In response to the difficulties of some local customs units in determining special consumption tax on alcoholic beverages, the General Department of Customs has issued specific instructions.

Clause 1, article 2 of the 2008 Law on Special Consumption Tax stipulates that alcohol and beer are subject to special consumption tax; clause 4, article 1 of the law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Special Consumption Tax also stipulates that from January 1, 2018, alcohol under 20 degrees will have a tax rate of 35%.

Nhon Trach Customs officers, Dong Nai Customs Department guide enterprises on procedures. Photo: N.H

In addition, clause 1, article 2 of the Law on Prevention of Harmful Effects of Alcohol and Beer 2019 stipulates: Alcohol is a food-based alcoholic beverage, produced from the fermentation process from one or a mixture of raw materials mainly from starch of cereals, sugar solution of plants, flowers, tubers, fruits or beverages made from food-based alcohol.

Based on the opinions of specialized units and the direction of the Ministry of Finance, the General Department of Customs assigns units that have problems to check the records, information and actual imported goods based on current regulations to determine the nature of the goods and apply the special consumption tax policy.

In case there is sufficient basis to determine that the imported goods meet the concept of "alcohol" as prescribed in Clause 1, Article 2 of the Law on Prevention of Harmful Effects of Alcohol and Beer, this beverage product is subject to special consumption tax. At the same time, the application of special consumption tax rates is based on the alcohol content of the product.

In case of any problems, the General Department of Customs requests units to collect records and documents of specific cases and propose solutions to the General Department of Customs to report to the competent authority for settlement.