Focus: Export Goods Discounted After Customs Clearance - Additional Declaration Obligations and VAT-Related Risks
Dear Readers,
Exporting goods often involves complex commercial arrangements, including discounts or rebates. It is very common for these price adjustments to be determined only after the goods have passed through customs and have been cleared.
Through consulting work, Vinasc has identified an important risk that many export enterprises may not have fully anticipated: handling data discrepancies when these discounts arise.
Risk analysis from Vinasc
According to current legal regulations (specifically Article 20 of Circular 38/2015/TT-BTC and related guiding documents), important information indicators such as “invoice value”, “unit price” and “tax value” ARE INDICATORS ALLOWED TO BE ADDITIONALLY DECLARATED after the goods have cleared customs.
However, serious legal risks will arise if businesses forget or fail to carry out this additional declaration procedure.
Consider the conflict situation that arises (if no additional declaration is made):
- At the time of export: The enterprise opens a customs declaration with the original value (for example: 100 billion VND).
- After customs clearance: The enterprise generates a trade discount for the customer (e.g., 10 billion VND) according to the agreement in the contract. The enterprise issues an invoice to adjust the revenue reduction.
- Conflict arises:
- On the accounting books: Actual revenue (basis for VAT declaration) is 90 billion VND .
- On the Customs system: The value of goods is still 100 billion VND (because the enterprise has not made additional declaration to adjust the value).
This “incorrect” data is a huge risk when businesses declare 0% VAT and especially when making VAT refund dossiers.
Consequences and Recommendations from Vinasc
Direct consequences: When there is a difference (due to failure to make additional declarations) between the data on the customs declaration and the actual revenue in the accounting books, the tax authority when inspecting, examining or approving tax refunds can:
Question the validity of the records.
Complex explanation of discrepancies required.
More seriously, it is possible to reject a part of the revenue enjoying a 0% tax rate or refuse to refund the difference due to inconsistent documents between the two agencies (Tax and Customs).
To protect your rights, Vinasc recommends that your business should proactively:
Actively carry out Supplementary Declaration (Article 20): This is a key requirement. Immediately after issuing the discount/reduction adjustment invoice, the accounting department must coordinate with the import-export department to immediately carry out the additional customs declaration procedure according to the provisions of Article 20 of Circular 38/2015/TT-BTC. The purpose is to adjust the declared value on the customs declaration (from 100 billion to 90 billion) to be consistent with the accounting books.
Contract Transparency: All policies on discounts, rebates… that may arise after delivery must be clearly defined in terms and conditions in the export contract. This is an important legal basis for explaining additional declarations.
Completing Adjustment Documents: Documents such as adjustment invoices, agreement minutes, and debt confirmation with customers must be complete, valid, and are mandatory documents that must be submitted/presented when making additional declarations with the Customs authority.
Ensure data consistency: After successful additional declaration, the value on the customs system (90 billion) and the revenue on the accounting books (90 billion) will be consistent. At that time, the declaration of 0% VAT and the preparation of tax refund documents will have a solid legal basis.
In short, the law allows businesses to adjust customs data after customs clearance. The risk is not in adjusting, but in “forgetting” to adjust , leading to serious data conflicts. Vinasc hopes that this newsletter will help your business promptly review its internal coordination process.
If you have any questions about the above content, do not hesitate to contact us for timely advice and support.
Legal basis for reference: Article 20 of Circular 38/2015/TT-BTC (amended and supplemented) on additional declaration of customs dossiers. Clause 2, Article 9 of Circular 219/2013/TT-BTC on conditions for applying 0% tax rate.