According to Mr. Nguyen Hoang Tuan, Official Letter No. 1237/TCHQ-TXNK dated March 8, 2018 of the General Department of Customs was issued to provide general guidance to provincial and municipal customs departments on implementing regulations for customs-value inspection. However, the General Department of Customs would review the specific calculation methods and how each surcharge should be added to the customs value, and would issue detailed guidance on calculating each type of surcharge for the taxable value of imported goods.

Responding to a recent petition from the Vietnam Logistics Business Association (VLA) concerning the addition of CIC, container-cleaning and D/O charges to the declared customs value, the Deputy Director of the Import-Export Duty Department said that the Department had received VLA’s recommendations. In the spirit of considering reasonable proposals, the Department was reviewing the matter and would submit an implementation plan to the leadership of the General Department of Customs, Mr. Nguyen Hoang Tuan emphasized.

In its document sent to the General Department of Customs, VLA proposed excluding D/O charges from the additions used to determine the taxable value of imported goods, and declaring only ordinary container-cleaning charges as additions when determining the taxable value of imported goods.

VLA also proposed that the General Department of Customs work with the General Department of Taxation to ensure consistency in VAT treatment of adjustment additions such as CIC/EIS, D/O and container-cleaning charges. Under VAT regulations, international O/F transportation is subject to a 0% VAT rate. Accordingly, under the VAT Law and guidance from the General Department of Taxation for enterprises engaged in international transportation, only international transportation O/F and EXW (overseas origin forwarding charges) are subject to the 0% rate, while other charges such as THC, D/O, CIS and container cleaning are subject to 10% VAT.

Another recommendation made by VLA was that the General Department of Customs should not conduct post-clearance inspections or retroactively collect tax on declarations that did not include adjustment surcharges such as CIS, D/O and container-cleaning charges before the guidance in Official Letter No. 1237/TCHQ-TXNK dated March 8, 2018.