How long for conducting a tax audit on taxpayers’ premises in Vietnam?

How long for conducting a tax audit on taxpayers’ premises in Vietnam?

Pursuant to Clause 3, Article 110 of the Law on Tax Administration 2019, it is stipulated as follows:

Tax audit at the taxpayers’ premises

1. tax audit at the taxpayers’ premises can be conducted in the following cases:

a) Cases where the dossier is subject to pre-refund inspection; post-refund inspection for dossiers subject to prior refund;

b) Cases stipulated at Point b, Clause 2, Article 109 of this Law;

c) Cases of post-customs clearance inspection at the premises of the customs declarant as stipulated by customs law;

d) Cases with signs of legal violations;

dd) Cases selected according to plan or topic;

e) Cases following recommendations from the State Audit, State Inspectorate, or other competent authorities;

g) Cases of division, separation, merger, consolidation, conversion of enterprise type, dissolution, termination of operation, equitization, termination of tax code's validity, relocation of business, and cases of unexpected inspections, inspections directed by the competent authority, except for dissolution or termination of operation where the tax authority is not required to settle tax according to the law.

2. For the cases stipulated at Points đ, e, and g, Clause 1 of this Article, the tax administration authority conducts inspection at the taxpayer's premises no more than once a year.

3. The tax audit decision must be sent to the taxpayer within 3 working days and announced within 10 working days from the signing date. Before announcing the inspection decision, if the taxpayer proves that the declared tax amount is correct and has paid the due taxes, the tax administration authority shall annul the tax audit decision.

4. The procedure for tax audit is stipulated as follows:

a) Announce the tax audit decision at the commencement of the tax audit;

b) Compare the declared contents with accounting books, accounting documents, financial reports, the risk analysis results on tax, information data for inspection at the tax authority's premises, related documents, and the actual situation within the scope and content of the tax audit decision;

c) The duration of inspection is specified in the inspection decision but shall not exceed 10 working days at the taxpayer's premises. The inspection duration is counted from the date of announcing the inspection decision; if the inspection scope is extensive and content complex, the person who decided on the inspection may extend it once but not more than 10 additional working days at the taxpayer’s premises;

d) Prepare a tax audit record within 5 working days from the end of the inspection period;

dd) Handle according to authority or propose competent levels to handle following inspection results.

5. Post-customs clearance inspections are carried out following the foreign trade laws.

Thus, the tax authority is entitled to conduct tax audits at an enterprise's premises for no more than 10 working days at the taxpayer's premise.

In cases where the inspection scope is extensive or content complex, the person who decided on the inspection may extend it once, but not more than 10 additional working days at the taxpayer's premise.

How long for conducting a tax audit on taxpayers’ premises in Vietnam? (Image from Internet)

What are 6 rights and 3 obligations of taxpayers during tax audit at the taxpayer's premises in Vietnam?

Pursuant to Article 111 of the Law on Tax Administration 2019, the 6 rights and 3 obligations of taxpayers during tax audit at the taxpayer's premises are stipulated as follows:

* Taxpayers have the following rights:

- Refuse inspection when there is no tax audit decision;

- Refuse to provide information, documents not related to the content of the tax audit; information, documents classified as state secrets, unless otherwise stipulated by law;

- Receive the tax audit record and request an explanation of the inspection record's content;

- Record their opinions in the tax audit record;

- File complaints, initiate lawsuits, and request compensation for damages as prescribed by law;

- Accuse acts of legal violations during the tax audit process.

* Taxpayers have the following obligations:

- Comply with the tax audit decision of the tax administration authority;

- Promptly provide full and accurate information and documents related to the inspection content as requested by the tax audit team; be responsible before the law for the accuracy and truthfulness of the information and documents provided;

- Sign the tax audit record within 5 working days from the completion of the inspection;

- Comply with recommendations in the tax audit record, conclusions, and decisions on handling tax audit results.

Is tax audit part of tax management content?

Pursuant to Article 4 of the Law on Tax Administration 2019, the tax management content includes:

- Tax registration, tax declaration, tax payment, tax assessment.

- Tax refunds, exemptions, reductions, non-taxable items.

- Freezing tax debts; writing off tax debts, late payment interest, fines; waiving late payment interest, fines; not calculating late payment interest; extending tax payment deadlines; paying overdue tax debts in installments.

- Managing taxpayer information.

- Managing invoices and vouchers.

- Tax audit, and implementing measures to prevent, combat, and stop tax law violations.

- Enforcing administrative decisions on tax management.

- Imposing penalties for administrative violations in tax management.

- Settling tax-related complaints and denunciations.

- International cooperation on tax.

- Promoting and supporting taxpayers.

Thus, according to the above regulation, tax audit is one of the contents of tax management.