According to ESOMAR market research:
Vietnam wants to end tax exemption and duty exemption for small-value express imports
Vietnam will impose taxes on small-value goods imported via express delivery. Starting from February 18,
the Government decided to stop exempting VAT on small-value goods imported via express delivery.
Previously, according to Decision No. 78/2010 of the Government, imported goods with a value of less
than VND1 million were exempted from import tax and value added tax when imported via express delivery service.
In addition, gifts and insurance premiums were exempted from import tax.
Decision No. 01 signed by Deputy Prime Minister Ha Defu on January 3 abolished the above Decision No. 78. Therefore,
starting from February 18, goods with a value of less than VND1 million imported via express delivery will no longer
be exempted from import tax and VAT. The Ministry of Finance pointed out that many countries such as the UK, Australia,
Thailand, Singapore, etc. have abolished the VAT exemption for small-value imported goods. Experts from trade
facilitation projects also suggested that Vietnam consider abolishing this regulation.
The tax exemption policy for small-value goods was implemented in 2010 to speed up the customs declaration process
and reduce the number of goods subject to tax. However, with the rapid development of e-commerce, this policy is no longer
applicable. The Ministry of Finance believes that the elimination of the tax exemption is to ensure fair competition and
encourage consumers to buy domestically produced goods.
In recent years, small-value imported goods via express delivery have mainly been purchased directly by domestic
consumers from abroad, mainly through domestic e-commerce platforms such as Shopee, Lazada, Tiki, TikTok
shopas well as cross-border retail platforms such as AliExpress, Shein and Temu. According to a report by e-commerce
data platform Metric in the first nine months of last year, goods worth less than VND200,000 accounted for more
than half of total sales in the Vietnamese e-commerce market. Vietnamese people spend about USD100 million on
online shopping every month. It is estimated that about 4-5 million small-value items are shipped from
China to Vietnam via e-commerce platforms every day.
The removal of tax exemptions is expected to help supplement the state budget. Last year, the total value of imported
goods via express delivery services worth less than VND1 million reached VND27.7 trillion. Accordingly,
after the tax exemption ends, revenue from value-added tax may increase by about VND2.7 trillion.
While the new regulations may increase the tax clearance procedures for small-value goods, the electronic information
system for customs management at ports and warehouses has been improved, enhancing customs clearance capacity
and making the management of imported goods by express delivery, including small-value goods, more centralized and faster.
Vietnam wants to impose taxes on small-value goods imported by express delivery!
ESOMAR Global Research Company will continue to update the latest news on the global market.
ESOMAR Vietnam Representative Office:
Address: 82 Nguyen Xi, Ward 26, Binh Thanh, Ho Chi Minh City
zalo：+84918082815
Contact Phone: 02855598501
Email: [email protected]
Official website (https://www.researchworld-vnm.com/)
Esomar VNM (https://esomarvnm.com/)
