CIRCULAR NO. 52 TC/TCT GUIDING THE HANDLING OF LATE PAYMENT FINES FOR EXPORT AND IMPORT TAXES.

CIRCULAR

Guidelines for handling late payment fines for export tax and import tax

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Based on Decree No. 54/CP dated August 28, 1993 of the Government detailing the implementation of the Law on Export Tax and Import Tax and the Law amending and supplementing certain articles of the Law on Export Tax and Import Tax.

In accordance with the directive of the Prime Minister in Circular No. 1209/KTTH dated March 14, 1994 regarding the handling of late payment fines for export and import taxes, the Ministry of Finance provides specific guidelines for handling late payment fines for export tax and import tax as follows:

1) For units with customs declarations for exported goods and imported goods registered before April 1, 1992 that still owe export and import taxes, the customs authority shall apply coercive measures: suspend export and import procedures and notify the Ministry of Trade to stop issuing export and import permits to the unit in accordance with the spirit of Circular No. 1888 TC/TCT dated October 12, 1992 of the Ministry of Finance.

For units with customs declarations for exported goods and imported goods registered before April 1, 1992, if they have paid all overdue tax debts, the provincial customs authority will handle the exemption of late payment fines for the unit.

2) For units with overdue tax debts and late payment fines for export tax and import tax from customs declarations for exported and imported goods from April 1, 1992 onwards, the customs authority will impose late payment fines and apply coercive measures: suspend export and import procedures and notify the Ministry of Trade to stop issuing export and import permits according to Decree No. 110-HĐBT dated March 31, 1992 of the Council of Ministers (now the Government) and Decree No. 54/CP dated August 28, 1993 of the Government.

Late payment fines for customs declarations for exported and imported goods from April 1, 1992 onwards will be handled as follows:

a) For late payment fines arising from customs declarations registered from April 1, 1992 until the new late payment rate was applied (September 1, 1993), if all outstanding tax debts have been paid, the units will be granted a reduction of 60% (sixty percent) of the late payment fines for these customs declarations. The determination of the 60% reduction in late payment fines will be carried out for each customs declaration for exported and imported goods.

The provincial customs authority will proceed with the procedure to reduce 60% of the late payment fines, while requiring the units to immediately pay the remaining 40% of the late payment fines into the State Budget.

For units eligible for a 60% reduction in late payment fines for export tax and import tax who have fully paid (paid 100%) the late payment fines, the provincial customs authority will determine the amount of late payment fines for export tax and import tax that the unit must pay as 40%. The 60% reduction in late payment fines already paid will be deducted from the late payment fines or taxes due in the next period.

b) For cases where tax refunds are processed according to the Law such as:

- Goods are imported materials for producing export goods.

- Temporarily imported goods for re-export, temporarily exported goods for re-import.

If there is a delay in paying the tax, a late payment fine will be imposed according to the Law.

The time for determining late payment fines for export tax and import tax in these cases is calculated from the day exceeding the tax payment deadline officially notified by the customs authority to the actual date of exporting finished products or re-exporting/re-importing. Specifically as follows:

+ For goods that are imported materials for producing export goods, if more than 90 days have passed from the day the unit received the official notification from the customs authority to the actual date of exporting finished products.

+ For temporarily imported goods, if more than 30 days have passed from the day the unit received the official notification from the customs authority to the actual date of re-exporting.

+ For temporarily exported goods, if more than 15 days have passed from the day the unit received the official notification from the customs authority to the actual date of re-importing.

For cases where late payment fines for taxes were incorrectly calculated as mentioned above, the customs authority will reassess the amount of late payment fines for taxes for the unit.

c) No late payment fines for export tax and import tax will be imposed on cases exempted from tax or considered for tax exemption according to the Law and government regulations; cases exempted from tax according to specific directives of the Government or not required to pay export tax and import tax according to the Law on Export Tax and Import Tax include:

- Temporarily exported goods for re-importation, permitted by competent state authorities, if actually re-imported within the prescribed tax payment period of 15 days.

- Temporarily imported goods for re-exportation, permitted by competent state authorities, if actually re-exported within the prescribed tax payment period of 30 days.

- Cases where goods produced using imported materials have been exported within the prescribed tax payment period of 90 days.

If units are not eligible for tax exemption or do not need to pay tax, the handling of late payment fines will still be calculated according to general regulations.

d) For cases where late payment fines for export tax and import tax were initially announced by the customs authority but later revised due to objective reasons (such as customers delivering goods late or not complying with the contract regarding quantity, quality, specifications, or design), the late payment fines will be calculated based on the actual tax amounts determined after revision.

3) For consignments of exported and imported goods before September 1, 1993 that have fully paid off their overdue tax debts but are unable to pay the late payment fines, the Ministry of Finance will consider granting exemptions or reductions in late payment fines on a case-by-case basis, such as:

a) Cases where tax refunds for exported and imported goods have been processed (in the form of central budget support for local budgets or support for units).

b) Units genuinely facing difficulties due to objective reasons, confirmed by the local tax bureau and recommended by the provincial People's Committee or the main department, such as newly established units (from mergers or dissolution of old units) with tax debts and penalties from the old units.

The waiver of late payment penalties for these cases shall only be implemented for import and export declaration forms that have paid all taxes before July 1, 1994.

The People's Committees of provinces and cities and Ministries and ministerial-level agencies under the Government shall direct subordinate units to properly carry out tax debt repayment and late payment penalty repayment for import and export taxes according to the prescribed regulations to avoid prolonged arrears.

The General Department of Customs shall direct customs offices in provinces and cities to implement uniformly and strictly in accordance with regulations, urging units still in arrears to promptly pay their tax debts and late payment penalties into the State Budget./.