On June 11, 2021, the Minister of Finance issued Circular No. 43/2021/TT-BTC amending and supplementing Clause 11 Article 10 of Circular No. 219/2013/TT-BTC dated December 31, 2013, of the Ministry of Finance, guiding the implementation of the Law on Value-Added Tax and the Government’s Decree No. 209/2013/ND-CP dated December 18, 2013, detailing and guiding the implementation of several articles of the Law on Value-Added Tax (“Circular No. 43”).
Accordingly, Circular No.43 has added and more detailed regulations on the subject to 5% VAT rate being medical equipment and instruments when having one of the following documents:
– Import license or;
– Certificate of circulating registration or;
– Receipt of application for publication of standards under the law on health or;
– According to the List of medical equipment subject to the specialized management of the Ministry of Health, goods codes are determined according to the List of exported and imported goods of Vietnam promulgated together with Circular No. 14/2018/TT – BYT dated May 15, 2018, of the Minister of Health and amendments and supplements (if any).
Previously, Circular No. 219/2013/TT-BTC only provided general guidance that: Other specialized medical tools and equipment as certified by the Ministry of Health are subject to the VAT rate of 5%. The addition and detailing in Circular 43 has made it easier to determine what is subject to VAT at the rate of 5%.
Therefore, from the effective date of Circular No.43 (August 1, 2021), medical equipment and instruments with one of the above documents are subject to a 5% VAT rate.