From July 1, 2025, are imported goods and services serving national defense and security in Vietnam exempt from VAT?
From July 1, 2025, are imported goods and services serving national defense and security in Vietnam exempt from VAT?
Pursuant to Clause 3, Article 73 of the Law on National Defense and Security Industry and Industrial Mobilization 2024 (effective from July 1, 2025), the following is stipulated:
Import of goods and services serving national defense and security industries
- imported goods and services serving national defense and security in Vietnam industries include:
a) Technical equipment and technical vehicles for operational purposes;
b) Technical materials;
c) Machinery, equipment, and production lines serving national defense and security in Vietnam;
d) Technical documents;
đ) Consultancy services, technical services;
e) Other goods and services.
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3. imported goods and services serving national defense and security in Vietnam industries are exempt from import tax and value-added tax according to the provisions of laws on export tax, import tax, and value-added tax; they are prioritized for customs clearance according to customs law. The Prime Minister of the Government of Vietnam determines the list of imported goods and services for the national defense and security industries.
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Thus, from July 1, 2025, imported goods and services for the national defense and security industries as per the above regulations will be exempt from VAT according to the provisions of the law on value-added tax.
From July 1, 2025, are imported goods and services serving national defense and security in Vietnam exempt from VAT? (Image from the Internet)
From July 1, 2025, what imported goods are subject to value-added tax in Vietnam?
According to Article 3 of the Law on Value-Added Tax 2024 (effective from July 1, 2025), the regulation on taxable objects for value-added tax is as follows:
Taxable objects
Goods and services used for production, business, and consumption in Vietnam are subject to value-added tax, except for the objects specified in Article 5 of this Law.
Thus, as stated in Article 5 of the Law on Value-Added Tax 2024, imported goods subject to VAT are goods used for production, business, and consumption in Vietnam, except in the following non-taxable cases:
- Products from crops, plantations, breeding, aquaculture, fishing not yet processed into other products or only through ordinary processing by the organization or individual self-produced, caught at the import stage.
- Imported goods such as newspapers, journals, newsletters, special editions, political books, textbooks, curricula, books of legal documents, scientific and technical books, foreign information books, books printed in ethnic minority languages, and propaganda pictures, including audio or video tapes, discs, electronic data; currency, printing money.
- Machinery, equipment, spare parts, supplies of types not yet produced domestically required to be imported for direct use in scientific research and technological development.
- Machinery, equipment, spare parts, special-use transportation means, and materials of types not yet produced domestically needed for exploration, development of oil and gas fields.
- Aircraft, helicopters, gliders, drilling rigs, ships of types not yet produced domestically required to be imported to form fixed assets of enterprises or rented from abroad for production, business, or leasing.
- Products, services imported serving national defense and security in Vietnam industries according to the list issued by the Prime Minister of the Government of Vietnam.
- Imported goods in cases of humanitarian aid, non-refundable aid. Goods and services sold to foreign organizations, individuals, international organizations for humanitarian aid, non-refundable aid to Vietnam.
- Temporarily imported goods for re-export.
- Temporarily exported goods for re-import.
- Imported materials for producing, processing goods for export under production, processing export contracts signed with foreign parties.
- Imported goods from abroad by a financial leasing company directly transferred to a non-tariff zone for financial lease to enterprises in the non-tariff zone.
- Gold in bars, ingots not yet crafted into fine art, jewelry, or other products at the import stage.
- Imported goods in the following cases:
+ Gifts for state agencies, political organizations, socio-political organizations, socio-political-professional organizations, social organizations, socio-professional organizations, people's armed units within the import tax exemption limit according to the law on export tax, import tax;
+ Gifts within the import tax exemption limit according to the law on export tax, import tax from foreign organizations, individuals to Vietnamese individuals; items of foreign organizations, individuals under diplomatic immunity standards, and personal belongings within the import tax exemption limit according to the law on export tax, import tax;
+ Goods within the standard of duty-free luggage according to the law on export tax, import tax;
+ Goods imported for support, sponsorship to prevent, combat, remediate disasters, epidemics, war according to regulations by the Government of Vietnam;
+ Goods bought, exchanged across borders to serve the production, consumption of border residents under the list of goods purchased, exchanged by border residents according to the law and within the import tax exemption limit according to the law on export tax, import tax;
+ Relics, antiques, national treasures according to the law on cultural heritage imported by competent state agencies.
Are imported goods then exported to another country eligible for VAT refund in Vietnam?
Pursuant to Point a, Clause 1, Article 15 of the Law on Value-Added Tax 2024, regulations on VAT refund for exports are as follows:
Value-added tax refund
- VAT refund for exports is stipulated as follows:
a) Business establishments in the month or quarter having exported goods or services and with uncredited input VAT of 300 million VND or more are eligible for VAT refund on a monthly or quarterly basis, except for the case of imported goods subsequently exported to another country;
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Thus, from July 1, 2025, imported goods subsequently exported to another country will not be eligible for a value-added tax refund.
