How many monthly accounting periods are there for import-export tax in a year in Vietnam?

What are principles for the import and export tax accounting in Vietnam?

Based on Clause 3, Article 4 of Circular 174/2015/TT-BTC, the accounting for export and import tax must adhere to the following principles:

- Accounting by accounting period;

- By fiscal year;

- Conformity with the State Treasury's budget revenue accounting system;

- Summarize and reflect the financial information of completed business activities;

- Provide financial reports as required by accounting law.

How many monthly accounting periods are there for import-export tax in a year in Vietnam?

According to Article 7 of Circular 174/2015/TT-BTC, the tax accounting periods include a monthly accounting period, an annual accounting period, and an adjustment settlement period.

+ The monthly accounting period is the timeframe from the 1st to the last day of the month.

+ The annual accounting period is the timeframe calculated from January 1 to December 31 of the calendar year.

+ The adjustment settlement period is from January 1 to January 31 of the following year, for accounting and adjusting transactions that are permitted to be accounted into the previous year's accounting books according to the State Budget Law. Adjustment documents related to the previous year are updated with data into December of the previous year.

In the case where adjustments to the previous year’s state budget documents arise after customs authorities have closed the previous year's accounting period, they will be accounted into the current year's accounting period.

According to the aforementioned regulation, the monthly accounting period for export and import tax is a fixed timeframe according to the solar calendar, starting from the 1st and ending on the last day of the month. This means each month will be considered a separate accounting period for accounting and managing export and import tax, which indicates there will be 12 monthly accounting periods for import-export tax in a year.

How many monthly accounting periods are there for import-export tax in a year in Vietnam? (Image from the Internet)

What requirements must be met when recording on import-export tax accounting documents in Vietnam?

Pursuant to Article 19 of Circular 174/2015/TT-BTC, amended by Clause 2, Article 1 of Circular 112/2018/TT-BTC, regulations are as follows:

Preparation, signing, and storage of accounting documents

1. All transactions related to the recording of tax and other receipts for exported and imported goods must be documented in accounting documents. Each accounting document is prepared only once for each transaction that arises.

2. Accounting documents must be prepared in accordance with the content prescribed in the templates for each type of transaction, ensuring full and legal content for each type of document as prescribed by the Accounting Law and Decree 174/2016/ND-CP dated December 30, 2016, of the Government of Vietnam detailing certain provisions of the Accounting Law (hereinafter referred to as Decree 174/2016/ND-CP dated December 30, 2016, of the Government of Vietnam).

3. Recording on accounting documents

a) Entries on documents must be full, clear, prompt, and accurate according to the provisions of Article 18 of the Accounting Law and Decree 174/2016/ND-CP dated December 30, 2016, of the Government of Vietnam;

b) Writing on documents must be continuous, without interruption, without abbreviations, erasing, or corrections; writing must use a ballpoint or ink pen; not use red ink or pencil;

c) Amounts written in words must match the amounts written in numbers. The first letter must be capitalized; subsequent letters must not be capitalized; writing must start from the beginning of the line; written text and numbers must be continuous with no space gaps; finish a line before starting another; no inserting or overlapping printed letters; empty spaces must be crossed out to prevent alterations, number additions, or letter additions. Any altered or corrected document is not valid for payment and entry recording. Errors in pre-printed forms must be voided by crossing them out.

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The recording on import-export tax accounting documents must ensure it is full, clear, prompt, and accurate according to Article 18 of the 2015 Accounting Law as follows:

- Accounting documents must be clearly, fully, promptly, and accurately prepared according to the template regulations.

In cases where accounting documents do not have a template, the accounting unit may self-create accounting documents but must ensure all prescribed content in Article 16 of the 2015 Accounting Law (Point d, Clause 1 of this Article is repealed by Clause 9, Article 2 of the Law Amending the Law on Securities, Accounting, Independent Auditing, State Budget, Management and Use of Public Property, Tax Management, Personal Income Tax, National Reserve, Handling of Administrative Violations 2024), including:

+ Name and number of the accounting document;

+ Date, month, and year the accounting document was prepared;

+ Name, address of the agency, organization, unit, or individual preparing the accounting document;

+ Content of economic and financial transactions arising;

+ Quantity, unit price, and amount of economic and financial transactions written in numbers; the total amount of the accounting document used for collection and expenditure written in numbers and words;

+ Signatures, full names of the preparer, approver, and other related parties to the accounting document.

In addition to the main content mentioned above, accounting documents may contain other content depending on the type of document.

- Economic and financial transactions on accounting documents must not be abbreviated, erased, or corrected; writing must use an ink pen; figures and words must be continuous, without interruptions, spaces must be crossed out. Altered or corrected documents are not valid for payment and accounting records. Incorrect accounting documents must be invalidated by crossing them out.

- Accounting documents must be prepared in the prescribed number of copies. In cases where multiple copies of accounting documents are required for a single economic and financial transaction, the contents must be identical across copies.

- The preparer, approver, and other signatories of the accounting document must be responsible for the content of the accounting document.

- Accounting documents prepared in electronic form must comply with Article 17 of the 2015 Accounting Law, Clauses 1 and 2 of Article 18 of the 2015 Accounting Law. Electronic documents printed on paper and stored according to Article 41 of the 2015 Accounting Law. In cases where they are not printed but stored electronically, safety, data security must be ensured and accessible within the storage period.