CIRCULAR NO. 07/2019/TT-BTC AMENDING AND SUPPLEMENTING CERTAIN ARTICLES OF CIRCULAR NO. 72/2015/TT-BTC DATED MAY 12, 2015 OF THE MINISTER OF FINANCE ON THE APPLICATION OF PREFERENTIAL REGIME IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF CUSTOMS PROCEDURES, CUSTOMS INSPECTION, AND CUSTOMS SUPERVISION FOR EXPORTED AND IMPORTED GOODS OF ENTERPRISES

CIRCULAR

AMENDMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTS TO CERTAIN ARTICLES OF CIRCULAR NO. 72/2015/TT-BTC DATED MAY 12, 2015 ISSUED BY THE MINISTER OF FINANCE ON THE APPLICATION OF PREFERENTIAL REGIMES IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF CUSTOMS PROCEDURES, CUSTOMS INSPECTION, AND CUSTOMS SUPERVISION FOR EXPORTED AND IMPORTED GOODS OF ENTERPRISES

Pursuant to the Customs Law dated June 23, 2014;

Pursuant to the Law on Tax Administration dated November 29, 2006; the Law Amending and Supplementing Certain Articles of the Law on Tax Administration dated November 20, 2012;

Pursuant to the Law on Export Duties and Import Duties dated April 6, 2016;

Pursuant to Decree No. 08/2015/NĐ-CP dated January 21, 2015 of the Government detailing and providing implementation measures for the Law on Customs regarding customs procedures, inspection, supervision, and control; Decree No. 59/2018/NĐ-CP dated April 20, 2018 of the Government amending and supplementing certain articles of Decree No. 08/2015/NĐ-CP dated January 21, 2015 of the Government detailing and providing implementation measures for the Law on Customs regarding customs procedures, inspection, supervision, and control;

Pursuant to Decree No. 83/2013/NĐ-CP dated July 22, 2013 of the Government detailing the implementation of certain articles of the Law on Tax Administration and the Law Amending and Supplementing Certain Articles of the Law on Tax Administration; Decree No. 91/2014/NĐ-CP dated October 1, 2014 of the Government amending and supplementing certain articles of decrees on tax;

Article 1. Amending and supplementing some articles of Decision No. 53/2013/QĐ-TTg dated September 13, 2013 of the Prime Minister on temporary importation, re-exportation, destruction, and transfer of motor vehicles and motorcycles with engines for beneficiaries enjoying privileges and immunities in Vietnam

Pursuant to Decree No. 87/2017/NĐ-CP dated July 26, 2017, issued by the Government, stipulating the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Finance;

At the proposal of the Director General of the General Department of Customs,

The Minister of Finance issues this Circular amending and supplementing certain articles of Circular No. 72/2015/TT-BTC dated May 12, 2015 of the Minister of Finance on the application of preferential regimes in the implementation of customs procedures, customs inspection, and customs supervision for exported and imported goods of enterprises.

Article 1. Amend and supplement certain articles of: Circular No. 72/2015/TT-BTC dated May 12, 2015 of the Minister of Finance on the application of preferential regimes in the implementation of customs procedures, customs inspection, and customs supervision for exported and imported goods of enterprises:

1. Amend the title of Article 6 as follows:

“Article 6. Implementation of customs procedures with incomplete declarations”.

2. Amending and supplementing Clause 3 of Article 7 as follows:

"3. Shall be prioritized by customs authorities and port and warehouse business entities to handle cargo delivery and receipt procedures first, and shall be prioritized for customs inspection and supervision."

3. Amending and supplementing Article 8 as follows:

“Article 8. Specialized Inspection

1. Enterprises may store imported goods in their warehouses while awaiting the results of specialized inspections, except where laws on specialized inspections stipulate that goods must be inspected at the border gate.

2. In cases where samples need to be taken for specialized inspections, enterprises shall be prioritized for sample collection."

4. Amending and supplementing Article 9 as follows:

“Article 9. Tax Procedures

1. Shall be eligible for advance tax refunds followed by inspection. The refund application dossier shall be implemented according to Decree No. 134/2016/NĐ-CP dated September 1, 2016 of the Government; the procedures for tax payment submission, acceptance, and processing of refund applications shall be carried out in accordance with Decree No. 134/2016/NĐ-CP dated September 1, 2016 of the Government, Circular No. 38/2015/TT-BTC dated March 25, 2015, and Circular No. 39/2018/TT-BTC dated April 20, 2018 of the Minister of Finance. Based on the self-calculated and self-reported results of enterprises, customs authorities shall check the compliance of the dossier. The decision on tax refund shall not exceed one working day from the date of receiving the valid dossier of the enterprise.

2. The deadline for tax payment for exported and imported goods of priority enterprises shall be implemented in accordance with Clause 2, Article 9 of the Law on Export Duties and Import Duties No. 107/2016/QH13 dated April 6, 2016.

3. Shall be prioritized when implementing tax procedures for exported and imported goods in accordance with the provisions of the law on taxes."

5. Amend the place of submitting the dossier in Clause 1, Article 18 as follows:

"1. Enterprises meeting the conditions stipulated in this Circular and having the desire to apply preferential regimes shall submit paper copies of the dossier to the General Department of Customs for consideration and recognition. The dossier shall comply with the provisions of Points a, b, c, d, đ, and e of Clause 1, Article 18 of Circular No. 72/2015/TT-BTC issued by the Minister of Finance."

6. Amend and supplement Article 19 as follows:

“Article 19. Reviewing Conditions for Applying Preferential Regime

1. Within thirty days from the date of receiving all required documents as stipulated in Article 18 of this Circular, the General Department of Customs shall review and conclude on recognizing the enterprise as a preferred enterprise.

In cases that are complex and require opinions from relevant ministries and sectors, the review period may be extended but not exceeding thirty days.

2. Reviewing Documents.

a) The General Department of Customs shall check the completeness, legality, and validity of the enterprise's and key investment project's documents submitted in accordance with Clause 1 and Clause 2 of Article 18 of this Circular; compare the information provided by the enterprise with the information collected about the enterprise from tax authorities and customs offices where the enterprise has its main office and conducts export and import activities, against the conditions for applying the preferential regime as prescribed in Chapter III of this Circular.

b) If the documents are incomplete according to the regulations, within five working days from the date of receiving the application for applying the preferential regime, the General Department of Customs shall issue a notification for the enterprise to submit additional documents.

c) If the enterprise's documents do not meet the conditions for applying the preferential regime as prescribed, the General Department of Customs shall issue a response to the enterprise, clearly stating the reasons for non-compliance.

d) If the results of checking the enterprise's documents comply with the conditions for applying the preferential regime as prescribed, the General Department of Customs shall conduct an on-site review at the enterprise.

3. On-Site Review at the Enterprise.

a) The General Department of Customs shall organize the on-site review at the enterprise. The contents of the on-site review include:

a.1) Comparing the actual inspection results with the enterprise's declarations.

a.2) Conducting post-clearance inspections at the declarant's premises to assess compliance with laws if, during the most recent continuous twenty-four months up to the time the enterprise submits the application for recognition as a preferred enterprise, the enterprise has not been inspected or post-clearance inspections have not been conducted to evaluate compliance with customs and tax laws.

b) The maximum duration for the on-site review at the enterprise and the project is five working days. If post-clearance inspections at the declarant's premises are required, the implementation period shall follow the laws on post-clearance inspections.

7. Supplement Article 20a as follows:

“Article 20a. Extension of Application of Preferential Regime

Within three months prior to the expiration of the preferential regime extension period, the General Department of Customs shall base its decision on information collected from Tax Departments and Customs Departments of provinces and cities where the enterprise has its main office and conducts export and import activities regarding management outcomes and post-clearance inspection results (if any) to decide on the extension.

8. Amend and supplement Article 23 as follows:

“Article 23. Authority to Recognize, Extend, Temporarily Suspend, and Terminate Application of Preferential Regime

The Director of the General Department of Customs shall decide on recognizing, extending, temporarily suspending, and terminating the application of the preferential regime.

9. Amend and supplement Article 25 as follows:

“Article 25. Management Responsibilities of Customs Authorities

The General Department of Customs shall be responsible for organizing the following:

1. Managing, monitoring, and evaluating the compliance with customs and tax laws by preferred enterprises. The General Department of Customs shall support enterprises in enhancing their compliance capabilities when requested by the enterprises.

2. Annually collecting information on compliance with tax and customs laws from Tax Departments and Customs Departments of provinces and cities where the enterprise has its main office and conducts export and import activities.

3. Inspecting the maintenance of conditions for applying the preferential regime for preferred enterprises and key investment projects that have been recognized and applied the preferential regime upon completion and commencement of operations of the projects.

4. Applying preferential regimes as prescribed in this Circular for preferred enterprises.

5. Notifying and updating the list of preferred enterprises and coordinating with port and warehouse operators to implement preferential regimes for enterprises.

10. Amend Clause 3 and supplement Clause 7 of Article 26 as follows:

“3. Within ninety days from the end of the fiscal year, the enterprise shall submit financial reports and audit reports of the previous year to the General Department of Customs.”

“7. Notify in writing to the General Department of Customs the decision on handling violations of tax and accounting laws by authorized agencies within thirty days from the date of receipt of the decision.”

11. Amend and supplement the model forms issued together with Circular No. 72/2015/TT-BTC dated May 12, 2015, of the Minister of Finance as follows:

a) Amend Model 02a/DNUT, Model 03/DNUT, Model 04/DNUT, Model 05/DNUT, and Model 06/DNUT.

b) Supplement Model 03a/DNUT.

Article 2. Contents to be abolished

1. Delete the phrase "must be carried out by X-ray machine" in Clause 2, Article 5 of Circular No. 72/2015/TT-BTC dated May 12, 2015 issued by the Minister of Finance.

2. Abolish Clause 5, Article 7 of Circular No. 72/2015/TT-BTC dated May 12, 2015 issued by the Minister of Finance.

Article 3. Effectiveness

1. This Circular takes effect from January 28, 2019.

2. In the course of implementation, if any related documents referred to in this Circular are amended, supplemented, or replaced, they shall be implemented according to the newly amended, supplemented, or replaced documents./.