VietNamNet Bridge – Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has approved more international airports and seaports to open counters for value-added tax (VAT) refunds for the goods foreign passport holders buy in Vietnam and bring along with them when exiting the country from July 1.

Foreigners stop by a jewelry shop at Tan Son Nhat International Airport. In addition to Tan Son Nhat and Noi Bai airports, the VAT refund counters will be opened at more airports and seaports.

The approval came several months after the Ministry of Finance drafted a circular allowing counters to be opened at more international airports and seaports for foreign visitors who want to get VAT on the goods they buy in Vietnam in addition to Noi Bai and Tan Son Nhat international airports.

Vietnam News Agency quoted Document 806/TTg-KTTH as saying that the VAT refund counters would be allowed at Danang and Cam Ranh international airports and Danang and Nha Trang international ports in central Vietnam as well as Khanh Hoi International Wharf in HCMC.

The Ministry of Finance has been assigned to coordinate with relevant ministries and agencies to issue guidelines on VAT refunds for the goods that foreigners bring out of the country. Besides, the Ministry of Finance will work with departments and localities to implement the VAT refund scheme as well as select sellers and commercial banks serving as tax refund agents.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Transport will have to tell Airports Corporation of Vietnam, the Vietnam Maritime Administration and relevant localities to allocate sites for checking goods and receipts as well as refunding VAT at the aforesaid international airports and ports.

The ministries of industry-trade, culture-sports-tourism, information-communications and foreign affairs, the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry have been tasked to collect information about the firms participating in the scheme and the products foreigners often buy.

Earlier this year, the General Department of Customs showed positive figures around two years after VAT refunds for foreigners had been piloted in accordance with the Prime Minister’s Decision 05/2012/QD-TTg to improve the competitiveness of Vietnamese goods and attract more foreign visitors.

To implement Decision 05, the Ministry of Finance issued Circular 58 for a pilot refunding of VAT on the goods purchased by foreigners in Vietnam through Noi Bai and Tan Son Nhat airports. The scheme was initiated on July 1, 2012 for Tan Son Nhat and Noi Bai airports and will last until June 30 this year, with 268 sales points registered by nearly 70 businesses for the scheme.

Under the scheme, foreign visitors get 85% of the VAT imposed on their purchases while the remaining 15% is counted as a service charge by participating banks, namely Vietcombank, Maritimebank, VietinBank and BIDV.

Figures of the General Department of Customs showed as of the end of February, more than 8,600 foreigners had obtained VAT refunds worth VND32.9 billion for more than VND425 billion worth of the goods they had bought in Vietnam.

SGT/VNN