Circular No. 218/2015/TT-BTC guiding policies and tax management for traders conducting buying and selling, exchange of goods at border markets, customs clearance markets, and markets within border economic zones pursuant to Decision No. 52/2015/QĐ-TTg dated October 20, 2015 of the Prime Minister.

CIRCULAR

Guidelines on tax policy and management for traders conducting buying and selling, exchange of goods at border markets, customs clearance markets, and markets within Border Economic Zones pursuant to Decision No. 52/2015/QĐ-TTg dated October 20, 2015 of the Prime Minister. of the Prime Minister.

Pursuant to the Law on Tax Administration No. 78/2006/QH10 dated November 29, 2006; the Law Amending and Supplementing Certain Provisions of the Law on Tax Administration No. 21/2012/QH13 dated November 20, 2012; the Law Amending and Supplementing Certain Provisions of Various Tax Laws No. 71/2014/QH13 dated November 26, 2014;

Pursuant to Decree No. 51/2010/NĐ-CP dated May 14, 2010 and Decree No. 04/2014/NĐ-CP dated January 17, 2014 of the Government on invoices for goods sales and service provision;

Pursuant to the Law on Trade No. 36/2005/QH11 dated June 14, 2005;

Pursuant to Decree No. 12/2015/NĐ-CP dated February 12, 2015 of the Government detailing the implementation of the Law Amending and Supplementing Certain Provisions of Various Tax Laws and Amending and Supplementing Certain Provisions of Decrees on Tax;

Pursuant to Decree No. 187/2013/NĐ-CP dated November 20, 2013 of the Government detailing the implementation of the Law on Trade regarding international trade activities and agency purchase, sale, processing, and transit of goods with foreign countries;

Pursuant to Decision No. 52/2015/QĐ-TTg dated October 20, 2015 of the Prime Minister on managing cross-border trade activities with neighboring countries;

Pursuant to Decree No. 215/2013/NĐ-CP dated December 23, 2013 of the Government on the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Finance.

Considering the proposal of the Director General of the State Revenue总局局长的提议，

财政部长根据上述规定发布关于对在边境市场、口岸市场和边境经济区市场进行买卖和货物交换活动的商人的税收政策和管理的规定如下：

Part I

GENERAL GUIDELINES

Article 1. Scope of Regulation

This Circular provides guidelines on tax policies and management for traders conducting buying and selling, exchange of goods at border markets, customs clearance markets, and markets within Border Economic Zones.

Article 2. Scope of Application

1. Traders conducting buying and selling, exchange of goods at border markets, customs clearance markets, and markets within Border Economic Zones as stipulated in Article 18 of Decision No. 52/2015/QĐ-TTg dated October 20, 2015 of the Prime Minister include:

- Individual traders holding Vietnamese nationality and having permanent residence registration in border areas.

- Vietnamese enterprises and business households established and registered in accordance with the provisions of the Enterprise Registration Law.

- Individual traders holding nationality of a neighboring country, possessing one of the following valid documents: Border Identity Card, Border Area Exit-Entry Permit, Passport, or other exit-entry documents issued in accordance with the laws of the neighboring country and recognized by the competent authority of Vietnam through issuance of a Business Registration Certificate in accordance with the regulations.

- Enterprises and business households of a neighboring country that have been issued a Business Registration Certificate in accordance with the laws of the neighboring country.

2. Tax authorities, customs authorities, and related organizations and individuals.

Part II

TAX POLICY, INVOICE USE, AND MANAGEMENT FOR TRADERS ENGAGED IN BUYING AND SELLING, EXCHANGE OF GOODS AT BORDER MARKETS, CUSTOMS CLEARANCE MARKETS, AND MARKETS WITHIN BORDER ECONOMIC ZONES

Article 3. Tax policy for organizations and individuals engaged in business activities

1. Merchants conducting buying and selling, trading goods at border markets, customs gate markets, and markets within Border Economic Zones shall pay value-added tax, corporate income tax, personal income tax, and other types of taxes, fees, and charges in accordance with current tax laws.

2. Merchants conducting buying and selling, trading goods at border markets, customs gate markets, and markets within Border Economic Zones must have sufficient documentation to prove the origin of goods before selling them to ensure that imported goods have been fully taxed at the import stage as prescribed, specifically:

- In cases where goods are collected from border residents, merchants must have sufficient documentation as stipulated in Decision No. 52/2015/QĐ-TTg dated October 20, 2015, of the Government Prime Minister and guidelines from the Ministry of Finance to prove that the collected goods have completed customs procedures, paid all required taxes, and fulfilled other obligations as prescribed.

- In cases where goods are directly imported by merchants, they must have sufficient documentation as prescribed by the Customs Law and guidelines from the Ministry of Finance.

- In cases where goods are purchased from other organizations or individuals engaged in business activities, they must have invoices issued by the seller organization or individual in accordance with the law on invoices.

3. Goods exported under the form of cross-border trade by merchants who are enterprises will be refunded value-added tax if they meet the conditions prescribed by the current law on value-added tax.

Article 4. Use of Invoices

1. Merchants conducting buying and selling, trading goods at border markets, customs gate markets, and markets within Border Economic Zones must use invoices as prescribed. When selling goods worth VND 200,000 or more per transaction, they must issue an invoice to the buyer and bear responsibility for the origin of the goods. If the buyer does not take the invoice or does not provide their name, address, and taxpayer identification number (if applicable) when purchasing goods worth VND 200,000 or more per transaction, the merchant still must issue an invoice and clearly note "buyer did not take invoice" or "buyer did not provide name, address, taxpayer identification number."

The date of issuance of the invoice for sales transactions is the time of transfer of ownership or use rights of the goods to the buyer, regardless of whether payment has been received or not.

2. For merchants who are households or individuals engaged in business

Households and individuals engaged in business in border areas, customs gate areas, and within Border Economic Zones must retain sufficient documentation to prove the origin of goods according to the guidance provided in Clause 2, Article 3 of this Circular.

Monthly, households and individuals engaged in business must declare revenue based on invoices in the Invoice Usage Report Form No. 01/BC-SDHĐ-CNKD issued together with Circular No. 92/2015/TT-BTC dated June 15, 2015, of the Ministry of Finance, and must pay value-added tax and personal income tax generated from invoices monthly (once per month). The deadline for submitting the Invoice Usage Report and paying taxes is no later than the 20th day of the following month.

3. For merchants who are enterprises

- Enterprises must use printed invoices or invoices purchased from the tax authority as prescribed, use electronic invoices according to the schedule set by the tax authority, and must maintain accounting records as required for enterprises.

- When selling goods, enterprises must issue an invoice to the buyer as prescribed and bear responsibility for the origin of the goods, and must retain sufficient documentation to prove the origin of the goods according to the guidance provided in Clause 2, Article 3 of this Circular.

- Enterprises must submit the Invoice Usage Status Report (Form 3.9 Appendix 3 issued together with Circular No. 39/2014/TT-BTC dated March 31, 2014, of the Ministry of Finance) monthly. The deadline for submitting the Invoice Usage Report is no later than the 20th day of the following month.

Article 5. Declaration and Payment of Tax

1. Trading entities that are enterprises subject to this Circular shall declare and pay value-added tax monthly; provisionally pay corporate income tax quarterly and settle corporate income tax at year-end in accordance with the Law on Tax Administration and guiding documents issued by the Ministry of Finance.

Sales revenue from selling goods is determined based on the monthly value-added tax declaration form.

2. The declaration and payment of tax under the quota method for households and individuals engaged in business operations shall be carried out in accordance with Circular No. 92/2015/TT-BTC dated June 15, 2015, and guiding documents issued by the Ministry of Finance.

The annual tax quota revenue is established based on: the previous year's tax quota revenue level; the individual's self-declared revenue; tax authority database; customs authority database; economic growth forecast and price indices; and advice from the Village, Ward, Town Tax Advisory Council.

Article 6. Tax Management

In the process of managing taxes for traders conducting buying and selling, exchange of goods at border markets, customs clearance markets, and markets within Border Economic Zones, the tax authority must conduct monthly inspections, focusing on the following aspects:

- Checking and comparing the invoice usage report (Invoice Usage Report Form No. 01/BC-SDHĐ-CNKD issued together with Circular No. 92/2015/TT-BTC dated June 15, 2015 of the Ministry of Finance) with the actual invoice usage situation at the business household. If during inspection it is found that there is behavior of selling goods without issuing invoices to buyers, the tax authority will handle the recovery of taxes and impose penalties for tax evasion according to the laws on tax administration.

- Verifying the value of goods sold recorded on invoices: if consulting the customs authority's price reference database and provisions of the Law on Tax Administration shows that there is insufficient documentation to confirm that the value of goods sold recorded on invoices does not match market prices, the tax authority will determine the value as the basis for calculating the amount of value-added tax, personal income tax, and corporate income tax payable according to the invoices.

- If during inspection it is discovered that sales revenue from imported goods, types of goods do not match the origin of goods, values of goods on Customs Declarations, or collected goods have not completed customs procedures and paid taxes on purchased goods, the tax authority will provide information to the customs authority so that the customs authority can recover taxes at the import stage according to regulations.

Article 7. Principles of Coordination between Tax Authorities and Customs Authorities

During the tax management process, the tax authority shall utilize data from the customs authority to compare with the sales revenue declared by traders. If discrepancies are found indicating unreasonable values (imported goods value higher than sales revenue, or high sales revenue but low imported goods value), the tax authority will coordinate with other competent agencies to inspect warehouses to determine inventory levels, serving as the basis for adjusting the quota revenue of households and individuals engaged in business operations according to tax laws and handling according to relevant laws.

Part III

IMPLEMENTATION

Article 8. Effective Date

1. This Circular shall take effect 45 days from the date of signature.

2. Other contents regarding invoice management and tax collection for traders engaged in buying and selling, exchange of goods at border markets, customs clearance markets, and markets within Border Economic Zones not covered by this Circular shall be implemented in accordance with existing valid regulatory legal documents.

Article 9. Responsibility for implementation

1. The People's Committees of provinces and centrally governed cities shall direct competent agencies to implement strictly in accordance with the provisions of Decision No. 52/2015/QĐ-TTg of the Government Prime Minister and the guidance of the Ministry of Finance.

2. Tax authorities at all levels shall have the responsibility to disseminate and guide organizations and individuals to implement in accordance with the contents of this Circular.

3. Organizations and individuals subject to the regulations of this Circular shall comply with the guidance provided in this Circular.

In the course of implementation, if there are any difficulties, organizations and individuals are requested to report to the Ministry of Finance for timely resolution./.