With a majority of votes for, the National Assembly passed the amendment to slash the corporate income tax by 3 percentage points during the on-going fifth session in Hanoi on Wednesday.

The corporate income tax will be cut from 25 percent to 22 percent, starting in 2014, and will be slashed further to 20 percent in 2016, according to the Law on Amendments and Supplements to a Number of Articles of the Law on Corporate Income Tax.

Also, businesses with total annual revenues below VND20 billion will be subject to a 20 percent income tax. This incentive also takes effect from the beginning of next year.

“In comparison to the tax rates in neighboring countries and around the world, the 22 percent duty between 2014 and 2015, and 20 percent starting 2016, is reasonable and helps maintain the competitiveness in attracting foreign investment,” the NA Standing Committee explained.

Moreover, starting next year, businesses operating in several special sectors will enjoy an income tax of only 10 percent.

Local newspapers are subject to this category, with 10 percent of their incomes from the print version and advertisements set to be taxed as of next year.

On Wednesday, the NA also passed three other laws, namely the Law on National Defence and Security Education, the Law on Amendments and Supplements to a Number of Articles of the Law on Value-Added Tax, and the Law on Natural Disaster Prevention and Relief.

The lawmakers also discussed the draft of the revised Law on Employment.

During today’s working session, the NA will discuss and approve the 2011 state budget balance and debate the revised Law on Bidding.

They will also adopt resolutions on the NA supervisory program for 2014, and discuss reaching a government-level agreement on dealing with unplanned migration and non-registered marriage in areas along the Vietnam-Laos border, according to Vietnam News Agency.