Vietnam Customs responds to problems of Korean enterprises

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Korean companies are seeking opportunities in the field of electronics and industrial support, etc.

A commercial company had a question that export processing enterprises imported (90%) goods for export. For the same type of goods, exporting processing enterprises will not implement tax payments while normal enterprises will pay tax. Therefore, enterprises asked Customs authorities how to demonstrate that their goods are sold to export processing enterprises, which attracts no tax (eg purchase invoices or purchase contracts certified by the customers).

In response to this question, the General Department of Vietnam Customs said, under the guidance of Official Letter No. 2765 /TCHQ-GSQL of April 1, 2015: Type B11 is applied in the case of enterprises exporting abroad or to non-tariff zones, export processing enterprises under the purchase contracts; and type B13 is applied in the case of temporary import for re-export of foreigner; re-export to third countries or re-export to non-tariff zones.

According to the guidance of the General Department of Vietnam Customs, if enterprises import and then export to non-tariff zones, they shall declare as type B13. Specifically, if enterprises have already paid tax, they shall be refunded the import tax which they paid in accordance with Clause 8, Article 114 of Circular No. 38/2015/ TT-BTC of the Ministry of Finance. Accordingly, the amount of refundable tax is handled according to the provisions of Article 49 and Article 132 of Circular No. 38/2015 / TT-BTC.

Another Korean company asked: “Under current regulations, export processing enterprises are exempt from import tax and VAT on imported goods when importing materials/tools for production, then transferring to another export processing enterprise or abroad. However, if they sell their products into the domestic market, will they have to pay import tax and VAT?

In response to this question, the General Department of Vietnam Customs said that according to the Law on export and import tax No. 107/2016 / QH13; Government Decree 87/2010 / ND-CP; Circular No. 38/2015 / TT-BTC of the Ministry of Finance; Circular No. 109/2014 / TT-BTC of the Ministry of Finance, the goods of export processing enterprises into domestic market are subject to import tax and VAT.

Many enterprises wondered about regulations on import tax and VAT in the following cases: In the case where deductible assets comply with the provisions of Circular 45/2013 / TT-BTC, shall the remaining value of assets attract import tax and VAT?

According to the accounting standards of Vietnam, enterprises can implement the statement of business operations within 3 years on the basis of self-assessment of enterprises. However, will Customs authorities agree with the above standards, or will the tax office have its own requirements for the duration of statement of business operations report?

The General Department of Vietnam Customs replied that under Paragraph 1, Article 3 of Circular 39/2015/ TT-BTC of the Ministry of Finance, the declarant shall self-declare and determine the Customs value of goods according to the principles and methods as stipulated in the Customs Act, 2014 and Government Decree No. 08/2015 / ND-CP and take responsibility for the accuracy and fidelity of the declarations.

According to the provisions of Clause 3, Article 3 of Circular No. 39/2015 / TT-BTC, Customs authorities determine the Customs value of goods on the basis of principles and methods in the case where the declarant cannot determine the value under Clause 2, Article 17 of Circular No. 39/2015/ TT-BTC. Clause 2, Article 17 of Circular 39/2015/ TT-BTC also provides the ways for determining the Customs value of imported goods in Vietnam which has changed its purpose of use for tax payment or tax exemption.

Therefore, the General Department of Vietnam Customs said that the determination of the Customs value would comply with the provisions mentioned above. For imported goods (such as tools or instruments), which have changed purpose of use, they shall be determined in accordance with the principles and methods from Article 6 to Article 12 of Circular 39/2015/TT-BTC on the basis of documents and dossiers at the time of changing purpose of use.

Many companies reflected on the case of indirect export, it did not apply to enterprises exporting finished products. Accordingly, these enterprises shall carry out re-export procedures, so if Customs officers process papers before checking goods instead of sending specimens or samples for inspections as now, it will be more efficient.

The General Department of Vietnam Customs said that according to the provisions in Point a, Clause 1, Article 25 of Customs Act, 2014, the deadline for submission of Customs declarations for exported goods was regulated as follows: "Submit after gathering goods at the declared location at least 4 hours before departure of means of transport; for exported goods sent by courier services, at least 2 hours before departure means of transport". The duration for checking records and physical inspections is specified in Article 23 of the Customs Act, 2014, specifically, less than 2 hours for checking records and less than 8 hours for physical inspections.

The DG of Vietnam Customs, Mr. Nguyen Van Can had a working session with the Customs Branches of the HCM City VCN- On September 21, 2016, the Director General of the General Department of Vietnam Customs, Mr. Nguyen ...

On the other hand, Customs authorities applied risk management in Customs inspections and classification of channels for imported and exported shipments under the provisions of Clause 2, Article 16, Article 17, Article 31, Article 32, Article 33 of the Customs Act 2014. The average time from the registration of a declaration to the clearance of goods is 5 hours and 36 minutes, a decrease of 5.5 hours compared to 2013 (11 hours and 6 minutes). Therefore, the clearance time for shipments has been reduced considerably to facilitate businesses.