The short answer
Import duty in Vietnam is normally calculated ad valorem: customs value multiplied by the tariff rate for the HS code, at the rate in force on the day the declaration is registered. Customs value is the CIF price actually paid up to the first Vietnamese port of discharge. Three tariff tiers apply: preferential for MFN partners, special preferential under a free trade agreement, and ordinary for everyone else, set by statute at 150 percent of the preferential rate. Customs can reassess your declaration for five years, so the HS code and the declared value are the two numbers that matter most.
How the duty is computed
Article 6 of Law No. 107/2016/QH13 on Export and Import Duties:
The amount of export duty or import duty payable under the percentage tax calculation method shall be determined based on the taxable value and the percentage tax rate applied to each item at the time of tax calculation.
A consignment with a customs value of 100,000 US dollars at a 10 percent rate carries 10,000 US dollars of base import duty, before VAT and any special consumption or environmental tax.
Some goods are taxed per unit instead of per value. Article 7, Clause 1 of the same Law:
The amount of duty payable under the specific tax calculation method for exported and imported goods shall be determined based on the actual quantity of exported or imported goods and the specific duty amount prescribed per unit of goods at the time of tax calculation.
Under the compound method the two are added together.
Which tariff column applies to you
Article 8, Clauses 1, 2 and 3 of Law No. 107/2016/QH13:
1. Preferential tax rates apply to imported goods originating from countries, groups of countries, or territories that accord Most-Favored-Nation treatment in trade relations with Vietnam. 2. Special preferential tax rates apply to imported goods originating from countries, groups of countries, or territories that have special trade preference agreements with Vietnam. 3. Ordinary tax rates apply to imported goods not falling under the cases specified in Clauses 1 and 2 of this Article. Ordinary tax rates are set at 150 percent of the preferential tax rate for each corresponding item.
The practical consequence: goods whose origin you cannot document fall into the ordinary column and carry a 50 percent surcharge over the preferential rate.
What the customs value includes
Article 85 of Law No. 54/2014/QH13 on Customs fixes the moment of assessment:
The determination of tax rates for exported and imported goods shall be based on commodity codes and tax policies applicable to exported and imported goods in effect at the time of tax calculation.
Article 20, Clause 2 of Decree No. 08/2015/ND-CP, as amended by Decree No. 59/2018/ND-CP, fixes the value:
Customs value for imported goods is the actual price payable calculated up to the first port of entry on the basis of applying the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade or in accordance with international commitments to which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a contracting party. The first port of entry is determined as follows: (a) for sea and air transport, the first port of entry is the port of discharge specified on the bill of lading; (b) for rail transport, the first port of entry is the international border railway station specified on the customs declaration; (c) for road and inland waterway transport, the first port of entry is the border gate where imported goods enter Vietnamese territory specified on the customs declaration.
Added to the price: international freight, marine insurance, loading and handling before the port of discharge, selling commissions, container costs. Deducted: inland transport after import, post-import assembly or technical installation, and domestic taxes.
If the transaction value cannot be established, because invoices are missing, records cannot be verified, or the parties are related and the price is affected, customs move down a fixed hierarchy: identical goods, similar goods, deductive value, computed value, then a reasonable fallback.
When duty is reduced or waived
Temporary trade. Article 12, Clause 1 of Law No. 107/2016/QH13:
Goods temporarily imported for re-export or temporarily exported for re-import within a specified time limit are exempt from export duty and import duty.
Damaged or lost cargo. Article 18 of the same Law:
Exported or imported goods that are damaged or lost while under customs supervision, as certified by a competent inspection authority or organization, shall be eligible for tax reduction. The tax reduction rate shall correspond to the actual loss ratio of the goods.
The reduction is proportional to the certified loss, so the first step after discovering damage in a port yard is to call an accredited surveyor, not the carrier.
The five-year reassessment window
Article 84 of Law No. 54/2014/QH13 on Customs:
The customs authority where export and import procedures are conducted shall, in accordance with decentralized functions and authority, inspect tax declarations and calculations; execute tax exemptions, tax reductions, tax refunds, tax non-collection, tax assessments, tax extensions, and tax debt cancellations, late payment interest, and penalties for customs declarants; collect taxes and other revenues and manage tax payments.
Article 25, Clause 1 of Law No. 38/2019/QH14 on Tax Administration sets out when customs assess the duty for you:
Customs authorities shall execute tax assessment on exported and imported goods in cases where: (a) taxpayers rely on illegal documents, records, or data to declare and calculate tax, or fail to declare tax or declare inaccurately, incompletely, or untruthfully contents related to determining tax obligations; (b) beyond statutory time limits, taxpayers refuse, delay, or fail to provide accounting records, documents, data, or figures related to determining accurate tax amounts payable; (c) taxpayers fail to prove or explain, or exceed statutory time limits without explaining, contents related to determining tax obligations in accordance with law; (d) taxpayers fail to comply with decisions on customs inspection or post-clearance audit.
Once an assessment decision issues, the duty is calculated unilaterally from official tariff databases and is payable immediately with late payment interest. Misdeclaring an HS code that reduces the duty attracts fines from 20 percent of the underpaid amount up to three times the evaded duty where evasion is intentional.
Why the underlying contract matters: a real case
Declared value is only as strong as the contract behind it.
A Turkish buyer contracted a Vietnamese supplier in May 2020 for 1,100 cartons of cashew nuts, 24,948 kg net, at 172,027.80 US dollars CIF to a Turkish port. The buyer paid a 10 percent deposit of 17,202.78 US dollars within days. The parties then agreed in writing to cut the contract price to 163,793.40 US dollars, and on 22 July 2020 the buyer paid the 146,590.62 US dollar balance, completing payment in full.
The seller nonetheless refused to release the cargo on arrival, claiming the buyer had missed a payment deadline, ordered the containers shipped back to Vietnam, and kept the money.
The Dong Thap Province People's Court held the seller had acted unlawfully: having been paid in full, withholding delivery and re-shipping the containers was a fundamental breach. It ordered a refund of the entire 163,793.40 US dollars, 3,788,705,000 Vietnamese dong, and dismissed the seller's counterclaims for penalties and storage. The decisions are First-Instance Judgment No. 02/2022/KDTM-ST dated 19 April 2022 of the Dong Thap Province People's Court case.unilaw.vn , affirmed by Appellate Judgment No. 60/2022/KDTM-PT dated 15 September 2022 of the High People's Court in Ho Chi Minh City case.unilaw.vn .
Two numbers in that case differ: the contract price and the price actually paid. Customs value follows the price actually paid. A contract amendment agreed over a messaging app, as it was here, is the evidence that keeps your declaration defensible years later.
Four controls that keep your duty position safe
Get an advance ruling. Apply to the General Department of Vietnam Customs for a binding advance ruling on HS classification and customs valuation before shipping anything complex or high value.
Keep the paid price provable. File the contract, every amendment, the invoice and the bank transfer records together, and declare the amount actually paid.
Use the voluntary correction window. If an internal check finds a wrong code or an under-declared value, file a supplementary declaration before any audit notice arrives and settle the difference without a fraud penalty.
Archive for five years. Bills of lading, invoices, packing lists, payment receipts and declarations must survive a post-clearance audit up to five years after registration.
How UniLaw helps
We obtain advance classification and valuation rulings, defend post-clearance audits and tax assessment decisions, and litigate international sale and delivery disputes that determine the declared value.
Sources
- First-Instance Judgment No. 02/2022/KDTM-ST dated 19 April 2022 (Dong Thap Province People's Court) / Appellate Judgment No. 60/2022/KDTM-PT dated 15 September 2022 (High People's Court in Ho Chi Minh City) – CIF cashew nut sale, price amendment, non-delivery, full refund.
- Law No. 107/2016/QH13 on Export and Import Duties – Article 6, Article 7 (Clause 1), Article 8 (Clauses 1, 2, 3), Article 12 (Clause 1), Article 18.
- Law No. 54/2014/QH13 on Customs – Article 84, Article 85.
- Decree No. 08/2015/ND-CP as amended by Decree No. 59/2018/ND-CP – Article 20 (Clause 2).
- Law No. 38/2019/QH14 on Tax Administration – Article 25 (Clause 1).
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