Vietnam mulls cutting casino tax incentives

Tuesday 22nd of May 2018

Vietnam is considering a proposal to cut tax incentives give to casino and other gaming ventures in the country’s special economic zones (SEZs), local media reports.

Under the government’s plan for SEZs, investors in Van Don in the north of the country, Bac Van Phong in the centre and Phu Quoc in the south would have been eligible for the incentives.

The two casino projects slated for Phu Quoc and Van Don are the only ones in the country that so far will be permitted to admit locals under a three-year pilot scheme.

Entertainment and tourism projects which include casinos would see their unlimited-time land and sea lease exemptions scrapped, the reports said. Instead, the exemption period would not exceed half the projects’ total lease time, and would last no more than 30 years for the Van Don and Bac Van Phong SEZs, and 20 years for the Phu Quoc SEZ.

Under the new proposal, the projects will still get preferential corporate tax rates of 17 percent for the first five years, compared with the normal rate of 20 to 22 percent.

However, the initial proposal allowed for a 100 percent tax reduction during the first four years, then 50 percent for the following five years, and finally 10 percent for another 21 years before assuming the normal tax rate.

They would also have to pay a higher excise tax, from the previous rate of 10 percent to 15 percent during the first 10 years, according to the new proposal.

The draft law on SEZs is expected to be discussed during an upcoming session of the National Assembly meeting on Wednesday.