People buy jewelry at a gold store in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo by VnExpress/Quynh Tran
The Ministry of Finance has suggested scrapping the 1% export tax on gold jewelry to lower costs for businesses and make them more competitive in a draft decree.
In the decree on export-import taxes it has submitted to the government, it said the abolition of the tax would also encourage businesses to use their gold inventories to make higher-value products amid limited supply and rising prices of the precious metal.
The average global prices of gold rose by 38–39% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2025, according to the World Gold Council.
In Vietnam, they are nearly VND20 million (US$789) per tael of 37.5 grams higher than global rates.
Since 2012 no business has been licensed to import gold to produce jewelry and supply has been exclusively domestic.
This has driven up prices of jewelry, reducing local demand and making it less competitive in the international market, the ministry said.
The tax cut is estimated to cost the government coffers around $3.3 million annually.
