Collecting over 4,900 billion VND in taxes when importing donated cars

The Ministry of Finance said that according to reports from provincial and municipal customs departments that imported passenger cars as gifts from 2012 to May 31, 2022, the total amount of tax: import, special consumption, value added as declared by customs declarants is 9,476 billion VND. However, the total amount of tax that the customs authority determined the price according to regulations and determined the amount of tax payable is 14,403 billion VND. According to the Ministry of Finance, the total additional tax difference after the customs authority determined the value and determined the tax compared to the amount of tax declared by customs declarants is 4,927 billion VND and is fully collected before customs clearance.

Responding to the petition of Hanoi voters on tax management for imported cars as gifts, Minister of Finance Ho Duc Phoc said that he has directed the General Department of Customs to regularly review the results of determining the tax value of imported cars as gifts to ensure the correct and sufficient collection of tax on donated cars; at the same time, coordinate with domestic tax authorities to collect income tax.

According to the feedback of voters in Hanoi, at the end of May 2022, the sophisticated law-evading and profiteering network of the supercar import network through the form of gifts and presents carried out by many subjects was exposed. With this form of import, businesses can declare taxes many times lower than the real value of the car, thereby profiting from the tax difference, the tax loss can be up to thousands of billions of VND each year. Therefore, voters in Hanoi have requested the Ministry of Finance to clearly state the responsible agencies and units, and strictly handle any violations, if any, in the case of importing luxury cars "disguised" as gifts.

Responding to tax management for imported cars as gifts, the Ministry of Finance said that in Clause 3, Article 86 of the Customs Law No. 54/2014/QH13 dated June 23, 2014; Clause 2, Article 20 of Decree No. 08/2015/ND-CP dated January 21, 2015, amended and supplemented in Clause 8, Article 1 of Decree No. 59/2018/ND-CP dated April 20, 2018 of the Government, the customs value of imported goods is the actual price payable up to the first import border gate.

Along with that, based on Clause 1, Article 3 of Circular No. 39/2015/TT-BTC dated March 25, 2015 of the Ministry of Finance, amended and supplemented in Clause 2, Article 1 of Circular 60/2019/TT-BTC dated August 30, 2019, customs declarants shall self-declare and self-determine customs value according to the principles and methods of determining customs value as prescribed by law and shall be responsible before the law for the accuracy and honesty of the contents of self-declaration and self-determined customs value.

Pursuant to Clause 3, Article 3 of Circular No. 39/2015/TT-BTC dated March 25, 2015 of the Ministry of Finance, amended and supplemented in Clause 2, Article 1 of Circular No. 60/2019/TT-BTC dated August 30, 2019, the customs authority shall determine the customs value in cases where there is a basis for determining that the customs value declared or determined by the customs declarant is not appropriate...

According to the Ministry of Finance, based on legal regulations, for imported goods not for commercial purposes such as gifts, customs declarants are responsible for self-declaring and self-determining customs value.

In addition, donated cars are not exempt from tax but must pay tax like commercially imported cars when going through customs procedures.

The Ministry of Finance affirmed that, based on the declaration of the customs declarant, the customs authority has conducted an inspection, re-determined the taxable value according to regulations and determined the outstanding tax amount for imported cars as gifts, the customs declarant must pay the full tax amount before clearing and releasing the goods.

However, due to the nature of this type of goods without sales documents such as sales contracts or commercial invoices, Circular No. 39/2015/TT-BTC dated March 25, 2015 stipulates customs value for exported and imported goods. In case the customs authority has grounds to determine that the declared value of the customs declarant is not appropriate, the customs authority has the right to determine the customs value according to the provisions of the law on customs value before clearing and releasing the goods.

Therefore, to ensure the correct and sufficient collection of tax on gifted cars, the Ministry of Finance directs the General Department of Customs to regularly review the results of determining the taxable value of imported cars according to the type of gift. At the same time, coordinate with domestic tax authorities to collect income tax.

According to Tin Tuc newspaper