Customs doubts the declared value, consultation fails, and the taxable value is reset 20% above the contract price — the importer not only pays extra duty on this shipment but is risk-flagged for the next ones. This article clarifies the legal framework of transaction value, the true role of reference prices in the price database, and how to prove the real price through consultation and complaint.
The transaction value principle and the place of reference prices
Under the Law on Customs 54/2014/QH13 (consolidated text after amendments) and Circular 39/2015/TT-BTC amending Circular 38/2015/TT-BTC on customs valuation, the dutiable value of imports is determined by six methods in a mandatory order, the first and preferred being transaction value: the price actually paid or payable for goods sold for export to Vietnam, plus statutory adjustments. Only where transaction value does not qualify, or customs has grounds to doubt its accuracy after consultation and the declarant cannot prove it, does one move down to the substitute methods in order.
The legal point businesses must hold firmly: prices in the customs price database are a screening and comparison tool for detecting doubt, not a direct basis for replacing transaction value. Applying a reference price 20% higher without following the doubt — consultation — determination sequence in the correct method order is a procedural weakness open to complaint. Conversely, if customs has notified its doubt, held consultation in due form and the enterprise cannot produce documents proving the price, a determination under a substitute method will be very hard to overturn.
Proving the real price through consultation and complaint
At the price consultation, the weighty documents are: the sale contract and price annexes; the commercial invoice; bank payment evidence matching the contract in amount and timing; evidence that any relationship between buyer and seller did not influence the price (or, where the parties are related, proof the price is still a market price — sales to independent third parties, market prices of similar goods); and documents on delivery terms, discounts and quantities explaining a below-average price. The presentation should be structured: our price meets every condition of the transaction value method, and each factor making it lower than the reference price has a verifiable commercial reason.
After consultation, if customs still fixes the value higher, the valuation determination and the assessed duty must be issued in writing; the enterprise complains first to the issuing authority or the superior customs authority under the Law on Complaints, and files an administrative lawsuit at the People’s Court if it disagrees with the outcome. During the complaint, goods have usually been released under the release-first, value-later mechanism — the enterprise must track its duty to pay the difference or the security it has committed, to avoid enforcement while the dispute is unresolved.
Conclusion and prevention for following shipments
After one value re-determination, treat it as a signal to standardise the pricing file: a standard price dossier for each regularly imported product — framework contract, price lists, historical payment records, market price comparison materials — ready to file the moment a check is selected. Businesses importing from related parties need the additional layer of transfer pricing documentation on price to show the transfer price is not dictated by the relationship. With this preparation layer in place, following shipments pass consultation far faster and the incidence of reference-price application drops markedly.
Frequently asked questions
1. Which documents prove the real price?
The most persuasive documents are those of the transaction itself: the sale contract with clear price terms; the commercial invoice; bank payment evidence matching the contract on amount and beneficiary; and the bill of lading and delivery documents matching the shipment. Supporting materials: price negotiation correspondence; the supplier’s price list applied to many customers; contracts and payment records of similar earlier shipments whose values were accepted; and, where the seller is a related party, documents proving the price was not influenced by the relationship — for example sales to independent parties on equivalent terms.
2. How does price consultation proceed?
Price consultation takes place when customs doubts the declared value: the authority notifies the doubtful points in writing and invites the declarant to explain and produce documents within the notified period. At the consultation each side presents its grounds; if the enterprise proves the transaction price is real and qualifies for the transaction value method, the declared value is accepted. If it cannot, customs issues a valuation determination under the subsequent methods and recomputes the duty payable. Treat consultation as a formal working session: bring complete original documents and a person authorised to answer questions about the transaction.
3. Where do you complain against a valuation determination?
Complain against the dutiable-value determination to the customs authority that issued it or to the superior Customs Department under the Law on Complaints, within 90 days of receiving the decision; if the complaint outcome is not accepted, file an administrative case at the competent People’s Court. The complaint file should concentrate on two fronts: procedure — whether customs followed the doubt, consultation and method-order sequence; and evidence — the transaction document set proving the real price that consultation did not fully consider.
4. How do following shipments prevent this?
The three most effective preventions: standardise a price dossier for repeatedly imported products, including contracts, price lists, payment records and market materials, updated quarterly; declare values consistently across shipments and explain upfront in the declaration or an accompanying note when a factor makes the price unusually low (a genuine promotion, bulk purchase, end-of-line goods) instead of waiting to be asked; and, when importing from a related party, maintain transfer pricing documentation on the transfer price as with the tax authority. An enterprise doing these three things turns price consultation into a routine information check rather than a dispute.
This article has been quality-reviewed by the FLAW AI Legal Council