In brief
On 9 January 2026, Decree No. 5,207 (“Decree”) was published in Official Gazette No. 43,292, under which the sales and imports of hydrocarbon fuels were exonerated from VAT, import tax, customs duties and "any other tax, rate or special contribution applicable". The exoneration also applies to domestic sales and imports of supplies and additives intended to improve gasoline quality by the State, joint ventures and private companies, in accordance with Article 58 of the Organic Hydrocarbons Law.1
It is not clear whether the phrase "any other applicable tax, rate or contribution" includes income tax, national taxes on the sale of hydrocarbons and their derivatives, or contributions for science and technology, sports and the national anti-drugs fund.2 The Decree provides that the VAT exoneration will be evaluated every six months.3
The Decree entered into force on 12 January 2026, and will apply the exoneration benefits for a maximum term of one year (i.e., until 12 January 2027).
In more detail
The Decree exonerated from VAT, import tax and customs duties to sales and final imports in Venezuela of (i) hydrocarbon fuels and (ii) supplies/additives intended to improve gasoline quality ("Goods"). To benefit from the exoneration, applicants must submit the following documents to the customs office:
Descriptive list of the Goods to be imported
Commercial invoice issued in the name of the applicant in charge of acquiring the Goods
Tax exoneration letter issued by the Venezuelan tax administration
Imports must be performed through the same customs office chosen by the applicant. If the applicant needs to import through different customs offices, it must notify the customs office designated in the application. That office will keep a record of operations exonerated from taxes.
The Decree also exonerates the sale of the Goods in Venezuela from the tax obligation established in the Financial Transactions Tax Law.4 The Venezuelan tax administration will regulate the terms, conditions and requirements of the exoneration through an administrative ruling.
Lastly, the Decree urges the public authorities to adopt the necessary measures to extend the exoneration to municipal and state taxes, and appoints the Ministry of Economy, Finance and Foreign Trade, in coordination with the Ministry of Hydrocarbons, as the competent authorities to execute its provisions.
We remain at your disposal should you require further details or clarification regarding the general aspects of the Decree highlighted in this alert, as well as for any related queries.
Download the Spanish version of Venezuela: Hydrocarbon Fuels Benefit from Temporary Tax Relief.
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1 Article 58: "The activities of commercialization of derivative products that were excluded in accordance with the provisions of the previous article, may be performed by the State directly, or by companies of its exclusive property, or by joint ventures with the participation of state and private interest in any proportion, and by private companies." Organic Hydrocarbons Law, published in Official Gazette No. 38,493 of 4 August 2006.
2 The National Executive issued the Decree despite the reform of the Organic Tax Code of January 2020 (published in Official Gazette No. 6,507 of 29 January 2020), which established that national tax exonerations must be in a single annual administrative act (i.e., "General Decree of National Tax Exonerations"). Additionally, in the specific case of customs duties, the Decree would not fall within the scope of application of the "General Decree of Exonerations from National Taxes," taking into account that the latter is established in the Organic Tax Code (Article 77), which only applies supplementarily in customs matters.
3 This periodic evaluation is set forth in Article 66 of the Constituent Decree of Reform of the Decree with Rank, Value and Force of Law that establishes VAT, published in Official Gazette No. 6,507 of 29 January 2020.
4 Law for the partial reform of the Decree with Status, Validity and Force of Law on the Financial Transactions Tax, published in Official Gazette No. 6,687 Extraordinary on 25 February 2022.
