VietNamNet Bridge – Companies trading in duty-free goods at the country’s border gates in Tay Ninh and An Giang provinces have shut down business there as preferential tax policies have been removed since early this year.

Speaking with the Daily, many owners of supermarkets and trading companies in the duty free area of the Moc Bai border gate economic zone said they had closed shops after the tax exemption policy for local visitors became invalid on December 31, 2012. The enterprises’ operations had heavily depended on clients that were subject to the incentive.

Phan Minh Thanh, deputy director of the management board of Tay Ninh Province’s economic zone, affirmed that traders in the duty free area of Moc Bai border gate have halted their business since early this month. The authority told the companies to stop operation while awaiting new policies from the Government.

Similarly, operations of all trading enterprises active in the duty free area in all economic zones of the Mekong Delta province of An Giang came to a halt after the special tax treatment was removed, said Nguyen Minh Phong, director of the provincial economic zone’s authority.

The policy allowing customers to buy up to VND500,000 worth of duty free commodities a person a day had made commercial activities at the nation’s border gates bustling in the past.

As per Decision 93/2009 of the Prime Minister dated September 10, 2009, the sale of duty free goods to visitors at the country’s border gates stopped from end-December.

Therefore, entities in economic zones in the provinces have stopped business activities.

Companies at Moc Bai border gate complained about the difficulties, citing their long-term business strategy for the area. Many of these enterprises said they had heavily invested in facilities to stimulate tourists’ demand in line with the preferential policy but now they no longer enjoy such incentives after a few years of operation.

Source: SGT