Are natural swallow's nests subject to severance tax in Vietnam?

Are natural swallow's nests subject to severance tax in Vietnam?

Pursuant to Article 2 of the 2009 Law on Severance Tax, the taxable objects are defined as follows:

- Metal minerals.

- Non-metal minerals.

- Crude oil.

- Natural gas, coal gas.

- Products from natural forests, excluding animals.

- Natural aquatic products, including marine animals and plants.

- Natural water, including surface and underground water, except for natural water used in agriculture, forestry, fisheries, and salinity practices (amended by Clause 1, Article 4 of the 2014 Law on Amendments to Tax Laws).

- Natural swallow's nests.

- Other resources as prescribed by the Standing Committee of the National Assembly.

Thus, under the above regulations, natural swallow's nest harvesting falls within one of the taxable resource categories.

Are natural swallow's nests subject to severance tax in Vietnam? (Image from the Internet)

What are bases for tax calculation if natural swallow's nests are subject to severance tax in Vietnam?

Firstly, the basis for calculating severance tax is determined by taxable resource output, taxable price, and tax rate according to Article 4 of the 2009 Law on Severance Tax.

In detail, the taxable resource output, taxable price, and tax rate are defined from Articles 5 to 7 of the 2009 Law on Severance Tax as follows:

* Taxable Resource Output

- For resources whose quantity, weight, or volume can be determined, the taxable resource output is the actual quantity, weight, or volume of resources extracted during the tax period.

- For resources whose actual extracted quantity, weight, or volume cannot be determined due to the mixture of various substances and impurities, the taxable resource output is determined by the quantity, weight, or volume of each substance obtained after screening and classification.

- For resources extracted that are used for producing other products without direct determination of actual extracted quantity, weight, or volume, the taxable resource output is determined based on the production output during the tax period and the resource usage norm per unit of product.

- For natural water used for hydroelectric production, the taxable resource output is the electricity output sold by the hydroelectric establishment to the purchaser under the electricity purchase contract, or the electricity output delivered in the absence of a purchase contract as determined by the measurement system in accordance with Vietnamese quality measurement standards, certified by both the buyer and the seller.

- For natural mineral water, natural hot water, and natural water used for industrial purposes, the taxable resource output is determined by cubic meters (m³) or liters (l) according to the measurement system in accordance with Vietnamese quality measurement standards.

- For resources extracted manually, dispersedly, or sporadically, if the projected annual extraction value is less than 200,000,000 VND, the resource output is estimated seasonally or periodically for tax calculation. Tax authorities cooperate with relevant local agencies to determine the estimated resource output for tax purposes.

Thus, according to the above regulations, it can be seen that natural swallow's nest harvesting is subject to severance tax. Additionally, tax authorities will determine the tax payable by individuals or organizations involved in natural swallow's nest harvesting based on factors such as:

[1] Determining the quantity extracted.

[2] Different calculation methods if the product is not sold but used for production.

[3] For manual, dispersed, or sporadic extraction with a projected annual extraction value under 200,000,000 VND, the resource output is estimated seasonally or periodically for tax purposes. Tax authorities will determine this through local authorities.

Who is responsible for paying severance tax on natural swallow's nest in Vietnam?

According to Article 3 of the 2009 Law on Severance Tax, the entities liable for severance tax are specified as follows:

- The severance tax payers are organizations and individuals who extract resources subject to severance tax.

- The severance tax payers in specific cases are defined as follows:

+ For a joint venture enterprise established for resource extraction purposes, the joint venture enterprise is the taxpayer.

+ For joint business cooperation contracts between Vietnamese and foreign parties for resource extraction, the tax payment responsibilities of the parties must be clearly specified in the cooperation contract.

+ For small-scale, individual resource extraction sold to organizations or individuals acting as the focal point for purchase, and these focal point organizations or individuals agree in writing to declare and pay taxes on behalf of the extraction entities, the focal point organizations or individuals are the taxpayers.

Therefore, it can be seen that determining the taxpayer for natural swallow's nest harvesting depends on whether the extractor is an individual or an organization.