30-6-2023 (HANOI) Personal income tax revenue in Vietnam for the first half of 2023 has decreased by 7% compared to the same period last year, reaching only 86,900 billion VND, according to the General Statistics Office. This is the sharpest decline in the past decade with the first half of 2014 being the only other period to see a decrease, but only at 3.5%. The decrease in personal income tax revenue can be attributed to economic difficulties, which have caused a decline in the income of wage earners and business households, thereby impacting tax revenue.
Industries such as textiles, footwear, and component production have been particularly affected, leading to more than 200,000 workers losing their jobs in the first quarter of the year. Even businesses that have not been as affected have had to reduce salaries and bonuses or shrink their personnel to overcome the difficult period.
Apart from personal income tax, other sources of budget revenue have also decreased in the first half of this year. The state budget has decreased by nearly 8% over the same period last year, about VND 875,800 billion. For example, the budget balance from export and import was only VND 126,400 billion, a sharp decrease of nearly 21% compared to the same period last year. Revenue from crude oil also only reached VND 30,600 billion, 15% less than the same period in 2022.
On the expenditure side, the state budget is estimated to spend VND 155,900 billion, up nearly 13% compared to the first six months of 2022. Of this amount, recurrent expenditure is VND 537,400 billion, up 5.5%; development investment expenditure is VND 215,600 billion, an increase of more than 43%; and debt payment interest is VND 51 trillion, down slightly by 1%.
