Nội dung toàn văn Official Dispatch No. 662/TCT-CS of January 29, 2008, on value-added tax on commissions for international shipping agency services
THE GENERAL DEPARTMENT OF TAXATION | SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF VIET NAM |
No. 662/TCT-CS | Hanoi, January 29, 2008 |
OFFICIAL LETTER
ON VALUE-ADDED TAX ON COMMISSIONS FOR INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING AGENCY SERVICES
To: | - CMA - CGM Vietnam Company Limited; |
In response to Official Letter ACC/TAX/025-07 of November 29, 2007, of CMA - CGM Vietnam Company Limited, and Official Letter No. 080109-03 of January 9, 2008, of Misui O.S.K Line Vietnam Company Limited, concerning value-added tax on commissions for international shipping agency services, the General Department of Taxation gives the following opinions:
Point 8 of the Finance Ministry’s Circular No. 84/2004/TT-BTC of August 18, 2004, stipulates that business establishments acting as sale agents of goods or services not liable to value-added tax; business establishments acting as postal, insurance, lottery or air ticket sale service agents and selling these items or services at prices set by their principals to enjoy agent commissions are not required to declare and pay value-added tax for sale turnover of these items or of services and turnover from the enjoyed agent commission amounts.
Point 2.4, Section II, Part C of the Finance Ministry’s Circular No. 32/2007/TT-BTC of April 9, 2007, guiding value-added tax stipulates: Business establishments acting as sale agents of goods or services not liable to value-added tax; business establishments acting as postal, insurance, lottery or air ticket sale service agents and selling these items or services at prices set by their principals to enjoy agent commissions are not required to declare and pay value-added tax for sale turnover of these items or of services and turnover from the enjoyed agent commission amounts.
The service of international shipping from Vietnam to overseas and vice versa is not liable to value-added tax. Therefore, under the above guidance, as in the case of business establishments acting as agents of foreign shipping companies and selling freight packages for international shipping from foreign seaports to Vietnam (and vice versa) at prices set by these foreign shipping companies and collecting international shipping freight fees on behalf of these companies, the commissions enjoyed by your companies for this agency operation are not liable to value-added tax.
In case business establishments, apart from commission amounts receivable for their operations of international shipping service agency and collection of international shipping freight fees on their principals’ behalf, are paid agent commissions for the provision of other services within the scope of agency (for example, carriage and import handling, container guard, cargo collection, issuance of bills of lading for receipt, inland cargo transportation from factories to ports of exportation, customs procedure charge, etc.) by foreign shipping companies, these agent commission amounts are liable to value-added tax under regulations .
The General Department of Taxation would like to give the above answer to the companies for information and compliance.
| FOR THE GENERAL DIRECTOR OF TAXATION |
