Circular No. 38/2015/TT-BTC: 68 provisions will be amended, supplemented or repealed

	Cash withdrawal of more than 100 million vnd must register with the State Treasury
	The spending levels for the preparation of the legal documents.
	The new price list of Registration fees for automobiles and motorcycles must be updated

Customs operations at the Vinh Phuc Customs Branch. Photo: Ngoc Linh.

Consistent with the actual situation

After nearly two years of implementation of Circular 38/2015/TT-BTC, there have been a number of problems and shortcomings such as: Regulations on Customs procedures, the classification of Customs declarations; Customs records and relevant documents; the implementation of Article 41 of the Customs Law; and regulations on the processing management and production for exports.

The draft Circular amending and supplementing Circular 38/2015/TT-BTC should be built soon to be in line with changes in the Law. Specifically, in the implementation of the Law on import-export duty, the Government issued Decree No. 134/2016/ND-CP detailing a number of articles and measures to implement the Law on import-export duty, but the Ministry of Finance has not issued a Circular to guide the implementation. According to Government Decree No. 100/2016/ND-CP in 2016 detailing the implementation of the Law amending and supplementing some articles of the Law on VAT, the Law on Special Consumption Tax and the Law on Tax Administration, there have been some changes in tax calculation for goods subject to special consumption tax.

Regarding the implementation of the amended and supplemented Investment Law, on 1^st July 2016, the Government issued Decree No. 68/2016/ND-CP on business conditions for duty-free goods, warehousing, Customs checkpoints, and stations for Customs supervision to repeal a number of procedures on the establishment of Customs procedures locations and inspection stations for exports and imports in Circular 38.

In addition, there is a need for amendment and supplement of provisions related to information of enterprises at ports, warehouses and storage rooms to serve Customs surveillance operations.

Besides, Customs authorities should amend and supplement problems and shortcomings related to Customs procedures to ensure transparency such as: Customs records, Customs procedures which must be kept to serve Customs inspections and a number of provisions on the management of Customs declarations, notification of processing contracts, settlement reports for processed goods and production of exported goods.

The draft Circular amending and supplementing Circular 38/2015/TT-BTC will also legitimize some provisions of the Ministry of Finance and the General Department of Vietnam Customs such as: Official Dispatch No. 18195/BTC-TCHQ of 8^th December 2015 guiding problems of Circular No. 38/2015/TT-BTC and Official Dispatch No. 10169/BTC-TCHQ of 27^th July 2015 on guiding Customs procedures for goods transported under Customs supervision. In addition, the draft Circular will amend and supplement some points and provisions to fix loopholes and deficiencies which many perpetrators take advantage of for smuggling and trade fraud.

7 provisions to be repealed

The draft Circular amending and supplementing Circular 38/2015/TT-BTC includes 2 Articles (Article 1: provisions are amended, supplemented or repealed in Circular 38/2015/TT-BTC and Article 2: effect of implementation). There will be 68 provisions to be amended, supplemented or repealed. In particular, there will be 60 provisions to be amended and supplemented, there will be 6 new provisions and 7 provisions to be repealed.

Specifically, the new provisions are as follows: Article 38a. Taxes on imported goods subject to tariff quota; Article 51a. Customs supervision in the case where imported and exported goods change loading and unloading places on the bill of lading; Article 51b. Principles on Customs supervision for imported and exported goods and goods in transit; Article 60A. Information management for imported raw materials and supplies for processing or manufacturing of goods for exports; Article 60 b. Notification procedures of processing contracts; and Article 69A. Finalization of raw materials, supplies, machinery and equipment.

The provisions to be repealed include: Article 42. The deadline for submission of tax as stipulated in the Law on import and export duty; Article 46. Tax payment for goods to be analyzed and inspected as stipulated in Article 33 on the release of goods, including the contents of tax payment after the results of analysis and inspections. Additional declarations for tax payment after the results of the analysis and inspections in Article 20; Article 97. Location of Customs procedures at ports which are built in inland areas; Article 98. Location of Customs procedures outside border gates; Article 99. The warehouses may be unstable; and Article 105. Records and procedures for tax exemption as prescribed in Decree 134/2016 / ND-CP.

From March 15, 2017: Each customer is allowed to borrow a maximum consumer loan of 100 million vnd VCN - After two times taking comments for the draft, recently, the Governor of the State Bank ...

Currently, the draft Circular amending and supplementing Circular 38/2015/TT-BTC has been submitted to the General Department of Vietnam Customs for comments by 20^th March 2017. According to a member of the drafting committee, there will be workshops organized to receive direct feedback from relevant State agencies.