Shall duties on imports be paid before customs clearance in Vietnam?

Shall duties on imports be paid before customs clearance in Vietnam?

Based on Article 9 of the Law on Export and Import Duties 2016 stipulating the tax payment deadline as follows:

Tax payment deadline

1. Duties on exports and imports must be paid before customs clearance or release of goods as stipulated by the Customs Law, except for cases stipulated in Clause 2 of this Article.

In cases where a credit institution guarantees the amount of tax payable, customs clearance or release of goods is permitted, but the late payment interest must be paid as stipulated by the Law on Tax Administration from the date of customs clearance or goods release to the date of tax payment. The maximum guarantee period is 30 days from the date of registration of the customs declaration.

If the guarantee period has expired and the taxpayer has not paid the tax and late payment interest, the guaranteeing institution is responsible for paying the full tax and late payment interest on behalf of the taxpayer.

2. Taxpayers entitled to preferential policies as stipulated by the Customs Law can pay taxes for customs declarations already cleared or released within the month, no later than the tenth day of the following month. Beyond this period, if the taxpayer has not paid the tax, they must pay the full tax debt and late payment interest as stipulated by the Law on Tax Administration.

Thus, based on the aforementioned regulations, imports subject to tax must be paid before customs clearance or release of goods, except for cases stipulated in Clause 2, Article 9 of the Law on Export and Import Duties 2016.

Shall duties on imports be paid before customs clearance in Vietnam? (Image from the Internet)

When is the deadline for paying late payment interest for imports in Vietnam?

Based on Clause 1, Article 9 of Circular 06/2021/TT-BTC which stipulates:

Guidance on Clause 9, Article 59 of the Law on Tax Administration regarding procedures for handling late tax payment

1. Cases requiring payment of late payment interest, calculation method, and calculation period shall be implemented as per Clauses 1, 2, and 4 of Article 59 of the Law on Tax Administration. The customs authority does not calculate late payment interest as per Clause 5 of Article 59, Clause 1 of Article 60, and Clause 4 of Article 62 of the Law on Tax Administration.

Based on Clause 9, Article 59 of the Law on Tax Administration 2019, cases where taxpayers must pay late tax payment interest for imported and exported goods include:

- The taxpayer is late in paying taxes beyond the prescribed deadlines, tax payment extension deadlines, deadlines stated in notifications of tax administration agencies, deadlines in tax assessment or handling decisions of tax administration agencies;

- The taxpayer amends tax declaration dossiers resulting in an increase in payable taxes or tax administration agencies, competent state agencies inspecting, auditing, discover under-declared tax amounts which necessitate paying late payment interest on the increased payable tax amount from the day following the last day of tax payment deadline of the taxable period with errors or from the deadline of the original customs declaration;

- The taxpayer amends tax declaration dossiers reducing refunded tax amounts or tax administration agencies, competent state agencies inspecting, auditing, discover refunded tax amounts smaller than the refunded tax amounts received, requiring paying late payment interest on the refunded tax amounts to be recovered from the date receiving the refund from the state budget;

- Cases of paying tax arrears in installments as stipulated in Clause 5 of Article 124 of the Law on Tax Administration 2019;

- Cases not subjected to administrative sanctions for tax management violations due to expiration of sanction time limit but being collected for insufficient tax amounts as stipulated in Clause 3, Article 137 of the Law on Tax Administration 2019;

- Cases not subjected to administrative sanctions on tax management for violations stipulated in Clause 3 and Clause 4, Article 142 of the Law on Tax Administration 2019;

- Agencies, organizations authorized by tax administration agencies for tax collection delaying the transfer of tax amounts, late payment interest, penalties of taxpayers to the state budget must pay late payment interest on delayed transferred amounts as stipulated.

What are regulations on handling of failure to pay taxes in the correct order in Vietnam?

Based on point c, Clause 3, Article 47 of Circular 38/2015/TT-BTC stipulated as follows:

Order of Payment for Taxes, Late Payment Interest, Penalties

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3. The State Treasury, customs authority coordinate to exchange information on tax collection, late payment interest, and penalties to determine the order and collect according to the prescribed order. To be specific:

...

c) In cases where taxpayers pay taxes, late payment interest, penalties not in the correct order, the customs authority issues an adjustment order for the collected taxes, sends it to the State Treasury for adjustment, and notifies taxpayers about the adjusted tax amounts, late payment interest, penalties; or requires taxpayers to pay other outstanding taxes, late payment interest, penalties according to the correct payment order. exports and imports of new customs declarations can only be cleared when taxpayers have no overdue tax debts, late payment interest, penalties;

Thus, when the taxpayer for imports has delayed payments, the customs authority handles by issuing an adjustment order for the collected taxes, sending it to the State Treasury for adjustment, and notifying the taxpayer about the adjusted amounts of taxes, late payment interest, penalties, or the tax authority may require the taxpayer to pay other outstanding taxes, late payment interest, penalties according to the correct payment sequence.