From February 1, 2026, the deadline for confirming the completion of import–export tax obligations will be set at a maximum of three working days, according to an official dispatch issued recently by Vietnam Customs, regarding the implementation of tax obligation confirmation under new regulations from Circular No. 121/2025/TT-BTC (Circular 121) of the Ministry of Finance, which took effect on the same day.
This aims to standardize the processing of dossiers and strengthen control over tax debts in the customs sector, ensuring state budget revenues.
Circular 121 amended and supplemented several provisions on customs procedures, customs inspection and supervision, export and import taxes, and tax administration for exported and imported goods.
Specifically, according to Clause 61, Article 1 of Circular No. 121, when taxpayers or competent state management agencies require confirmation of tax obligations—including tax amounts, late payment interest, fines, and other payments—they must submit a written request to the customs authority through the electronic customs data processing system, using the prescribed form.
For cases where electronic submission is not yet possible, taxpayers or competent agencies may submit paper dossiers to the nearest regional customs sub-department or customs unit where the enterprise, organization, or individual has its headquarters, branch, or production facility, as clearly stated in the Circular.
Based on these regulations, regional customs sub-departments and relevant customs units are instructed to receive and process tax obligation confirmation dossiers within the prescribed timeframe.
One notable point in the new procedure is that, from the moment the customs authority issues a written confirmation of completed tax obligations, enterprises will temporarily not be allowed to register new customs declarations.
At the same time, Vietnam Customs stated that this confirmation document will only take effect three days after the signing date.
This “waiting period” is designed to allow customs units to continue reviewing and reconciling import–export tax accounting data, ensuring timely detection of any outstanding or newly arising tax debts that may not yet be fully updated in the system.
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