VietNamNet Bridge – The General Department of Customs (GDC) says it does not how to tax a so-called “strange vehicle”, a motorhome, because several government agencies have been unable to classify it properly.

In December 2014, Dong Nai Province’s Customs Agency, giving consultations to local businesses, could not answer questions about the tax rate imposed on a motorhome, a vehicle described as “mobile home” with adequate interior decoration.

The agency then decided to forward the question to GDC’s Department of Supervision and Management, which, in turn, forwarded the question to relevant ministries, because it also did not know what to do.

Of the four agencies the department consulted with, only the Import-Export Tax Department under the GDC had a name for the vehicle: a motorhome.

The department, citing Circular No 173 issued in November 2014 which took effect on January 1, 2015, said that the vehicle has a preferential tariff of 64 percent.

Meanwhile, the Import-Export Agency of the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT) replied that the question needs to be raised with the Ministry of Transport’s Vietnam Register.

To date, the Ministry of Finance’s Tax Policy Department has yet to reply.

As suggested by MOIT, GDC has consulted with the registration agency. However, it has not received any reply from the agency.

The Vietnam Register (VR), when asked about this, said it was difficult to say what the vehicle actually because it has only pictures, and officials cannot see the vehicle with their own eyes.

According to the Dong Nai provincial Customs Agency, the vehicle the business plans to import is an Itasca SUNCRUISER IF J32H, which has a seat for driver, living room, dining room and bedroom for family use.

However, the head of the Motorized Vehicle Division of the Vietnam Register told Hai Quan reporters that the agency’s officers need to examine the vehicle to find out how many seats there are.

GDC, in its report submitted to the governing ministry late last week, admitted that it still could not find a solution to the problem, because the tax policies are not clear enough.

While the registration agency said the agency once granted a certificate of environmental safety and technical standards for a similar vehicle in 2006, the customs agency said this vehicle was a different product.

The registration agency has also affirmed that at least six motorhomes have been imported to Vietnam.

The import tariff on motorhome stipulated in the Ministry of Finance’s Circular No 164 dated in 2013, was 67 percent. Later, under Circular No 173, the import tariff was lowered to 64 percent.

Kim Chi