Estimate Vietnam import taxes for one shipment

Order of calculation: why later taxes are charged on top of earlier ones

The import taxes are not calculated side by side on the same number. Each one takes the base of the previous one plus the tax already calculated, so an error in the first step carries through to the last:

1. Customs value - the actual price payable up to the first port of entry, converted to dong.
2. Import duty = customs value x import duty rate.
3. Special consumption tax (if applicable) = (customs value + import duty) x special consumption tax rate.
4. Environmental protection tax (if applicable) = tax per unit x quantity - an absolute amount, not a percentage.
5. Import VAT = (customs value + import duty + special consumption tax + environmental protection tax) x VAT rate.

Customs value: add everything up to the first port of entry

The cut-off is the first port of entry in Vietnam: the port of discharge for sea freight, the airport of unloading for air freight, the border gate for road transport. Costs of bringing the goods to that point borne by the buyer must be in the value; costs after it - handling, storage at the Vietnamese port, trucking to the warehouse - are not. The delivery terms in the contract tell you where the price stops:

Besides transport and insurance, the value may also need to include amounts the buyer pays that are not in the invoice price: selling commissions, brokerage, packaging, moulds or materials supplied to the seller, royalties linked to the goods. The tool has no separate field for these - if the shipment has them, add them directly to the value of the goods.

Import duty rate: why the tool makes you enter it

The same goods can have an ordinary rate, a preferential rate for countries with most-favoured-nation treatment and special preferential rates under each trade agreement - which one applies depends on the eight-digit HS code, the country of origin, a valid C/O and the schedule for the year the declaration is registered. A tool that guesses the HS code and fills in a rate can easily produce a wrong number that looks very certain, so the lookup is left to you. Goods with absolute or mixed duties cannot be entered as a percentage - the tool does not yet handle those lines correctly.

Import VAT: three rates, 0%, 5% and 10%

The VAT Law has three rates, 0%, 5% and 10%; the rate for imported goods depends on the goods. Some groups are not subject to import VAT - in that case choose 0% to see the rest. Some goods groups currently benefit from a VAT reduction under a resolution of the National Assembly; if your goods qualify, the actual rate may be lower, and you need to check the period of application. Companies declaring VAT under the credit method may credit import VAT if the conditions are met - but the money still has to be paid at clearance.

Exchange rate

A foreign-currency value is converted to dong at the tax exchange rate applied by the customs system on the date of registration, updated weekly under current rules. The rate on the day you pay the seller or the rate in your accounting books does not change the tax. The tool uses exactly the rate you enter, so a small difference in the rate changes the whole chain of taxes after it.

What the total does not include

The total in the table is the customs value plus the taxes calculated. It does not include: customs processing fees, storage fees, specialised inspection fees (quality, food safety, quarantine...), forwarding fees, inland transport after the port of entry, or trade remedy duties (anti-dumping, countervailing, safeguard) if the goods are subject to them - these may also change the base of the later taxes; check the documents applying to the goods and country of origin.

Three hypothetical examples

The rates in the examples are assumptions to illustrate the calculation, not the rates of any particular goods.

Common mistakes

• Calculating tax on a FOB or EXW price and forgetting transport and insurance. If the customs value is short, every later tax is short; when customs finds it, the whole chain is reassessed. With EXW the item most often missed is inland haulage in the exporting country, because it is on a different invoice.
• Calculating VAT only on the value of the goods. The import VAT base also includes import duty, special consumption tax and environmental protection tax. Missing this step leaves the quote short of cash exactly when you need to pay to release the goods.
• Assuming a special preferential rate. An agreement rate only applies with a valid C/O in the right form for goods meeting the rules of origin. If the C/O is rejected, the ordinary preferential or ordinary rate applies - plan cash at the higher rate until you are sure.
• Taking the rate from an old table or someone else's quote. The HS nomenclature and agreement schedules change yearly; the applicable rate is the one in force on the date of registration.
• Adding post-arrival costs to the value by mistake, or leaving them in the price without separating them. Storage and handling at the Vietnamese port are not added; but if they are already in the purchase price and the documents do not separate them, they cannot be deducted either.
• Invoicing below the real price, or splitting part of the price into a separate payment to reduce tax. That is a false customs valuation. Customs checks payment flows, may consult, reject the declared value and determine it again; if discovered, the tax is collected with late-payment interest and penalties. The tool calculates on the real price you enter - there is no other mode.

Where to check for yourself

Import duty rates: the preferential export and import tariff in force and the special preferential tariff of each agreement the country of origin belongs to. Unsure of the HS code: ask the customs office where you plan to clear, or request an advance ruling on the code for large or repeated shipments. The tax exchange rate and official tax: shown on the customs declaration after registration; reconcile with the tax payment documents. General procedural information: the e-portal of the customs service.

Vietnamese version