On August 20, 2026, the Customs Department issued Official Letter No. 20691/CHQ-NVTHQ providing detailed guidance on the application of value-added tax policy to imported preliminarily processed wood products.
The detailed guidance is as follows:
- Tax policy: Ordinary preliminarily processed wood imports are not subject to value-added tax if they are products of cultivated trees or planted forests that have not been processed into other products, or have only undergone ordinary preliminary processing at the import stage.
(According to Article 5.1 of VAT Law No. 48/2024/QH15)
- Classification of ordinary preliminarily processed wood: Includes roughly sawn timber, roughly hewn/squared timber with unsmoothed surfaces (not yet planed/finished); rotary-cut/sliced veneer not yet pressed into boards; wood chips; and wood by-products (sawdust, bark, offcuts, edgings, shavings)
(According to Article 20.1 of Circular No. 84/2025/TT-BNNMT)
- In cases where an enterprise cannot itself determine whether a product is ordinary preliminary processing or deep processing, it must provide the product’s production process for the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment to appraise and determine.
(According to Official Letter No. 20691/CHQ-NVTHQ dated August 20, 2026)
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