Friday 08 June, 2018
Effective from June 5, 2018, Circular 39/2018/TT-BTC provides enterprises and customs authorities with a basis for implementing Decree 59/ND-CP (amending and supplementing a number of articles of Decree No. 08/2015/ND-CP), which provides detailed regulations on customs procedures, customs inspection, supervision and control.
Harmonizing regulations on customs dossiers
According to a representative of the Customs Supervision and Management Department under the General Department of Customs, one of the important changes introduced by Circular 39/2018/TT-BTC compared with Circular 38/2015/TT-BTC is that regulations on customs dossiers have been standardized and consolidated. Under Circular 38, customs-dossier requirements were scattered across Articles 16, 82, 86, 87, 93, 142 and 143. The number of documents that had to be submitted or presented at customs clearance and post-clearance inspection was not clearly specified, particularly the documents enterprises had to retain at their premises to substantiate completed customs declarations. Consequently, both enterprises and customs officers had difficulty determining which documents had to be submitted during customs procedures, which had to be retained by enterprises, and whether documents already submitted to customs still had to be retained.
To resolve these issues, customs dossiers are now set out concisely in Articles 16 and 16a of Circular 39. Article 16 regulates customs dossiers used when carrying out customs procedures, based on the principle that documents required for submission are those necessary for customs administration. Article 16a regulates retention of customs dossiers for exported and imported goods and lists the documents that customs declarants must retain and present when required for post-clearance inspection or specialized inspection. This improves transparency for both declarants and customs authorities.
Another business-friendly change detailed in Circular 39 is electronic submission of customs dossiers. Regulations allow customs declarants to choose paper or electronic dossiers, but in practice some border-gate customs offices have required paper documents in addition to electronic dossiers. This increases processing time and costs and is inconsistent with administrative reform toward electronic procedures and reduced direct contact. The new regulation is intended to resolve this issue.
Strengthening prevention of customs fraud and violations
Circular 39 also supplements and amends customs-control regulations to strengthen prevention of customs fraud and violations.
It establishes a legal basis for customs authorities to impose tax where, after clearance, taxpayers change the intended use of goods without voluntarily declaring the change, while addressing practical issues arising in post-clearance inspection.
The Circular clarifies how payable tax is determined where original export or import declarations already contained tax amounts. The assessed amount is determined from the relevant declarations and the quantity of goods whose use has changed. The deadline for payment and calculation of late-payment interest follows the tax-payment deadline of the latest export or import declaration, with the aim of minimizing the late-payment amount payable by the taxpayer.
Circular 39 also specifies how payable tax is determined when original declarations contain no tax amount or the tax-calculation basis cannot be determined, and requires the tax-assessment decision to be sent to the taxpayer within eight working hours.
Where the original declaration contains no tax amount or its tax-calculation basis cannot be determined, customs authorities assess tax based on quantity, type, customs value, tax rate, tax-calculation exchange rate and calculation method applicable when the assessment decision is issued.
In addition, Circular 39 amends regulations on receiving and processing applications for tax refunds and non-collection; handling overpaid tax, late-payment interest and fines; and refunding fines.
Circular 39 also regulates cancellation of customs declarations, bringing goods into storage, confirmation of completion of tax obligations, tax exemption/reduction/refund and customs valuation.
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