Vietnam may collect over $200 million of taxes from Big C acquisition

An official from the General Department of Taxation said, according to Vietnam law, income from the transfer of real estate and projects must pay tax at the rate of 20% (from 1/1/2016). At this rate, tax revenues from the transfer of Big C may reach more than VND4,600 billion ($206 million).

Casino Group (France) has just sold Big C supermarket chain in Vietnam to the Central Group of Thailand for approximately $1.04 billion.

As Big C Vietnam was established by Casino Group in Hong Kong and sold to the Central Group of Thailand, many questions about the collection of transfer tax have been raised.

Speaking on national Vietnam Television, an official of the General Department of Taxation said, although the headquarters of the two corporations are located outside the territory of Vietnam, Big C chain generated income in Vietnam, so it must pay taxes.

Nguyen Dau, Deputy Chief Inspector of the General Department of Taxation, said under the provisions of the Law on Corporate Income Tax, specifically Circular 78 2014, such acquisition cases must pay taxes to the Vietnamese government, at the rate of 22% as of January 1 2016.

At that rate, tax revenues from the transfer of Big C Vietnam may reach more than VND4,600 billion (over $200 million).

Casino Group has developed its Big C chain in Vietnam for more than 18 years, with 10 convenience stores and 33 supermarkets. Its pre-tax revenue in 2015 reached approximately $665 million.

Previously, the tax authorities collected VND1,900 billion (nearly $200 million) of transfer taxes of the Metro Cash & Carry supermarket chain between METRO Group of Germany and Thailand's TCC Group.

Na Son, VNN