Vietnam's VCCI pushes bill to let firms remit tax for scrap sellers

The Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) has sent a proposal to the Ministry of Finance urging changes to the draft decree guiding the Tax Management Law. The draft would permit businesses that purchase recyclable waste such as glass bottles and metal scrap to declare and pay value‑added tax on behalf of individual sellers and small household traders.

Tax experts say the measure is difficult to apply. Under current rules, sales of scrap that are personal assets or self‑collected are exempt from tax, while resale activity is taxable unless annual revenue is below VND 1 billion. Distinguishing whether a business is buying self‑collected material or material that the seller has already bought for resale is complex, risking incorrect tax filing and unfair treatment of other firms that already comply fully with invoicing and tax obligations. There are also concerns about how tax refunds would be handled for sellers whose revenue falls below the exemption threshold.

The VCCI argues the change could support environmental goals, noting that roughly three million people work in Vietnam’s informal waste‑collection sector, many of whom lack legal and tax knowledge and face compliance risks.

"Khó thực hiện, không công bằng" (hard to implement, not fair) summarizes the expert criticism of the proposal.