The Framework and Conditions of a Duty-Free Business Enterprise
Duty-free goods business is regulated by Decree 273/2026/ND-CP, issued on 07 July 2026 and effective from 21 August 2026; clause 2 of Article 22 of that decree provides that Decree 100/2020/ND-CP ceases to be effective from the date Decree 273/2026/ND-CP takes effect, so any citation of Decree 100/2020/ND-CP as the current framework no longer holds. The business subject must be an enterprise eligible for duty-free goods business as prescribed by law (clause 5 of Article 2 of Decree 273/2026/ND-CP). The fundamental change from the old regime lies in the condition-management mechanism: instead of customs pre-inspection and recognition of eligibility before the enterprise starts trading, Circular 82/2026/TT-BTC of the Ministry of Finance moves to a mechanism under which the enterprise self-assesses and publicly commits to the standards on business locations, goods warehouses, information management systems and surveillance cameras connected online to the customs authority, self-commits and bears responsibility, while customs inspects periodically or on a risk-management basis at the post-inspection stage and may require suspension of goods movement into or out of the location, or suspension of operations, where the enterprise no longer meets the standards it has published. Goods sold at a duty-free shop are goods temporarily imported from abroad, non-tariff zones or bonded warehouses, or domestic goods permitted for circulation, placed on sale under a customs supervision regime, not yet bearing import duty, special consumption tax and value added tax under the duty-free mechanism; only where goods are sold to the right persons and leave the supervision area following the buyer’s journey is the duty-free status completed. The industry’s core condition therefore lies not in capital but in customs compliance capability: any deviation on buyer eligibility or leakage of goods out of the supervision system turns duty-free goods into a tax violation.
Locations Where a Duty-Free Shop May Open
Duty-free business locations are locked to positions attached to border gates and exit-entry journeys, corresponding to the purchase channels in Article 5 of Decree 273/2026/ND-CP. The first position group is inside the restricted area of international border gates — international land border gates, international intermodal railway stations, seaports and international civil airports — serving departing and transit persons who have completed exit or transit procedures. The second position group is in-country duty-free shops: serving persons awaiting departure who buy in advance, but goods are collected only at a pick-up counter inside the restricted area of the international border gate where the buyer departs, ensuring the goods truly leave the tax territory. The third position group is on aircraft performing international flights departing from Vietnam or arriving in Vietnam, serving that flight’s own passengers. The fourth position group is shops in the restricted area of international civil airports serving arriving persons, with the special feature that customers may buy only right after completing entry procedures and may not buy after leaving the restricted area. In-country shops also serve persons enjoying privileges and immunities in Vietnam under clause 4 of Article 5. Outside these positions, no duty-free shop serves the general domestic public — a downtown shop styling itself duty-free outside the in-country shop model for persons awaiting departure or privileged persons operates outside the Decree 273/2026/ND-CP framework.
Who May Buy: Eligible Persons under Article 5 of Decree 273/2026/ND-CP
Article 5 of Decree 273/2026/ND-CP prescribes buyers and purchase conditions by each sales channel. Clause 1: departing and transit persons after completing exit or transit procedures, and persons awaiting departure — departing and transit persons buy at duty-free shops in the restricted area of the border gate; persons awaiting departure buy at in-country duty-free shops and collect goods at the pick-up counter in the restricted area of the border gate of departure, or receive goods abroad. Clause 2: passengers on international flights departing from Vietnam may buy on the departing aircraft; passengers on international flights arriving in Vietnam may buy on the aircraft performing the arriving flight. Clause 3: arriving persons may buy at duty-free shops in the restricted area of international civil airports right after completing entry procedures, and may not buy after leaving the restricted area. Clause 4: persons enjoying privileges and immunities in Vietnam may buy at in-country duty-free shops, presenting the duty-free norms book, and for personal purchases also the identity card issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Clause 5: crew members working on international-route seagoing vessels may buy at duty-free shops at seaports or in-country duty-free shops for their personal needs and the crew’s common living needs on board. Clause 6 of Article 5 facilitates procedures: where the buyer’s personal information can be retrieved from the National Population Database or sectoral databases, the buyer need not present paper documents. Purchase quantities follow Article 6: departing and transit persons, persons awaiting departure and passengers on international flights departing from Vietnam may buy without limit on quantity and value, but bear responsibility themselves for the procedures and quantities for import into the destination country; passengers on arriving international flights and arriving persons buy within the norms at clauses 1 and 2 of Article 6 of Decree 134/2016/ND-CP; privileged and immune persons buy within the quantities at Article 5 of Decree 134/2016/ND-CP; crew members buy within the specific norms at clause 4 of Article 6 (alcohol and tobacco per person per port call of the vessel), and the group buying for use on board outside Vietnam’s territorial sea buys without limit under clause 5 of Article 6.
Can Vietnamese People Buy Duty-Free Goods
Yes — nationality is not an exclusion criterion in Decree 273/2026/ND-CP; the criterion is the buyer’s journey status under Article 5. A Vietnamese citizen departing for tourism or business is a departing person and may buy at the restricted-area shop like every other passenger. A Vietnamese citizen awaiting departure may also buy at the in-country duty-free shop and collect goods at the restricted-area counter on departure. A Vietnamese person arriving from abroad may buy at the shop in the restricted area of the international airport in the window right after entry procedures, within the quantities under Article 6. What a Vietnamese person may not do is buy duty-free goods as an ordinary domestic customer without a border-crossing journey attached to the transaction — duty-free goods are not a discount retail channel for the domestic market, and diverting duty-free goods into domestic consumption outside the statutory channels is a tax and customs violation handled correspondingly. This distinction — by journey, not by nationality — is the key to understanding the whole duty-free model in Vietnam.
Operating Discipline under Customs Supervision
A duty-free business enterprise operates inside a continuous supervision loop under Chapter II of Decree 273/2026/ND-CP: goods brought in for sale at the shop undergo dedicated customs procedures, inspection and supervision (Article 7), sales data attached to buyer information is managed on the customs electronic data processing system, the enterprise files settlement reports on its duty-free business (Article 19) and is responsible for managing goods, selling to the right persons and performing customs procedures as prescribed (clause 2 of Article 23). On location conditions, the enterprise must maintain the standards it has published under Circular 82/2026/TT-BTC — including an information management system connected online and 24/24 surveillance cameras with image data retained for at least six months — and face periodic post-inspection; where standards are no longer met, goods movement into or out of the location may be suspended or operations stopped, with up to six months to remedy before resuming. Typical industry violations comprise selling to ineligible persons, selling beyond quantities, letting goods leave the supervision area not following the buyer’s journey and incompletely recording sales data — all leading to tax recovery on wrongly sold goods and customs sanctions, and more heavily to inability to continue this business model. For an investor wishing to enter this industry, the correct path is to design the location, warehouse and information system to the published standards from the outset and work early with the managing customs authority, because the new mechanism removes pre-inspection recognition but shifts the entire compliance risk onto the enterprise at the post-inspection stage.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the business conditions for a duty-free shop?
The conditions comprise: being an enterprise eligible for duty-free goods business under Decree 273/2026/ND-CP (effective from 21 August 2026, replacing Decree 100/2020/ND-CP, which has ceased to be effective) at permitted positions attached to border gates and exit-entry journeys. Unlike the old regime, the enterprise no longer waits for customs pre-inspection recognition of eligibility: under Circular 82/2026/TT-BTC it publicly commits to meeting the standards on locations, goods warehouses, information management systems and surveillance cameras connected online to customs, self-commits, bears responsibility and undergoes periodic post-inspection. Goods sold are temporarily imported goods or domestic goods placed into the duty-free sales area under customs supervision, not yet bearing taxes under the duty-free mechanism. The decree sets no standalone statutory capital; the industry gate is customs compliance and supervision capability.
Who is permitted to run a duty-free business?
Under clause 5 of Article 2 of Decree 273/2026/ND-CP, the business subject is an enterprise eligible for duty-free goods business as prescribed by law, operating at locations meeting the standards under Circular 82/2026/TT-BTC under customs supervision. Goods, sales data tied to buyer information and inventory all sit inside the supervision loop: an information system connected online to the customs electronic data processing system, periodic settlement reporting and a traceable chain from warehousing to sale. An enterprise that cannot meet and maintain the published standards will have operations suspended or stopped at post-inspection and cannot lawfully operate this model.
Where may duty-free shops be located?
Permitted locations comprise: inside the restricted area of international land border gates, international intermodal railway stations, seaports and international civil airports for persons who have completed departure or transit; in-country duty-free shops for persons awaiting departure with a pick-up counter in the border gate restricted area, and for persons enjoying privileges and immunities; on international flights departing from and arriving in Vietnam; and shops in the restricted area of international civil airports for arriving persons. No duty-free location serves the general domestic public outside these models.
Can Vietnamese people buy duty-free goods?
Yes, because Decree 273/2026/ND-CP’s criterion is travel status under Article 5, not nationality. A departing Vietnamese citizen may buy at the restricted-area shop; a Vietnamese person awaiting departure may buy at the in-country shop and collect goods at the restricted-area counter; an arriving Vietnamese person may buy at the airport restricted-area shop in the window right after immigration, within the quantities under Article 6 of the decree. Conversely, a Vietnamese person without a border-crossing journey tied to the transaction is not an eligible buyer, and diverting duty-free goods into domestic consumption is a tax and customs violation.