VINACHEM

State budget revenue from fuels has gone down despite a surge in import volume in the first nine months of 2017 compared to the same period last year, according to data of the General Department of Vietnam Customs.

As of mid-September, Vietnam had imported some 9.05 million tons of fuels including 2.14 million tons of gasoline, more than 5.22 million tons of diesel oil 0.05S and 1.25 million tons of jet fuel. The respective numbers in the same period last year were 8.32 million tons, 1.77 million tons and 4.73 million tons.

The average prices of imported fuels also increased sharply such as petrol by 35% and diesel oil by 27%.A senior executive of a southern fuel trader told the Daily that the rise in fuel import volume resulted from the two-month maintenance of Dung Quat Oil Refinery in Quang Ngai Province.

During the Dung Quat maintenance, local traders imported fuels, mainly from markets with preferential import duties such as South Korea, so the contribution of fuel import tax revenue to the State budget was limited.

A source from the import-export tax division at the HCMC Department of Customs, which implements customs procedures of most fuel import shipments, explained that goods were imported via HCMC but customs procedures were done in other provinces. Therefore, revenue for the city’s budget also tumbled.

In addition, auto imports plunged in both volume and value. Therefore, tax revenue from popular cars imported from Indonesia, Thailand and India is only VND100 billion (US$4.37 million) this month compared to VND1,600 billion in August.

The source from the import-export tax division said the city’s customs agency had collected VND76.5 trillion by September 24. The amount is expected to increase to VND79 trillion by September 30, equivalent to 72% of the target this year (VND109 trillion).

In the rest of the year, the HCMC Customs Department will have to collect VND10 trillion a month to meet its budget revenue target. The target is achievable as a large amount of products, especially consumer goods, will be imported in November and December to serve customers in the Lunar New Year holiday, or Tet. - VNN -