Vietnam moves to cut its de minimis threshold to VND100,000

Vietnam's Ministry of Finance wants to cap duty-free treatment for small consignments at a customs value of VND100,000 per shipment, or VND10,000 in duty owed, and apply that single line to every channel, express and postal parcels included. Today an express parcel clears duty-free up to VND1 million; other cargo up to VND500,000. The express threshold falls tenfold; the general one fivefold. The proposal sits in a draft decree implementing the Law on Export and Import Duties, now out for comment with ministries and trade associations.

Under Decree 134/2016, as amended by Decree 18/2021, the exemption depends on how the goods arrive. Postal and express imports are duty-free up to a customs value of VND1 million or VND100,000 in duty. Everything else is exempt up to VND500,000 in value or VND50,000 in duty per import or export. The draft rewrites Article 29 into one test: VND100,000 in value or VND10,000 in duty.

The VND10,000 figure is not arbitrary. The Customs Department says it equals the customs fee charged on express and postal shipments under Circular 86/2025/TT-BTC, the point below which collecting duty costs more than it yields. The VND100,000 value line is back-calculated from an average preferential import tariff of about 11.8%, rounded to 10%. Gifts and border-resident trade fall outside the threshold.

The express threshold falls tenfold; the general one fivefold.

Cross-border e-commerce is the first reason. Figures reported by Tien Phong put Vietnam's e-commerce retail market above $25 billion in 2024, up about 20%, at an estimated $31 billion to $38.5 billion in 2025, and still growing around 19% in the first half of 2026. Small parcels shipped straight to consumers have multiplied at that pace, and a relief meant to spare customs the cost of trivial collections has turned into a price advantage for imports over domestic goods.

Fraud is the second. Customs names two patterns: splitting orders so each parcel slides under the line, and under-declaring value. Both leak revenue and distort the data. At VND100,000 the room to split shrinks sharply.

The third is international alignment. Indonesia exempts only goods worth $3 or less. India grants no duty relief on goods bought directly from abroad through e-commerce. Since July the EU has charged a flat 3 euros per item on consignments worth up to 150 euros and plans to scrap the threshold altogether from July 2028. Vietnam took its own first step in early 2025, when Decision 01/2025/QD-TTg ended the VAT exemption on low-value express imports. Import duty was the only relief left, and this draft targets it.

The ministry would rather drop the exemption entirely. It cannot: Vietnam is party to the Revised Kyoto Convention, whose General Annex requires a minimum threshold below which no duty is collected, and the Law on Export and Import Duties still provides for the relief. Keeping the mechanism and shrinking the threshold is the compliant route.

Consumer goods sold through cross-border marketplaces take the biggest hit, because they ride the express and postal channel where the line drops from VND1 million to VND100,000. A VND300,000 parcel that clears duty-free today would be declared and taxed under the draft, unless the tariff on its HS code is so low that total duty on the shipment stays within VND10,000. Tien Phong reports the change is expected to land directly on cross-border e-commerce, logistics and express operators.

For business importers assessing the proposal, Homexim recommends reviewing samples, individual replacement parts and top-up components for completed orders separately. Distinguish postal and express consignments from other shipping channels when comparing the existing value thresholds of VND1 million and VND500,000 respectively. Do not assume that small lots qualify for relief: check each shipment's customs value, HS classification and tariff against both tests in the draft. Read the word 'or' carefully: a shipment above VND100,000 in value still qualifies if total duty is VND10,000 or less, so the tariff on the HS code, and any FTA preference backed by a C/O, decides which side of the line a shipment lands on. The higher the duty rate, the sooner the VND10,000 ceiling is reached.

The draft is at consultation stage with no effective date yet. The direction is settled, though, and major markets are moving the same way, so preparing early is cheaper than fixing later. What to do now:

• Review shipments below VND1 million over a chosen period, such as six months, and recalculate duty by HS code and tariff. Under the draft, a shipment falls outside this relief only if both its customs value exceeds VND100,000 and duty exceeds VND10,000. Compare with its previous treatment to estimate any change in cost.
• Retire any order-splitting designed to stay under the threshold. Customs has labelled the practice as fraud, and at VND100,000 it no longer pays.
• Samples and spare parts: recost landed value with import duty included, check FTA preference where a C/O is available, and confirm the rate against the current tariff schedule by HS code.
• Marketplace sellers and express operators: build a dutiable-declaration flow for small parcels, since the exemption procedures in the old Article 29 are being removed and folded into the Law on Tax Administration.
• If the threshold is a problem for your trade, file comments through your industry association during this consultation window.

Homexim provides customs brokerage, document review and HS classification support to help you assess duty shipment by shipment, rather than relying on cargo value alone. If you move samples, spare parts or marketplace orders, send us your product list and we will check HS codes and estimate duty under the proposed threshold. For the other September policy dates, see our brief on the four rules taking effect this month.