In the Official Gazette No. 6,890 Extraordinary, dated March 6, 2025, Decree No. 5,104 of the same date (Customs Exemptions Decree - the “Decree”) was published, issued by the Presidency of the Republic. This Decree establishes import tax and value-added tax exemptions for the goods and sectors specified therein.

The exemptions established by the Decree are as follows:

• A 90% exemption from Import Tax and a 90% exemption from Value-Added Tax is granted for the definitive importation of new or used tangible personal property classified under the tariff codes listed in Appendix I of the Decree. These imports must be carried out by agencies and entities of the National Public Administration or by natural or legal persons using their own resources. (Art. 3). This tax benefit applies automatically.
• Import Tax and Value-Added Tax are exempted for the definitive importation of tangible personal property classified under the tariff codes listed in Appendix II of the Decree, provided that the imports are carried out exclusively by the Ministry of Popular Power for Electric Energy or its affiliated agencies and entities. (Art. 4)
• Import Tax and Value-Added Tax are exempted for the definitive importation of tangible personal property classified under the tariff codes listed in Appendix III of the Decree, provided that the imports are carried out exclusively by the Ministry of Popular Power for Water Services or its affiliated agencies and entities. (Art. 5)
• Import Tax and Value-Added Tax are exempted for the definitive importation of tangible personal property classified under the tariff codes listed in Appendix IV of the Decree, provided that the imports are carried out exclusively by the Ministry of Popular Power for Ecological Mining Development or its affiliated agencies and entities, as well as those carried out exclusively by the Venezuelan Corporation of Guayana (CVG) or its affiliated companies. (Art. 6)

The Decree states that, in order to benefit from the exemptions established in Chapter II (On Exemptions), beneficiaries must comply with the common requirements specified in Chapter III when registering their declaration. (Art. 7)

The exemption benefit provided in the Decree will apply as of the date of registration of the respective Customs Declaration for importation. (Art. 15)

Failure to comply with any of the conditions by the beneficiaries will result in the loss of the exemption benefit established in the Decree. In such cases, the imported goods subject to the benefit will be considered taxable, without prejudice to any applicable penalties. (Art. 16)

Likewise, the exemption benefit will be revoked for those who: (i) fail to comply with the periodic evaluation requirements established in Articles 13 and 14 of the Decree and the parameters set by SENIAT; (ii) fail to comply with the obligations established in the Constituent Decree enacting the Organic Tax Code and other tax regulations, as well as in the Organic Customs Law; (iii) fall under any of the cases specified in Article 177 of the Organic Customs Law. (Art. 17)

Without prejudice to the provisions of the Decree, the National Executive may issue the Certificate of No National Production (CNP) or the Certificate of Insufficient National Production (CPNI) in accordance with the Law on Value-Added Tax, even if the goods for which the certificate is issued are classified under one of the tariff codes contained in Appendix I of the Decree. (Art. 18)

The Minister responsible for economy, finance, and foreign trade may, by resolution, add or remove tariff codes from the Appendices of the Decree, as well as create or eliminate Appendices. (Art. 19)

The exemption benefits established in the Decree will apply from its effective date until June 30, 2025. (Art. 22)

Decree No. 5,071 of December 27, 2024, published in Official Gazette No. 6,869 Extraordinary of the same date, is repealed. (Art. 23)

The Decree came into effect five (5) business days after its publication in the Official Gazette.

If you have any questions or comments regarding this matter or require further information, please contact the partner in charge of your account via email.

In Official Gazette No. 6,890 Extraordinary, dated March 6, 2025, Decree No. 5,103 of the same date was published, enacting the Partial Reform of Decree No. 4,944, dated April 24, 2024, which was published in Official Gazette No. 6,804 Extraordinary on the same date.

The Decree includes the following modifications:

• Articles 8, 10, and 21 have been amended, which previously stated that the entity responsible for administering exemption certificates was the Ministry of Popular Power responsible for Industry. This responsibility has now been transferred to the Presidential Commission, which is now a permanent body named the "Foreign Trade Committee."
  
  
• Column 4 (Ad Valorem Tariff) of Article 37 has been modified, but only for the subheadings indicated in this article that pertain to the Pharmaceutical Sector. These subheadings will be subject to the Common External Tariff established in the Reform, which will be applied preferentially and immediately over the rate reflected in column 3 of the same article.
  
  
• The nomenclature of the subheadings contained in column 2 (Description of Goods) and the Common External Tariff set forth in column 4 (Ad Valorem Tariff – Ex. CET) of Article 37, corresponding to the Pharmaceutical Sector, have been modified.
  
  
• The nomenclature of the subheadings contained in column 2 (Description of Goods), the Common External Tariff in column 4 (Ad Valorem Tariff – Ex. CET), the Legal Import and Export Regime in columns 5 and 6, and the Physical Units in column 7 have been modified.
  
  
• Column 5 (Legal Import Regime) of Article 37, which enacts the Customs Tariff, has been modified only for the subheadings indicated in the Reform. These subheadings will now be subject to the Legal Regime set forth in the Reform.
  
  
• New Supplementary Notes have been added to Chapters 33, 34, 38, and 87 of Article 37, which enacts the Customs Tariff.
  
  
• Supplementary Note 1 of Chapter 87 of Article 37, which enacts the Customs Tariff, has been modified.
  
  
• Note 6 of Subchapter I of Chapter 98 of Article 37, which enacts the Customs Tariff, has been modified. This note concerns the importation of goods by legal entities whose economic activity pertains to the automotive sector. These entities may be eligible for exemption from the Common External Tariff specified in columns 3 or 4, as well as from Value Added Tax, in the cases provided for in the Reform. It is stated that the duration of the VAT exemption will be subject to the currently valid Decree on Customs Exemptions.
  
  
• The issuance of Vehicle Assembly Material Certifications (MEIV) is now conditioned on authorized vehicles containing at least 50% national added value, duly validated through a joint authorization by the Foreign Trade Committee and the Ministry of Economy and Finance.
  
  
• The requirement for Legal Regime 9, related to the "Permit from the Presidential Commission, now a permanent body named the 'Foreign Trade Committee,'" is waived for a period of one year from the effective date of this Decree. However, this does not affect the provisions of Article 9 of the Reform. The Commission may extend this waiver.

This Decree will come into force five business days after its publication in the Official Gazette.

USE OF DIGITAL MEDIA FOR THE ISSUE OF INVOICES AND OTHER DOCUMENTS IN VENEZUELA

The National Tax Administration in Venezuela recently decided to regulate the use of digital media for the issuance of invoices and other tax documents, aiming at adapting taxation to new technologies. 

The application of the technology to invoicing must be implemented by certain entities, which must file a request for authorization with the National Superintendence of Internal Taxes of the National Tax Administration; that is, said entities must be duly authorized. To that end, their request must be accompanied by the requirements established in the new tax regulation and will be approved or denied by the Superintendence in a period of 30 business days.

The entities subject to the obligation to implement the digital invoicing, according to the new tax regulation, are the following: (i) entities that perform commercial operations solely through electronic means or web portals; and (ii) entities bound to use tax machines and which simultaneously perform commercial operations through electronic means or web portals. In addition, the entities that are not subject to use tax machines may choose to use this type of invoicing.

A three-month transition period was established for implementing this type of invoicing, for purposes of adaptation to the same and in order to meet the requirement of request for authorization from the National Tax Administration.

With the implementation of this new regulation, the National Tax Administration seeks to couple tax rules on invoicing with the technological development of the last years, aiming to adapt the national taxation to the new economic and technological realities and assure a greater efficiency in tax processes.