CIRCULAR

GUIDING SUPPLEMENTS TO THE FINANCE MINISTRYS CIRCULAR No. 98/2002/TT-BTC OF OCTOBER 24, 2002 WHICH GUIDES THE TAX EXEMPTION AND REDUCTION FOR SUBJECTS ENTITLED TO INVESTMENT PREFERENCES

Pursuant to the current tax laws and ordinances;
Pursuant to the Governments Decree No. 51/1999/ND-CP of July 8, 1999 detailing the implementation of the (amended) Domestic Investment Promotion Law No. 03/1998/QH10 and Decree No. 35/2002/ND-CP of March 29, 2002 amending and supplementing Lists A, B and C promulgated in the Appendix to Decree No. 51/1999/ND-CP;
Based on the Prime Ministers directing opinions in the Government Offices Official Dispatch No. 5121/VPCP-KTTH of October 20, 2003,

The Ministry of Finance hereby guides supplements to its Circular No. 98/2002/TT-BTC of October 24, 2002 which guides the tax exemption and reduction for subjects entitled to investment preferences under the Governments Decree No. 51/1999/ND-CP of July 8, 1999 detailing the implementation of the (amended) Domestic Investment Promotion Law No. 03/1998/QH10 as follows:

1. To supplement Point 3, Section II of Part B: Tax preferences into new Point 3 as follows:

According to the provisions in Article 26 of Decree No. 51/1999/ND-CP, the production and/or business establishments, which have investment projects belonging to production/business lines prescribed in List A or projects of investment in geographical areas prescribed in List B or List C, of the Appendix promulgated together with Decree No. 35/2002/ND-CP, shall be exempt from import tax on the following commodities which cannot be produced at home yet or can be domestically produced but fail to meet the quality requirements:

- Equipment, machinery and/or special-use transport means (included in technological chains), which are imported to form fixed assets of the enterprises or to expand the investment, renew technologies.

- Transport means used exclusively for conveyance of workers.

In cases where the units import machinery and equipment before they are granted investment preference certificates, they shall also be exempt from import tax for no more than 2 (two) months (or full 60 days according to the calendar) counting from the date of import to the date of granting of the investment preference certificates by competent agencies.

2. This Circular takes implementation effect 15 days after its publication in the Official Gazette. The provisions in this Circular shall uniformly apply to cases arising before the effective date of the Circular. Particularly for cases which have been exempt from tax by the customs offices under Official Dispatch No. 803 TCT/CS of February 20, 2003 of the General Tax Department - the Ministry of Finance, the exempted import tax amounts shall not be retrospectively collected.

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