Công văn 271/BTC-TCT

To: Provincial-level Tax Departments

The Ministry of Finance has received several units’ feedbacks on via-bank payment conditions for clearing payments between turnovers eligible for the VAT rate of 0% and brokerage commissions or expenses paid overseas for a third party in the international transportation. Regarding this matter, the Ministry of Finance gives the following opinions:

Point 1.3.c.3, Section III, Part B of the Finance Ministry’s Circular No.129/2008/TT-BTC of December 26, 2008, guiding the implementation of a number of articles of the Value-Added Tax Law and guiding the implementation of the Government’s Decree No. 123/2008/ND-CP of December 8, 2008, detailing and guiding the implementation of a number of articles of the Value-Added Tax Law, stipulates: via-bank payment documentation conditions for exported goods and services for input VAT credit or refund are as follows:

“c.3. Via-bank payment for exported goods and services must comply with the following guidance:

Via-bank payment means the transfer of money from the importer’s account into an account bearing the exporter’s name opened at a bank in the manner as agreed upon in the contract and required by the bank. Payment documents are credit notes of the exporter’s bank of the sum of money already received from the importer’s bank account.”

Under the above provisions, the Ministry of Finance guides the implementation for the cases in which Vietnamese shipowners make clearing payments between turnovers eligible for the VAT rate of 0% and expenses paid overseas by foreign shipping agents or foreign ship chatterers on shipowners’ behalf; such payments will be regarded as via-bank ones if satisfying the following conditions:

+ They are related to international shipping activities and ship charters and specified in contracts.

+ There are written certifications of clearing payment between Vietnamese shipowners and foreign shipping agents or foreign ship chatterers.

+The remaining difference is paid via bank.

Above is the Ministry of Finance’s reply to the inquiring units.-