Joint Circular No. 71/2000/TTLT/BTC-TCHQ guiding the regime for collection, payment, and management of customs fees

JOINT CIRCULAR

Guidelines for the collection, payment, and management of customs fees

Pursuant to Decree No. 04/1999/NĐ-CP dated January 30, 1999 of the Government on fees and charges under the state budget;

Pursuant to Chapter IV of Decree No. 16/1999/NĐ-CP dated March 27, 1999 of the Government on customs procedures, customs supervision, and customs fees;

The Ministry of Finance and the General Department of Customs provide guidelines for the collection, payment, and management of customs fees as follows:

I- SCOPE OF APPLICATION:

1. Organizations and individuals of Vietnam and foreign organizations and individuals when being regulated by competent authorities of Vietnam regarding customs management as stipulated in Decree No. 16/1999/NĐ-CP dated March 27, 1999 of the Government on customs procedures, customs supervision, and customs fees must pay customs fees according to the provisions of this Circular (except for cases specified in point 2 of this item).

2. The following cases are exempt from paying customs fees:

a) Goods, baggage, and other items that are exempt from customs fees or other fees and charges pursuant to international treaties to which Vietnam is a party, participant, or has agreed upon.

b) Humanitarian aid, non-repayable aid; gifts for state agencies, political organizations, socio-political organizations, social organizations, occupational social organizations, people's armed forces units, and gifts for individuals within the limit not subject to income tax prescribed for high-income earners; personal effects of foreign organizations and individuals under diplomatic immunity regulations; personal baggage.

c) Goods undergoing customs procedures and stored in customs warehouses for completion of customs formalities the next day.

d) Goods exported and imported for immediate consumption.

đ) Escorting ships and goods, baggage transported on ships from buoy number "0" into port areas and vice versa.

II- AMOUNTS AND ORGANIZATION OF COLLECTION AND PAYMENT:

1. The amount of customs fees is set forth in the annexed tables (I, II, III, IV, V) accompanying this Circular. Some specific cases are applied as follows:

a) The following items are subject to a 50% rate of customs fee for customs procedures:

- Exported goods.

- Goods processed for export, gravel, sand, pebbles, fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, fuel oil, gypsum, and various types of ore.

b) Goods temporarily imported for re-export or temporarily exported for re-import shall be charged once at the time of initial import or export customs procedures.

c) Conversion unit: 1 cubic meter equals 1 ton (m3 = ton).

d) In exceptional cases where the customs warehouse storage fee payable is equivalent to or exceeds the value of the goods or baggage, a charge of 30% of the value of the goods or baggage may be applied.

đ) Goods held in customs warehouses beyond six months (for perishable goods such as food, tobacco, etc., two months) from the date of the third notice issued by the customs authority inviting the consignor to collect the goods but the consignor does not respond or no one comes to collect them, the customs authority will organize the sale of the goods according to government regulations. Proceeds from the sale are deposited into a temporary account of the customs authority. Within six months, if the consignor has valid reasons, they can reclaim the proceeds from the sale; after six months, the proceeds must be paid into the state budget after deducting the costs of the sale.

2. Provincial and centrally-administered city customs offices, border gate customs offices, and equivalent customs organizations or legitimate points of entry under provincial and centrally-administered city customs offices have the responsibility to organize the collection of customs fees according to the provisions of this Circular (hereinafter referred to as the customs fee collection agency).

The customs fee collection agency has duties, powers, and responsibilities as stipulated in Article 14 of Decree No. 04/1999/NĐ-CP dated January 30, 1999 of the Government on fees and charges under the state budget.

3. Procedures for collecting and paying customs fees:

Organizations and individuals subject to customs fees (collectively referred to as the consignor) are responsible for declaring the quantity of goods and means of transport to the customs authority for customs procedures according to the customs authority's regulations. Based on the declaration form and accompanying documents for goods or means of transport requesting customs procedures, the customs authority is responsible for checking and informing the consignor of the amount of customs fees to be paid according to the rates specified in this Circular and the deadlines for payment as follows:

- Customs procedure fees must be paid before the customs authority confirms "customs procedures completed."

- Customs warehouse storage fees must be paid before the goods are removed from the customs warehouse.

- Escort fees must be paid before the customs authority performs escort services.

- Customs sealing fees must be paid immediately after the customs authority completes the sealing of goods.

- Transit fees must be paid immediately when handling transit procedures for goods, baggage, and means of transport.

- Fees for issuing replacement customs documents must be paid before the customs authority issues the documents.

Customs fees are collected in Vietnamese dong. If the place of collection does not have a currency exchange point, it may be collected in foreign currency at the average inter-bank exchange rate published by the State Bank of Vietnam. The customs fee collection agency is authorized to open a temporary deposit account for customs fees at the local Treasury. At least once every ten days, the customs fee collection agency is responsible for depositing the collected customs fees into the temporary deposit account of the provincial or centrally-administered city customs office opened at the Treasury. The provincial or centrally-administered city customs office is responsible for monitoring and managing the customs fees deposited by subordinate collection agencies into the state budget according to the guidance provided in point 5 of this item.

The payer of customs fees is responsible for requesting the collector to issue a receipt for the customs fee according to the regulations of the Ministry of Finance. If the collector charges an incorrect amount or collects money without issuing a receipt or proof of payment according to the regulations of the Ministry of Finance, the payer of the customs fee has the right to file a complaint or report the violation of the individual or unit according to Article 16 of Decree No. 04/1999/NĐ-CP dated January 30, 1999 of the Government.

4. The customs sector is allowed to temporarily retain 35% of the total amount of collected customs fees to cover expenses related to the organization of customs fee collection as follows:

- Costs for producing seals, lead seals, and customs sealing paper.

- Storage costs for goods.

- Other expenses as prescribed by regulations.

The entire amount of temporarily withheld fees at the rate of (35%) as stipulated above, the General Department of Customs must consolidate into the annual financial budget, use for the intended purpose, with complete legitimate payment vouchers, settle accounts at year-end, and if not fully utilized, return the remaining amount to the state budget according to the procedures specified in point 5 of this section.

5. Not later than the 15th day of the following month, customs authorities of provinces and cities shall process the submission of 65% of the total amount of collected customs fees from the previous month into the state budget according to the corresponding chapter, type, item, category, sub-item 044 of the state budget as prescribed. The amount of customs fees submitted to the state budget will be fully allocated to the central government budget.

Quarterly and annually, the customs fee collection agency has the responsibility to settle accounts for receipts and results of collections, and submit customs fees to the directly superior customs authority. The customs authorities of provinces and cities shall aggregate and settle accounts for the collection and submission of customs fees to report to the General Department of Customs. Annually, the General Department of Customs shall settle accounts for the collection and submission of customs fees with the Ministry of Finance.

6Handling violations:

Entities responsible for paying, agencies, individuals collecting customs fees, and other individuals violating Decree No. 04/1999/NĐ-CP dated January 30, 1999 of the Government on fees and charges belonging to the state budget and detailed guidance provided in this Circular shall be subject to penalties as prescribed in Article 18, 19, and 20 of Decree No. 04/1999/NĐ-CP of the Government.

III- IMPLEMENTATION

1. The General Department of Customs shall guide, organize, and inspect the collection, submission, and management and use of customs fees in accordance with the provisions of Decree No. 04/1999/NĐ-CP dated January 30, 1999 of the Government and the guidance provided in this Circular.

2. This Circular takes effect 15 days after its date of issuance, replacing Circular Joint Circular No. 45/2000/TTLT/BTC-TCHQ dated May 23, 2000 of the Ministry of Finance and the General Department of Customs guiding the system of collection, submission, and management and use of customs fees. In cases where fees have been collected according to the rates specified in the attached table of rates in Circular Joint Circular No. 45/2000/TTLT/BTC-TCHQ, the difference between the rates specified in Circular No. 45/2000/TTLT/BTC-TCHQ and the rates specified in this Circular shall be refunded.

During implementation, if there are any difficulties, organizations and individuals are requested to promptly reflect them to the Ministry of Finance and the General Department of Customs for study and resolution./.