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Mr. Nguyen Quang Hung, representative of the Import-Export Duty Department, under the GDVC shared information about the orientation of building tax management policies for goods imported through e-commerce platforms at the 33rd ADGCM on May 21, 2024. Photo: H.Nu

At the press conference introducing the host by Vietnam Customs for the 33rd ASEAN Directors-General of Customs Meeting (ADGCM) on May 21, Nguyen Thi Viet Nga Deputy Director of the International Cooperation Department under the General Department of Vietnam Customs (GDVC) announced that the ADGCM will take place from June 4-6 in Phu Quoc City, Kien Giang province.

At the meeting, delegates of member Customs administrations, partners, international will discuss on 12 topics under the agenda.

According to the Deputy Director, over the past time, e-commerce has developed rapidly, posing certain challenges in customs control for the field. At the 33rd ADGCM, representatives of Customs administrations of countries in the region will share their experience in customs control for e-commerce. Especially, providing solutions and management methods to match with the development of the booming field.

At the meeting, ASEAN Customs will propose partners countries such as Japan, Korea and China to share experiences in customs control for Customs administrations of SEAN member states to consult and learn.

From those experiences, Vietnam Customs will research and report to the Vietnamese Government to promulgate the most appropriate regulations on tax policies for goods imported through e-commerce platforms.

After the representative announced contents related to customs control for e- commerce that will be discussed at the meeting, some press agencies asked the Customs’ representative about the VAT collection on small-value imported goods through e-commerce platforms.

Responding to the question from the press agencies, the representative of the Import-Export Duty Department said that the Vietnamese Government is very interested in this content, and directs Vietnam Customs to assess to improve tax policy, aiming to achieve the goal of developing e-commerce while preventing revenue loss.

The representative cited provisions of current legal documents as saying that the imported goods worth less thanVND1 million transacted through e-commerce activities (sent via express delivery service) are exempt from Import tax and VAT.

However, many opinions suggested that the need to research and apply the value of goods subject to import tax exemption in line with the reality to prevent the state revenue loss. Therefore, the Ministry of Finance develops a draft Decree stipulating the issue.

The Customs determined that the development of e-commerce will promote the economy, but will also cause many difficulties for management, especially tax management. In order to comply with Vietnam Law as well as international agreements, the drafting agencies considers carefully provisions on tax policy.

When a field develops strongly, before promulgating regulations, there needs to be a process of research and collection of experience from countries in the region and the world to ensure the goal of facilitating while preventing the revenue loss, and help customs declarants and businesses to comply and fulfill tax obligations.

In the draft Decree, the Ministry of Finance proposes to apply tax policies on goods imported through e-commerce platforms with the declared value of each order of 2 million VND or less, which will have to be paid VAT.

According to the representative of the Import-Export Duty Department, after studying and developing the draft and report, the Government requests relevant ministries and branches to coordinate in assessing the impact and researching experiences of countries in the region on VAT collection on goods valued at two million or less, which are imported via e-commerce platforms.