On-site exporting enterprises imported materials for processing and provided processing companies for garment, leather and electronic industries with tax exemption and tax refund as stipulated in Clause 4, Article 12 and Clause 4, Article 15of the  Decree No. 87/2010 / ND-CP. However, the draft amendment of the Decree No. 134/2016 / ND-CP did not mention the elimination of tax exemption for on-spot export activities. Therefore, new documents from the on-site export customs office recently instructed: " The materials used for export have been exempted from tax clearance so far, from September 1, 2016. no longer exempted from tax, so the enterprise must pay the exempted tax, late payment interest and late payment penalty until now ""

The association said that on-spot export was the form of export stipulated in Point c, Clause 1, Article 35 of the Decree No. 08/2015 / ND-CP and Clause 3 Article 53 of the Circular No. 38/2015 / TT- BTC. Accordingly, goods were not exported out of the Vietnamese territory but were still exported, so it must be recognized as an export, similar to that in Korea which was also recognized as a duty-free export. .

However, the customs office's views were still the previous provisions of Decree No. 87/2010 / ND-CP contrary to the Customs Law No. 54/2014 / QH13 and Commercial Law No. 36/2005 / QH11 and on-site export activities did not include export concepts. Therefore, new adjustments would not based on tax exemption for this transaction anymore.

According to the Association and businesses, the Customs agency explained not convincing, applying laws and guidances were  based on administrative directions. Tax exemption measures may be modified or reformed according to the purpose of the policy, but it was important that the revised basis was clear. Otherwise, unclear regulations and formal guidelines if challenged in a unidirectional way will create a loss of confidence for agencies, not only from foreign businesses that trusted for investment. but also other businesses that intended to come to Vietnam to invest in the near future.

The Association proposed that the Ministry of Finance considered the tax exemption basis for on-spot export in the Decree and revised the legal explanation with the guidance on retrospective collection of tax from September 1, 2016 in order to ensure benefits for Korean businesses and other foreign businesses".