Poor auto sales see tax figures spin out

The Customs Department in Haiphong port city was assigned to raise VND53.2 trillion ($2.53 billion) worth in taxes this year, with VND47.2 trillion ($2.24 billion) coming from Haiphong area alone.

However, the first seven months witnessed just 35 per cent of the assigned figure.

Haiphong area’s completely built unit (CBU) car import value shed 74 per cent on-year, falling to $155 million, making cars the item with most sinking import figures among the city’s top 10 items in import value and tax collection each year.

The import value of auto parts via Haiphong also slid 30 per cent on-year to $80 million.

Sharply declining CBU car imports took a hit on value added tax and import duty collections in Haiphong. The city’s Customs Department figures show that 74 per cent sinking auto import value was tantamount to VND7.8 trillion ($371 million) tax loss out of approximately VND9 trillion ($428 million) total declined tax amount.

In fact, Haiphong port city is one of five venues with permission to import CBU cars together with Cai Lan in Quang Ninh province, Danang, Ho Chi Minh City and southern Ba Ria-Vung Tau province.

Dwindling car consumption led to decreasing budget collections in many localities. In its first six month report, the Ministry of Finance (MoF) revealed car ownership fee collection just met 33.2 per cent of the projection and fell 29.7 per cent on-year.

Besides, the state coffers saw a decline of nearly 13 trillion ($619 million) resulting from sliding CBU car imports and VND1.5 trillion ($71.4 million) from sagging auto component imports on-year.  

The MoF also reported 38 localities across the countries failed to reach budget revenue targets in the first half. For instance, Vinh Phuc just attained 36 per cent tax collections from domestic sources against the projection.

With a sales volume of 30,000 car units in 2011, Toyota Vietnam paid around VND16 trillion ($761 million) to Vinh Phuc provincial budget. Its sale volume fell to just 11,000 units in 2012’s first half, casting a dent of around VND1 trillion ($47 million) to the provincial budget.

In 2011, the tax collection from GM Vietnam was VND507 billion ($24 million) and from Ford Vietnam VND88 billion ($4 million) lower than projections on the back of sinking production and business, according to MoF.

In the first seven months of 2012, Vietnam imported around 16,000 CBU cars worth over VND330 million, down 57 per cent on-year, according to MoF statistics.

Car sales volume in the domestic market also dropped 39 per cent on-year.