VAT Treatment for Roasted and Seasoned Pine Nuts and Pistachio Nuts: Not Classified as Minimal Processing
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Based on:Nghị định 181/2025/NĐ-CP (Khoản 1 Điều 4); Nghị định 359/2025/NĐ-CP (Điều 1) - Ministry of Finance
This explanation was generated by AI and checked by an automated AI review, not by a human expert. It is not legal, tax or accounting advice and may contain errors. Check the official document before you rely on it.
The Hai Phong City Tax Department determined that roasted and seasoned pine nuts and pistachio nuts do not qualify as products that have undergone only "minimal processing" under Decree 181/2025/ND-CP and Decree 359/2025/ND-CP. Therefore, a trading company selling these products to other enterprises is not entitled to the VAT exemption from declaration and payment that applies to minimally-processed agricultural products sold between enterprises. Minimal processing is defined as operations such as cleaning, sun-drying, drying, husking, milling, cutting, polishing, salting, and cold storage. Roasting and seasoning constitute processing beyond minimal preparation and transform the agricultural product into a different product. When a trading company using the tax credit method sells roasted/seasoned nuts to individual business households or other non-enterprise entities, it must apply a 5% VAT rate.
VAT on Roasted and Seasoned Pine Nuts and Pistachio Nuts
Responding Authority: Hai Phong City Tax Department Query Code: 120326-34
Issue
A trading company specializing in agricultural products buys roasted and seasoned pine nuts and pistachio nuts and asked whether these products are classified as having undergone only minimal processing.
Legal Basis
- Article 4(1), Decree 181/2025/ND-CP dated 1 July 2025 implementing the VAT Law
- Article 1, Decree 359/2025/ND-CP dated 31 December 2025 amending Decree 181/2025/ND-CP
Definition of Minimal Processing
Agricultural products that have undergone only minimal processing include those subject only to: cleaning, sun-drying, drying; husking, milling, cracking, hull removal, grain separation; cutting, grinding, grain polishing; salt-curing, airtight packaging; cold storage and preservation by standard preservatives.
Conclusion
Roasted and seasoned pine nuts and pistachio nuts do not qualify as minimally-processed products. Roasting and seasoning are processing steps beyond the defined minimal processing list.
VAT Consequences
Under Decree 359/2025/ND-CP:
- Sales to other enterprises/cooperatives: VAT must be declared and paid (no exemption from filing applies)
- Sales to individual business households and other non-enterprise entities: 5% VAT applies
- For businesses using the direct method: VAT is computed at 1% of revenue