Coca-Cola Vietnam reports profit, the first time in 20 years
Coca-Cola Vietnam reports profit, the first time in 20 years
Coca-Cola Vietnam has reported that it started making profits in 2013, ending two decades of consecutive losses that have been scrutinized by tax officers recently.
In a new report, the company estimated its profits at $7 million for 2013, and $16.6 million for 2014.
Coca-Cola Vietnam claimed that it has paid a total of US$20 million in different taxes last year.
The standard corporate income tax rate in Vietnam is 22 percent.
The report comes amid allegations that some foreign invested companies may have tried to avoid taxes by abusing the practice of transfer pricing.
Although Minister of Planning and Investment Bui Quang Vinh last month said local authorities had not found any wrongdoings at Coca-Cola, a few days later a senior tax officer told the press that the company was being inspected.
The local subsidiary of German retailer Metro Cash & Carry was also inspected, the officer said.
Coca-Cola Vietnam was under fire in 2012 when Ho Chi Minh City's tax office reported that the company had kept reporting losses ever since its opening in 1994, even though its sales increased every year.
As of December 2012, the company accumulated losses was estimated at over VND3.76 trillion ($166.65 million), according to official figures.
