Plenty of logistics companies have been assessed 10% VAT on international shipments they assumed were obviously 0% — the reason seldom lies in the service’s nature, but in the file: one missing payment document, or a contract that never clearly shows the international leg.
Conditions for 0%: international service must be provable on paper
Under the VAT Law 48/2024/QH15 (in force 1 July 2025), international transport and services supplied directly for international transport qualify for the 0% rate when documentary conditions are met. Three mandatory pieces: a carriage or service contract showing the international journey (origin and destination outside Vietnam, or delivery terms evidencing internationality); non-cash payment documents through a bank; and the corresponding bill of lading or transport documents. Ancillary domestic services — a domestic trucking leg detached from the international journey — do not automatically enjoy 0% and revenue must be split for correct-rate declaration.
Refunds: which parts of the file get examined hardest
Logistics firms with heavy inputs (fuel, vehicle hire, warehousing) and 0% outputs usually sit on excess input VAT, leading to refund claims. Refund dossiers under the Tax Administration Law 108/2025/QH15 (which replaced the 2019 Tax Administration Law 38/2019 from 1 July 2026) are examined hardest at three points: consistency between 0% revenue and international transport documents; the reality of large input costs (do the leasing contracts and supplier invoices reflect real, operating suppliers); and payment flows. Businesses should standardise the file per shipment as it arises instead of assembling it at refund time — a file rebuilt after 12 months almost always misses a link.
Refund timing and how to keep the file from stalling
Refund processing time depends on whether the business falls into refund-first-audit-later or audit-first-refund-later categories, set by risk profile and compliance history; a business once adjusted on 0% filings will be examined harder in later periods. Three practical risk reducers: separate international and domestic revenue cleanly in the accounting system; file international payment documents per shipment and reconcile monthly against declarations; and self-audit a sample of shipments each quarter exactly as the tax authority would, correcting errors before the authority finds them.
Frequently asked questions
Which logistics services qualify for 0% VAT?
Services supplied directly for international transport: carriage with an international journey, handling, forwarding, agency and support services tied directly to the international movement, with a contract, non-cash payment documents and transport documents under the VAT Law 48/2024/QH15. A purely domestic leg detached from the international journey takes the standard rate.
What documents prove an export service for the 0% rate?
The core set: a service or carriage contract showing the international journey, 0%-rate output VAT invoices, bank payment documents, and the bill of lading or transport documents per shipment, together with the corresponding input tax file and the relevant periods’ returns. Tax authorities test the consistency of these four document types shipment by shipment.
How long does a VAT refund take for a logistics company?
There is no single timeline: refund-first-audit-later files are processed materially faster than audit-first files; actual timing follows the business’s risk classification and file quality. Businesses keeping per-shipment files and a clean compliance history are usually classed more favourably; a history of assessed adjustments means deeper checks and longer processing.
FLAT Law Firm — FLAT Law Firm reviews 0% VAT files for logistics companies shipment by shipment and accompanies refund processes, especially for businesses previously assessed.
This article has been quality-reviewed by the FLAW AI Legal Council