DECISION

ISSUANCE OF DATA FORMAT OF EXCHANGE BETWEEN GENERAL DEPARTMENT OF CUSTOMS AND ENTERPRISES SELLING GOODS ELIGIBLE FOR VAT REFUND IN VAT REFUND SYSTEM FOR FOREIGNERS AND OVERSEAS VIETNAMESE WHO PURCHASE GOODS IN VIETNAM AND CARRY ON UPON MIGRATION

GENERAL DIRECTOR OF GENERAL DEPARTMENT OF CUSTOMS

Pursuant to Law on Value-Added Tax dated June 3, 2008; Law on amendments to Law on Value-Added Tax dated June 19, 2013;

Pursuant to Law on amendments to Law on Value-Added Tax, Law on Excise Tax and Law on Tax Administration dated April 6, 2016;

Pursuant to Law on Tax Administration No. 38/2019/QH14 dated June 13, 2019;

Pursuant to Decree No. 209/2013/ND-CP dated February 18, 2013 of the Government on elaborating to Law on Value-Added Tax;

Pursuant to Decree No. 100/2016/ND-CP dated July 1, 2016 of the Government on elaborating to Law on Value-Added Tax, Law on Excise Tax and Law on Tax Administration;

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Pursuant to Circular No. 72/2014/TT-BTC dated May 30, 2014 on VAT refund for carry-on goods of foreigners and overseas Vietnamese upon migration;

Pursuant to Circular No. 92/2019/TT-BTC dated December 31, 2019 on amendments to Circular No. 72/2014/TT-BTC dated May 30, 2014 on VAT refund for carry-on goods of foreigners and overseas Vietnamese upon migration;

Pursuant to Decision No. 65/2015/QD-TTg dated December 17, 2015 of Prime Minister on functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of General Department of Customs affiliated to Ministry of Finance;

At request of Director General of Information Technology and Customs Statistics Department,

HEREBY DECIDES:

Article 1. Attached to this Decision is “data format of exchange between General Department of Customs and enterprises selling goods eligible for VAT refund in VAT refund system for foreigners and overseas Vietnamese who purchase goods in Vietnam and carry on upon migration”.

Article 2. This Decision comes into effect from the date of signing and replaces Decision No. 2377/QD-TCHQ dated July 24, 2017 of General Department of Customs on issuance of data format of exchange between General Department of Customs and commercial banks in VAT refund system for foreigners and overseas Vietnamese who purchase goods in Vietnam and carry on upon migration.

Article 3. Director General of Information Technology and Customs Statistics Department, Director General of Department of Import and Export Tariff, Directors General of Customs Departments of provinces and cities where VAT refund is implemented for foreigners and overseas Vietnamese are responsible for implementation of this Decision./. 

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PP. DIRECTOR GENERAL
DEPUTY DIRECTOR GENERAL




Nguyen Duong Thai

REGULATIONS

DATA FORMAT OF EXCHANGE BETWEEN GENERAL DEPARTMENT OF CUSTOMS AND ENTERPRISES SELLING GOODS ELIGIBLE FOR VAT REFUND IN VAT REFUND SYSTEM FOR FOREIGNERS AND OVERSEAS VIETNAMESE WHO PURCHASE GOODS IN VIETNAM AND CARRY ON UPON MIGRATION
(Attached to Decision No. 3153/QD-TCHQ dated November 13, 2020 of Director General of General Department of Customs)

Chapter 1

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope

These Regulations prescribe data format of exchange between General Department of Customs and enterprises selling goods eligible for VAT refund in VAT refund system for foreigners and overseas Vietnamese who purchase goods in Vietnam and carry on upon migration (hereinafter referred to as “VAT-RS”)

Article 2. Regulated entities

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Article 3. Term interpretations and definitions

1. Definitions and acronyms

- DN: Enterprises selling goods eligible for VAT refund;

- VAT: Value-added tax.

2. Data message

Code

Message

Note

General Department of Customs to DN

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101

Message about addition or revision of invoice information

Message from enterprises to update invoices on systems

X

102

Message about addition or revision of customer information

Enterprises update customer information

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103

Message about addition or revision of goods information

Enterprises send lists of goods

X

105

Message about looking up invoice information

Enterprises look up invoices sent to General Department of Customs

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106

Message about looking up unit of measurement

Enterprises look up unit of measurement

X

107

Message about looking up country information

Enterprises look up country code and name

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205

Message responding to invoice information request

Systems return invoice information results

X

206

Message responding to unit of measurement request

Systems return unit of measurement results

X

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207

Message responding to country information request

Systems return country information results

X

200

Response to successful request messages

X

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299

Response to defective request messages

X

3. Data format for information exchange

XML is adopted to enable exchange of information between information systems of customs authorities and information systems of enterprises selling goods eligible for VAT refund.

XML (eXtensible Markup Language): refers to a set of rules on methods of separating a document into multiple parts, mark and assemble different parts for easy identification.

Element of an XML message: Refers to a block forming an XML message by a formula starting with 1 start-tag and ending with 1 end-tag both of which share the same name.

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An XML message for exchange of data between information systems of customs authorities and information systems of enterprises selling goods eligible for VAT refund shall be complete and legitimate if the message does not violate data message syntax and structure rules specified under this Decision.

Chapter 2

DATA EXCHANGE PROCEDURES

Article 4. Functions of systems

VAT-RS consists of following sub-classes:

1. Seller enterprise sub-class: For seller enterprises to declare produced invoices in case customers request VAT refund.

2. Customs sub-class: For customs officials at border checkpoints to verify tax refund for foreigners and overseas Vietnamese.

3. Information exchange with commercial institution sub-class: For exchanging information regarding invoices whose tax refund has been verified and invoices which have been granted tax refund, and receiving information on invoice revision and general figure research. 

4. Information exchange with General Department of Taxation sub-class: For exchanging information regarding enterprises selling goods eligible for VAT refund for foreigners, decisions on paying commercial institutions and tax amount refunded to foreigners. 

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The VAT-RS is constructed following a concentrated model and implemented at information technology data center of General Department of Customs.  Procedures for updating and looking up data:

- Step 1: Once an enterprise is certified to be selling goods eligible for VAT refund, General Department of Taxation shall send following information to General Department of Customs: enterprise name, TIN, address, phone, email, digital signatures, etc.

- Step 2: General Department of Customs shall issue account number to enterprise via email address registered by the enterprise;

- Step 3: The enterprise shall access public service portal of customs authorities to register electronic signatures (in case the enterprise has not registered electronic signatures with the General Department of Taxation);

- Step 4: When customers purchase goods at stores of the enterprise, the enterprises may choose any of following methods to update invoices:

+ Method 1: The enterprise shall access enterprise sub-class of the VAT-RS of customs authorities via website application (by provided account) to update invoice information and VAT refund declaration on the VAT-RS (in case of error, revise and remove information using the system functions);

+ Method 2: The enterprise shall update invoice directly on enterprise’s system.   The enterprise later transfer invoice information to the VAT-RS (via web service of the General Department of Customs) according to prescribed standard message format.  In case of error, submit revision request to the General Department of Customs via the VAT-RS.

- Step 5: When customers purchase goods eligible for VAT refund and request VAT refund at customs authorities, customs officials shall access custom sub-class of the VAT-RS via website application to look up invoices and verify information of departing goods on the VAT-RS. 

- Step 6: When customers purchase goods eligible for VAT refund request at commercial institutions: Commercial institutions shall examine boarding passes, invoices and tax refund declarations, and look up information of invoices which have been verified for VAT refund by customs officials on the VAT-RS. On the basis of examination results, commercial institutions shall reject VAT refund request or return VAT to foreigners and send information to General Department of Customs via the VAT-RS (via web service of General Department of Customs);   In case of error, submit revision request to the General Department of Customs via the VAT-RS.

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Chapter 3

INFORMATION SYSTEMS

Article 6. Conditions for connection and information exchange

Connection and information exchange between the VAT-RS system and information systems of DN shall conform to Article 6 of Circular No. 72/2014/TT-BTC dated May 30, 2014 of Ministry of Finance and Clause 3 Article 1 of Circular No. 92/2019/TT-BTC dated December 31, 2019 of Ministry of Finance.

Connection and information exchange must utilize digital signatures according to Point dd Clause 2 Article 1 of Circular No. 92/2019/TT-BTC dated December 31, 2019.

Article 7. Connection and cessation of connection, information exchange

In case an enterprise requests connection for information exchange with the VAT-RS of General Department of Customs, the enterprise shall submit document using form under Annex I of this Decision to General Department of Customs.

Customs authorities shall cease connection and information exchange via the VAT-RS if the enterprise violates regulations on VAT refund (Article 14 of Circular No. 72/2014/TT-BTC dated May 30, 2014 of Ministry of Finance, Article 10 of Circular No. 92/2019/TT-BTC dated December 31, 2019 of Ministry of Finance). 

In case the enterprise voluntarily requests cessation of connection and information exchange with the VAT-RS, the enterprise shall submit written request to General Department of Customs (using form under Annex II of these Regulations).

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1. Data messages exchanged between the VAT-RS and information systems of DN must be in XML format. Data format for information criteria in exchanged data messages is prescribed under Annex III of these Regulations.

2. Data messages between General Department of Customs and DN must be digitally signed.

3. Delay of each data message exchange instance shall be parameterized to enable adjustment to meet exchange instance requirements. In case of failure to respond in a timely manner, the data message shall be cancelled and retransmitted.

Article 9. Retransmission and receipt of data messages

Data messages shall be retransmitted and received when:

- Technical difficulties or unsuccessful previous transmission, receipt;

- Retransmission at request of receivers (confirmed by messages bearing digital signatures of competent individuals). Keep record of data messages.

The procedures for processing data messages shall be automatically recorded by information systems of customs authorities and information systems of DN in databases of General Department of Customs. On a periodic basis, data shall be stored in storage devices (cassette, SAN, etc.) and preserved in a manner similar to preservation of electronic certificates.

Article 10. Preservation and storage of electronic data

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1. ensure security, integrity, adequacy, in ability to be changed and falsified, timeliness and legitimacy of electronic certificates during storage period;

2. have adequate storage method and duration for each type of certificate as per the law.

3. be printed on paper or allow research at request.

Article 11. Security solutions

Security solutions for transmission, data messages and key pairs between information systems of customs authorities and information systems of DN shall conform to applicable regulations and law on information security and safety.

Chapter 4

IMPLEMENTATION

Article 12. Responsibilities of Department of Import and Export Tariff

1. Advising renovation and improvement of regulations on VAT refund policies for foreigners and overseas Vietnamese purchasing goods in Vietnam and carry upon migration;

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3. Cooperating with Information Technology and Customs Statistics Department in dealing with operational issues.

Article 13. Responsibilities of Information Technology and Customs Statistics Department

1. Taking charge in developing, upgrading and operating the VAT-RS;

2. Ensuring technical affairs and operations of the VAT-RS directly;

3. Developing, designing and extracting data using schedules at request of Department of Import and Export Tariff;

4. Taking charge guiding entities to extract and utilize data on the VAT-RS.

Article 14. Responsibilities of Customs Departments of provinces and cities performing VAT refund for foreigners and overseas Vietnamese

1. Organizing local operation of the VAT-RS as per the law.

2. Ensuring accuracy, adequacy and timeliness of information provided and processed during exchange with information systems of DN.

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1. Updating invoice information in an adequate and timely manner. Ensuring accuracy of information provided to tax authorities;

2. DN shall update all changes to digital signatures at tongcuc.customs.gov.vn and select Dịch vụ công trực tuyến -> Dăng ký hoàn thuế (Public service -> Refund application). 

Difficulties that arise during the implementation should be reported to General Department of Customs for consideration./.