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| Customs officers check imported goods at Ka Long border gate in Quang Ninh province__Photo: VNA |
* Entities directly managing e-commerce platforms or persons authorized to manage e-commerce platforms at home and abroad would have to deduct and pay value-added tax (VAT) and personal income tax on behalf of those selling goods or providing services on those platforms.
Such is proposed by the Ministry of Finance (MOF) in the latest draft decree on tax administration for trading on e-commerce platforms.
Payable tax amounts would be calculated on the basis the percentage over turnover of transactions.
Specifically, the percentage used for calculating a payable VAT must align with the VAT Law which stipulates 1 percent for goods, 5 percent for services and 3 percent for transportation and services associated with goods.
Meanwhile, the Law on Personal Income Tax specifies the percentage for calculating payable personal income tax amounts. Accordingly, resident individuals would be subject to 0.5 percent for goods, 2 percent for services, and 1.5 percent for transportation and services. Non-resident individuals would be liable for 1 percent for goods, 5 percent for services, and 2 percent for transportation and services.
In case e-commerce platform managers cannot determine whether a transaction generating revenue is from goods or services, the deduction amount may be determined as the highest percentage outlined in abovementioned regulations.
The revenue of a completed transaction is the amount from selling goods and providing services that would be collected on behalf of purchasers by e-commerce platform managers.
* In order to prevent substandard goods from flooding into Vietnam without adequate oversight, the MOF has put forth two options to consider exemption from licensing and specialized inspection for goods imported through e-commerce platforms.
This proposal is outlined in the latest draft decree on customs management of goods imported via e-commerce platforms.
Under option 1, goods would be exempt from licensing and specialized inspection if they are included in lists decided by line ministers.
These lists would exclude products with warnings related to food safety, epidemic spreading, threats to human health and life, environmental pollution, negative impacts on social ethics, customs, economic harms, threats to national security, disruptions to social order and safety, or notifications to cease the exemption from specialized inspection.
Regarding option 2, the MOF proposes exemption from licensing and specialized inspection based on goods value. Accordingly, goods valued at VND 2 million or less or over VND 2 million for a single imported item would qualify for exemption. This regulation would not apply to goods subject to quarantine, goods under the management by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, and those on the list of scraps permitted for import.
Each organization or individual would be limited to a maximum of four times of exemption per year, and the total value of goods exempted from specialized inspection must not surpass VND 96 million annually.
The MOF strictly prohibits individuals and organizations from abusing policies to accumulate goods to enjoy exemption from licensing and specialized inspection.- (VLLF)
