Vietnam To Levy 20pct Capital Gains Tax On Shares From 2010

VNStockNews.com - The Ministry of Finance will introduce a 20% tax on capital gains made from trading shares from Jan. 1, a ministry official said Thursday.

"This tax was originally planned to be applied from this year, but because of the financial crisis, the government has delayed it for one year, and therefore it will come into effect from next year," said Vu Van Truong, who is in charge of the ministry's taxation policy department.

The new tax will require stock investors to choose to either pay 20% tax on capital gains chalked up for the year, or pay a 0.1% tax on the transaction value of every sale they make, even if they are making a loss on the sale, Truong said.

Currently, the stock market imposes a 0.03% fee on transaction revenue, and brokerage firms often charge fees between 0.2% and 0.4% on stock investors.