Yes — but only if you meet the time limits and conditions. Vietnamese law gives declarants a real incentive to correct their own customs declaration errors before the authorities discover them: amend within 60 days of clearance and there is no administrative penalty; amend late but before the audit decision and the penalty is 10% of the tax shortfall instead of 20%. Miss both windows and get caught, and the full 20% applies — plus the shortfall itself and late-payment interest. This article maps the three time windows, the conditions, and what cannot be amended.
The three time windows at a glance
| Window | Condition | Penalty |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Within 60 days of clearance | Amended declaration filed within 60 days from customs clearance and before the issuance of an inspection/audit decision | No administrative penalty (Article 7(2), Decree 169/2026/ND-CP) |
| 2. After 60 days, before the audit decision | Self-detected error; amended declaration filed after the 60-day window but before the post-clearance audit / inspection decision | 10% of the tax shortfall (Article 10(2), Decree 169/2026/ND-CP) |
| 3. Discovered by customs | Violation detected by customs during procedures, or found during PCA / inspection / audit | 20% of the tax shortfall (Article 10(3), Decree 169/2026/ND-CP) |
Illustration: a tax shortfall of VND 100 million. Window 1: pay the VND 100 million shortfall + late-payment interest, no fine. Window 2: pay VND 100 million + VND 10 million fine + interest. Window 3: pay VND 100 million + VND 20 million fine + interest. The difference between acting early and being caught is a factor of two on the fine alone.
Window 1: the 60-day rule — no penalty
Article 20 of Customs Law 54/2014/QH13 (still in force) provides for amended customs dossiers. Article 7(2) of Decree 169/2026/ND-CP (effective 01/7/2026, replacing Decree 128/2020) lists cases exempt from administrative penalties, including:
- Amended declaration before customs announces a direct documentary inspection for goods still under clearance procedures;
- Amended declaration within 60 days from customs clearance and before the issuance of an inspection/audit decision for cleared goods;
- Amended settlement reports within 60 days from report submission and before the decision to inspect the settlement report;
- Amended customs valuation within the prescribed time limit.
The 60-day rule is detailed in Article 20 of Circular 38/2015/TT-BTC (still in force; amended by Circular 39/2018/TT-BTC and Circular 121/2025/TT-BTC, effective 01/02/2026): amendment is allowed within 60 days of clearance but before customs decides on PCA/inspection — except for contents relating to export/import licenses and specialized inspections. If errors are found after 60 days but before the audit decision, amendment is still allowed but handled under the penalty provisions (i.e., Window 2).
Note the two milestones are independent: “60 days from clearance” and “before the audit decision”. Amending on day 50 but after the audit decision has been issued does not qualify for the no-penalty window.
Window 2: the 5-year right to amend + 10% penalty
The right to amend (5 years). Article 12(5) of the Law on Tax Administration 108/2025/QH15 (passed 10/12/2025, effective 01/7/2026; replacing Law 38/2019) allows taxpayers who discover errors in filed tax dossiers to file amended dossiers within 05 years from the filing deadline of the erroneous tax period (reduced from 10 years under Law 38/2019), provided that:
- (a) it is done before the tax authority or competent authority announces the inspection/audit decision;
- (b) the dossier does not fall within the scope or period of the inspection/audit;
- (c) it is not a case where the investigating authority has requested no amendment.
The 10% penalty. Article 10(2) of Decree 169/2026/ND-CP imposes a 10% fine on the tax shortfall (or on the increased amount of exempted/reduced/refunded/non-collected tax) where the taxpayer self-detects and files an amended declaration in one of these cases: (a) after customs announces direct documentary inspection for goods under clearance procedures; (b) after the 60-day post-clearance window but before the PCA/inspection/audit decision for cleared goods; (c) past the settlement-report amendment deadline but before the decision to inspect the settlement report.
The 20% penalty. Article 10(3) imposes 20% where customs detects the violation during procedures, or the violation is found during PCA, inspection, audit or examination of cleared goods — and also where the declarant self-detects but amends outside the scope of an existing PCA/inspection conclusion covering the same goods (Article 10(3)(d)). In other words: amending items already concluded by a PCA does not earn the 10% rate.
Amendment does not erase the tax debt
Whatever the window, the business must still:
- Pay the full tax shortfall — remedial measure under Article 10(5) of Decree 169/2026/ND-CP;
- Pay late-payment interest calculated under the Law on Tax Administration 108/2025/QH15.
Amended declaration reduces or eliminates the fine; it never reduces the tax owed.
What cannot be amended
Under Article 20 of Circular 38/2015/TT-BTC, amended declaration does not apply to:
- Contents relating to export/import licenses;
- Specialized inspections: quality, health, culture, animal/plant quarantine, food safety.
These require separate handling under their own sectoral regulations.
Additional mitigating circumstances
Article 4 of Decree 169/2026/ND-CP applies the mitigating circumstances of Article 9 of the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations 15/2012/QH13 (amended by Laws 67/2020 and 88/2025) — including voluntary remediation of consequences and honest reporting — which can further reduce the fine within the penalty frame.
Practical procedure
In practice, amended declarations are filed as supplementary declarations (AMA) on the customs electronic system. Businesses should check the customs authority’s current guidance for the AMA procedure, because system steps may change. The golden rule from the case law of penalties: act the moment an error is discovered — the legal question is whether the audit decision has been issued yet, and in practice the announcement date versus the signing date can differ. Do not wait to find out.
Frequently asked questions
Does the 60-day window apply to settlement reports? The no-penalty rule covers amended settlement reports filed within 60 days of report submission and before the inspection decision — a parallel but separate 60-day clock.
Can I amend after the PCA conclusion to get 10%? No for the same items. Self-detected amendments outside an existing PCA/inspection conclusion for the same goods fall under the 20% rate (Article 10(3)(d)).
Does amending increase my audit risk? An amended declaration is a compliance signal, not a violation. The far greater risk is leaving a known error for customs to find.
Conclusion
Voluntary amended declaration does reduce penalties — to zero within 60 days of clearance, to 10% (instead of 20%) when filed late but before the audit decision. The business still owes the full tax shortfall plus late-payment interest, and licenses/specialized inspections cannot be amended. The practical lesson: review declarations continuously and amend the moment errors surface — every day of delay moves the case from Window 1 toward Window 3.
Legal basis: Customs Law 54/2014/QH13 (Article 20); Decree 169/2026/ND-CP (Articles 4, 7(2), 10(2), 10(3), 10(5)); Circular 38/2015/TT-BTC (Article 20; amended by Circular 39/2018/TT-BTC, Circular 121/2025/TT-BTC); Law on Tax Administration 108/2025/QH15 (Article 12(5)); Law on Handling of Administrative Violations 15/2012/QH13 (Article 9; amended by Laws 67/2020, 88/2025). Researched 14/10/2026.
*This article is for general reference only and does not constitute legal advice for any specific case. This content is in draft status, pending review before publication.*
See also: Import/export tax for export processing enterprises (EPE) · Contact FLAT Law Firm