EXEMPTION FROM PAYMENT OF IMPORT DUTIES, VALUE ADDED TAX, AND RATE FOR DETERMINATION OF CUSTOMS REGIME FOR THE GOODS AND SERVICES INDICATED IN THE DECREE

 

Decree No. 4.604 of May 1, 2021, issued by the Presidency of the Republic, was published in Official Gazette No. 6.623 Extraordinary of the same date (the “Decree”). The Decree establishes the exemption from payment of Import Duties, Value Added Tax, and Rate for Determination of Customs Regime for the goods and sectors indicated in the same.

The exemptions established in the Decree are the following:

• Final importation of new and used corporeal personal property that is within the classification of the customs codes that are part of Appendix I to the Decree and is made by the agencies and entities of the Public Administration and by natural and legal persons with their own resources is exempted from payment of Import Duties, Value Added Tax, and Rate for Determination of Customs Regime, up to May 31, 2021.
• Final importation of capital personal property, information technology and telecommunications goods, their parts, pieces, and accessories, not produced or with insufficient production in the country, of first use, identified as BK or BIT, in column three (3) of article 37 of the Schedule of Customs Duties is exempted from payment of Value Added Tax and will be applied a 2% or 0% ad valorem rate, as appropriate, by virtue of articles 8, 10, 11, and 12 of the Schedule of Customs Duties, up to December 31, 2021, in the terms and conditions prescribed in the relevant “BK or BIT Exemption Certificate” administered by the Ministry of the Popular Power with jurisdiction over industries.
• Final importation of corporeal personal property classified in the customs codes indicated in Appendix II to the Decree, made by legal persons the economic activity of which is within the automotive sector, is exempted from payment of Import Duties, Value Added Tax, and Rate for Determination of Customs Regime, up to May 31, 2021, in the terms and conditions prescribed in the relevant “Automotive Sector Exemption Certificate” issued by the Ministry with jurisdiction over the matter or in the “Authorization of Importation under the Regime of Imported Assembly Material for Vehicles” issued by the National Integrated Service of Customs and Tax Administration (Servicio Nacional Integrado de Administración Aduanera y Tributaria – SENIAT).
• Final importation, made by the agencies and entities of the National Public Administration, of corporeal personal property intended to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and classified with the customs codes established in Appendix III to the Decree is exempted from payment of Import Duties, Value Added Tax, and Rate for Determination of Customs Regime, and from any other tax or rate applicable under the current legislation, up to December 31, 2021, in the terms and conditions prescribed in the “Official Letter of Exemption” issued by SENIAT.

For purposes of the enjoyment of the benefits and exemptions prescribed in the Decree, it establishes that the beneficiaries must meet the general and specific requirements prescribed in chapters III and IV of the aforesaid Decree.

The ministry with jurisdiction over economy, finance, and foreign trade, as well as the ministry with jurisdiction over health, may, through a joint resolution, incorporate customs codes into Appendix III or remove them from the same, which Appendix is part of the Decree.

Failure to meet any of the conditions prescribed in the Decree will result in the loss of the exemption benefit prescribed in the same. Under such circumstances, the importation of the goods subject to the benefit will be taxed, without prejudice to the applicable penalties.

Likewise, the following will lose the exemption benefit: (i) those failing to comply with the periodic evaluation established in articles 18 and 19 of the Decree and with the parameters determined by SENIAT; (Ii) those failing to perform the obligations established in the Constituent Decree that issued the Organic Tax Code and other tax rules and in the Organic Customs Law; (iii) those who are liable for any of the events penalized under article 177 of the Constituent Decree that issued the Organic Customs Law, at the time of making the declaration of goods at the customs office.

Decree No. 4.412 of December 29, 2020, published in Official Gazette No. 6.608 Extraordinary of December 29, 2020 is repealed, as well the resolutions issued in the performance of the repealed Decree.

The Decree became effective upon publication of the same in the Official Gazette.

In order to access the Decree, please click here.

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