Are ambulance vehicles subject to excise tax in Vietnam?

Are ambulance vehicles subject to excise tax in Vietnam?

Based on Article 3 of the Law on excise tax 2008, amended by Clause 2 Article 1 of the Law on Amendments to Law on excise tax 2014, the goods and services not subject to excise tax are stipulated as follows:

goods and services not subject to tax

Goods specified in Clause 1, Article 2 of this Law are not subject to excise tax in the following cases:

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3. Aircraft, yachts used for business purposes of transporting goods, passengers, tourists, and aircraft used for security and defense purposes;

4. Ambulance vehicles; prisoner transport vehicles; funeral vehicles; vehicles designed with both seating and standing areas for 24 people or more; vehicles operating within amusement parks, entertainment areas, sports zones not registered for road traffic and do not participate in traffic;

5. Goods imported from abroad into non-tariff zones, goods sold from the domestic market into non-tariff zones and used only within these zones, goods traded between non-tariff zones, except passenger cars with fewer than 24 seats.

Thus, ambulance vehicles are not subject to excise tax.

Which goods and services are subject to excise tax in Vietnam?

The goods and services subject to excise tax are defined in Article 2 of the Law on excise tax 2008, amended by Clause 1 Article 1 of the Law on Amendments to Law on excise tax 2014, including the following goods and services:

- For goods:

+ Cigarettes, cigars, and other tobacco preparations for smoking, inhaling, chewing, sniffing, or sucking;

+ Alcohol;

+ Beer;

+ Passenger cars with fewer than 24 seats, including cars designed with both seating and cargo areas with two or more rows of seats, having a fixed partition between the passenger compartment and the cargo compartment;

+ Two-wheeled motorcycles, three-wheeled motorcycles with a cylinder capacity of over 125 cm³;

+ Aircraft, yachts;

+ Petrol of all kinds;

+ Air conditioners with a capacity of 90,000 BTU or less;

+ Playing cards;

+ Votive paper products.

- For services:

+ Nightclub business;

+ Massage, karaoke business;

+ Casino business; gaming with prizes including jackpot machines, slot machines, and other similar devices;

+ Betting business;

+ Golf business, including membership card sales, golf ticket sales;

+ Lottery business.

How to determine the taxable price for excise tax in Vietnam?

According to Article 6 of the Law on excise tax 2008, as partially amended by Clause 3 Article 1 of the Law on Amendments to Law on excise tax 2014 and Clause 1 Article 2 of the Law on Amendments to Law on Value Added Tax, excise tax, and Tax Administration 2016, the taxable price for excise tax on goods and services is the selling price, service provision price not yet including excise tax, environmental protection tax, and VAT as stipulated as follows:

- For domestically produced goods, imported goods, it is the price sold by the manufacturing facility or the import facility.

In cases where goods subject to excise tax are sold to commercial business facilities that are either a parent company, subsidiary, or subsidiaries within the same parent company as the manufacturing or import facility, or the commercial business facility is a related entity, the taxable price for excise tax must not be lower than a percentage (%) ratio compared to the average price of the commercial business facilities buying directly from the manufacturing or import facility as stipulated by the Government of Vietnam;

- For goods imported at the importation stage, it is the import tax price plus import tax. In cases where the imported goods are exempted or reduced from import tax, the taxable price does not include the exempted or reduced import tax amount. excise taxed imported goods are deductible for the excise tax paid at the importation stage when determining the excise tax payable upon sale;

- For processed goods, it is the taxable price of goods sold by the processing contractor or the sale price of similar or equivalent products at the time of sale;

- For goods sold in installments or deferred payments, it is the selling price for immediate payment of the goods excluding installment interest and deferred interest;

- For services, it is the service provision price of the business facility. The service provision price for certain cases is regulated as follows:

+ For golf business, it is the selling price of membership cards and golf tickets, including both playing fees and deposits (if any);

+ For casino business, gaming with prizes, betting business, it is the revenue from these activities minus the prizes paid to customers;

+ For nightclub, massage, karaoke business, it is the revenue from business activities within the nightclub, massage business facilities, karaoke;

- For goods or services used in exchange, internal consumption, gifts, or donations, it is the taxable price of the same or equivalent goods or services at the time these activities arise.

The taxable price for excise tax on goods and services includes any additional fees, charges (if any) that the business facility may collect.

The taxable price is calculated in Vietnamese Dong. If the taxpayer earns revenue in foreign currency, it must be converted into Vietnamese Dong based on the average interbank forex market rate announced by the State Bank of Vietnam at the time the revenue arises to determine the taxable price.