The Ministry of Finance has issued a lengthy circular detailing customs procedures and tax administration, which takes effect this month.
With 165 articles and six appendices, Circular No. 79/2009/TT-BTC of April 20, aims to simplify and make uniform customs and tax procedures. It also adds provisions to improve customs and tax administration and specifically guides provisions related to international practice in line with the Customs Law and Tax Administration Law.
Under the circular, businesses may now examine goods before making customs declaration. Such examination, which is prescribed in the Customs Law, but is not yet guided in any documents, must be approved by goods keepers and supervised by the customs. A record on such examination must be made by the goods keeper and certified by the goods keeper, goods owner and customs officer. The customs officer will seal up goods after examination by the goods owner.
The circular stipulates for the first time that taxpayers must determine and declare by themselves payable and exempted tax amounts, take responsibility before law for their declarations and properly use goods entitled to tax exemption or refund. For goods exported or imported through entrustment or bidding, entrusting parties or bid solicitors must properly use exports and imports entitled to tax exemption and refund.
The circular specifically guides cases of changing use purposes for tax-free goods or those exempt from import or export duty, excise tax and value-added tax, under which taxpayers will be punished if they deliberately change use purposes without notifying in writing such to the customs.
It supplements provisions on customs declaration, including modification and voidance of customs declarations and additional documents in customs dossiers.
The circular sets a time limit of 60 days for modifying incorrectly declared contents of customs declarations that affect payable tax amounts. Past this time limit, which is counted from the date of registering a customs declaration, apart from fully paying taxes, declarants are subject to fines on delayed submission of customs declarations.
The circular allows customs examination and clearance in non-working hours provided that customs declarants must make written requests for such examination in advance.
Under the circular, a tax exemption dossier of a project eligible for investment incentives, which employs between 500 and 5,000 laborers, must include a feasibility study report on the project’s employment of these laborers and a written commitment on such employment.
The circular clearly defines tax exemption principles. For instance, importers and exporters are entitled to the highest level of tax exemption if they satisfy two or more conditions for tax exemption.
To apply for a tax payment duration of more than 275 days (for imported materials and supplies for export production), taxpayers only need to submit dossiers of request to district-level Customs Departments rather than to provincial-level Customs Departments where their customs declarations are registered under previous regulations. District-level Customs Departments will verify these dossiers and report to provincial-level Customs Department for decision.
To enjoy the 30-day grace period of tax payment for imports on the Industry and Trade Ministry’s list of consumer goods, which are used as materials and supplies to produce goods for domestic sale, importers have to register those materials and supplies prior to their import on the condition that these goods must be directly imported by producers and match the quantity and types of products to be manufactured.
The circular specifies import and export procedures for importing materials for export production and other formalities such as registration of lists of materials and their norms, examination of these norms and liquidation procedures.
It adds provisions on dossiers and liquidation procedures for goods temporarily imported for re-export, which are then sold domestically; goods temporarily imported for re-export and temporarily exported for re-import to participate in trade fairs and exhibitions; and temporarily imported parts and components for the repair of foreign seagoing ships and aircraft.
The circular frees goods in border transit from customs procedures in accordance with the Commercial Law and supplements procedures for goods in transit through Vietnam border gates without being brought into bonded warehouses or transit ports, but transported directly from exporting to importing countries.
It also guides procedures to liquidate duty-free goods imported by domestic investors to implement investment projects and adds provisions on registration of names of products and materials and norms of these materials imported to produce goods for domestic sale.
Under the circular, imported materials entitled to tax suspension brought into and out of tax suspension warehouses are subject to separate customs declaration. Producers must register annual outputs of exports produced from imported materials and carry out liquidation procedures in tax suspension warehouses.
The circular supplements cases of goods brought into bonded warehouses of industrial parks, hi-tech parks, export-processing zones and other special economic zones outside border-gate areas.
It contains new provisions on procedures to establish bonded warehouses and customs clearance places outside border gates and customs procedures for means of transport on entry or exit or in transit. It also prescribes import and export duties; post-customs clearance examination; tax inspection and tax administration.
The circular replaces Finance Ministry Circulars No. 112/2005/TT-BTC of December 15, 2005, No. 114/2005/TT-BTC of December 15, 2005, No. 59/2007/TT-BTC of June 14, 2007, and No. 05/2009/TT-BTC of January 13, 2009, and contrary guiding documents.(VLLF)-