Customs officers of Saigon Port Zone 1Customs Branch at work. Photo: Thu Hoa

The Ho Chi Minh City Customs Department is facing difficultly in handling excessive imported raw materials, supplies after production and excessive processed products after export. According to Point E, Clause 3, Article 10 of Decree 134/2016/ND-CP, amended and supplemented by point DD, Clause 2, Article 12 of Decree 18/2021/ND-CP, whether the taxpayer has to register a new customs declaration and tax payment to the customs agency? there is confusion over when this should be made.

According to the Ho Chi Minh City Customs Department, for the remaining raw materials after production or excessive goods after export, depending on the nature of the commodity, it is necessary to specify the time required to change the intended use because it is possible the remaining goods are inventoried for management over years. Meanwhile, there is no specific regulation on how long it should take to declare a change of purpose, which also makes it difficult for the Customs authority to monitor.

In this regard, the General Department of Customs said that as per Article 25 of Decree 08/2015/ND-CP, and as amended and supplemented in Clause 12, Article 1 of Decree 59/2018/ND-CP, goods that are not exported for any reason do not need new customs declarations and tax payments.

For remaining raw materials or products that have not been exported, enterprises must report the import-export-inventory as prescribed in Clause 2, Article 60 of Circular 38/2015/ TT-BTC, amended and supplemented in Clause 39, Article 1 of Circular 39/2018/TT-BTC.

The current tax laws do not stipulate time limits for inventory or change of purpose for remaining raw materials, supplies, or processed and manufactured products for export which have not been exported.

However, if the customs authority detects signs of fraud, tax evasion or other violations causing loss of revenue to the State budget, the customs authority will conduct a post-customs clearance inspection to make the tax assessment as prescribed in Article 17 of Decree 126/2020/ND-CP.