How to handle personal income tax refund claims that do not meet the automatic processing conditions in Vietnam?

How to handle personal income tax refund claims that do not meet the automatic processing conditions in Vietnam?

Pursuant to Clause 2, Article 5 of Decision 108/QD-TCT, 2025, regulations on resolving Personal Income Tax (PIT) refund claims that do not meet any of the automatic processing conditions are as follows:

In cases where the taxpayer's PIT refund file does not meet one of the automatic processing conditions, the Tax sector’s IT application system automatically assigns and sends an email to the department leaders and the assigned tax officer to handle the PIT refund file, notifying them to continue processing the file. Based on the inspection results, information provided by the TMS (Tax Management System) application, and specific PIT refund claims, the Document Processing Department (GQHS) considers the following actions:

(1) In cases where the taxpayer's PIT refund file is accompanied by additional explanatory documents, the GQHS department checks and compares the taxpayer's additional explanatory documents. If accepted, the GQHS department prepares a Tax Refund Decision (or a Refund cum Offset Decision of State Budget Revenue) and an Order to Refund State Budget Revenue (or a Refund cum Offset Order of State Budget Revenue) and submits it to the Head of the Tax Authority for electronic signing.

(2) If further determination and clarification of the discrepancies between the taxpayer's declaration data and the tax authority's aggregate data are needed, the GQHS department creates a Notice on Explanation, Supplementation of Information, and Documents (Form No. 01/TB-BSTT-NNT issued with Decree 126/2020/ND-CP of the Government of Vietnam) and submits it to the Head of the Tax Authority for signature and sends it to the taxpayer.

On receipt of the taxpayer's additional explanations and supplements, the PIT Refund GQHS department proceeds as follows:

+ In case of acceptance of the explanation and supplement:

If the taxpayer has explained or supplemented information and documents proving that the tax refund amount requested is correct, the PIT Refund GQHS department creates a tax refund proposal in the TMS application, a Tax Refund Decision (or a Refund cum Offset Decision of State Budget Revenue) and an Order to Refund State Budget Revenue (or a Refund cum Offset Order of State Budget Revenue), and submits it to the Head of the Tax Authority for issuance.

+ In the case of non-acceptance of the explanation and supplement:

If the taxpayer has explained or supplemented information and documents but there is insufficient basis to determine that the taxpayer's refund file qualifies for a refund, or after the deadline per the Notice on Explanation, Supplementation of Information, and Documents, the taxpayer has not explained or supplemented the information, or has already done so but there is still insufficient basis for the tax authority to determine the refunded amount, the PIT Refund GQHS department creates a Notice on the file's ineligibility for a refund or non-refund (Form No. 04/TB-HT issued with Circular 80/2021/TT-BTC) in the TMS and submits it to the Head of the Tax Authority for issuance to the taxpayer.

(3) In cases where it is determined that the refund file does not qualify for a refund, the PIT Refund GQHS department drafts a Notice on the file's ineligibility or non-refundable status (Form No. 04/TB-HT issued with Circular 80/2021/TT-BTC) in the TMS (centralized tax management application) and submits it to the Head of the Tax Authority for signing and issuance to the taxpayer.

This processing should be completed within 03 working days from the date of the Notice of receipt of the refund request file.

How to handle personal income tax refund claims that do not meet the automatic processing conditions in Vietnam? (Image from the Internet)

When shall individuals receive PIT refund in Vietnam?

Based on Clause 2, Article 8 of the Personal Income Tax Law 2007, regulations on cases eligible for PIT refunds are as follows:

Tax Management and Refunds

1. Taxpayer registration, declaration, tax deduction, tax payment, tax finalization, tax refund, tax law violation handling, and tax management measures are implemented according to tax management legal regulations.

2. Individuals are eligible for refunds in the following cases:

a) The amount of tax paid exceeds the payable tax amount;

b) The individual has paid tax but has taxable income below the tax-paying threshold;

c) Other cases as decided by competent state authorities.

Therefore, individuals are eligible for PIT refunds in the following cases:

- The amount of tax paid is greater than the payable tax amount;

- The individual has paid tax but has taxable income not reaching the taxable threshold;

- Other cases as decided by competent state authorities.

What is the time limit for processing PIT refund claims in Vietnam?

Pursuant to Clauses 1 and 2, Article 75 of the Tax Administration Law 2019, the specific time limits for processing PIT refund claims are as follows:

- For files eligible for refund before examination, no later than 06 working days from the date the tax administration authority issues a notice of file acceptance and the refund processing timeframe, the tax administration authority must decide to refund the taxpayer or transfer the taxpayer's file for pre-refund examination if applicable under Clause 2, Article 73 of the Tax Administration Law 2019 or notify the taxpayer of non-refund if the file is ineligible.

+ In cases where the refund file's information differs from the tax administration authority's records, the tax administration authority notifies the taxpayer in writing to provide explanations and additional information. The time for explanation and supplementation is not included in the refund processing timeframe.

- For files subject to pre-refund examination, no later than 40 days from the date the tax administration authority issues a written notice of file acceptance and the refund processing timeframe, the authority must decide on the refund or non-refund if the file is ineligible.