing betting business have to pay excise tax in Vietnam? (Image from Internet)

How is the excise tax base determined for horse racing betting business in Vietnam?

The excise tax base for horse racing betting business is determined in Article 6 of the Law on Excise tax 2008 (amended by Clause 3, Article 1 of the Law on Amendments to the Law on Excise tax 2014, Clause 1, Article 2 of the Law on Value Added Tax, Law on Excise tax and Law on Tax Management Amendments 2016 and the provisions on exchange rate used to determine tax base were abolished by Point d, Clause 2, Article 6 of the Law on Amendments to the Law on Excise tax 2014) as follows:

Tax base

The excise tax base for goods and services is the selling price, the service provision price excluding excise tax, excluding environmental protection tax, and excluding value-added tax as stipulated as follows:

1. For domestically produced goods, imported goods is the price at which the manufacturing or importing establishment sells;

In cases where excise tax goods are sold to trade establishments which are in a parent-subsidiary relationship or subsidiaries under the same parent company with the manufacturing, importing establishment or the trade establishment has an affiliated relationship, the excise tax base may not be lower than a percentage (%) of the average sale price of trading establishments that directly purchase from the manufacturing, importing establishment according to the regulations of the Government of Vietnam;

2. For imported goods at the import stage, the tax base is the import duty payable plus the import duty. In cases where imported goods are exempted from or reduced import duty, the tax base does not include the exempted or reduced import duty. Import excise tax on imported goods is deductible from the excise tax payable on selling;

3. For processed goods, the tax base is the selling price of processed goods from the processing party or the selling price of similar or equivalent products at the same time of sale;

4. For goods sold by way of instalment sales or deferred payment is the one-time payment selling price of such goods without including instalment payment interest, deferred payment interest;

5. For services is the service providing price of the business establishment. The service providing price for some cases is determined as follows:

a) For golf business, it is the membership card selling price, golf playing ticket selling price, including the golf playing fee and the deposit (if any);

b) For casino business, electronic gaming with prizes, betting business, it is the revenue from this activity minus the amount paid out as prizes to customers;

c) For nightclub, massage, and karaoke business, it is the revenue from these business activities in such establishments;

6. For goods and services used for exchange, internal consumption, gift, donation, it is the excise tax base of similar or equivalent goods and services at the time these activities occur.

The excise tax base for goods and services stipulated under this Article includes all additional charges, receipts (if any) that the business establishment is entitled to.

The tax base is calculated in Vietnamese Dong. In cases where the taxpayer has revenue in foreign currency, it shall be converted to Vietnamese Dong at the average transaction exchange rate in the inter-bank foreign exchange market announced by the State Bank of Vietnam at the time of revenue generation to determine the tax base.

The Government of Vietnam stipulates specific regulations for this Article.

Thus, the excise tax base when conducting horse racing betting business is the revenue from this activity minus the amount paid out as prizes to customers.