Vietnam: How many forms of personal income tax refund are there in 2025? What is the processing time for personal income tax refund claims in Vietnam in 2025?

Vietnam: How many forms of personal income tax refund are there in 2025?

Based on Article 28 of Circular 111/2013/TT-BTC regarding tax refunds as follows:

Tax Refund

1. The personal income tax refund applies to individuals who have registered and have a tax code at the time of submitting the tax finalization dossier.

2. For individuals who have authorized tax finalization to organizations or individuals paying income to finalize on their behalf, the tax refund of the individual will be conducted through the organization or individual paying income. The organization or individual paying income will offset the excess or deficit tax amount of individuals. After offsetting, if there is still an excess tax amount, it can be carried forward to the next period or refunded if there is a request.

3. For individuals who file directly with the tax authority, they can choose to receive a tax refund or offset it to the next period at the same tax authority.

4. In cases where individuals have incurred a personal income tax refund but submit the tax finalization return late as regulated, no penalty will be applied for the administrative violation of late tax finalization declaration.

Thus, there are 2 forms of personal income tax refund in 2025, including:

- For individuals who have authorized tax finalization to organizations or individuals paying income to finalize on their behalf, the individual's tax refund is conducted through the organization or individual paying income.

The organization or individual paying income will offset the excess or deficit tax amount of individuals. After offsetting, if there is still an excess tax amount, it can be carried forward to the next period or refunded if there is a request.

- For individuals who directly file with the tax authority, they can choose to receive a tax refund or offset it to the next period at the same tax authority.

Vietnam: How many forms of personal income tax refund are there in 2025? (Image from the Internet)

What are cases of personal income tax refund in Vietnam in 2025?

Based on Clause 2, Article 8 of Personal Income Tax Law 2007 and Article 28 of Circular 111/2013/TT-BTC regarding personal income tax refunds as follows:

Individuals who have registered and have a tax code at the time of submitting the tax finalization dossier are entitled to a tax refund in the following cases:

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

- The individual has paid tax but their taxable income is not enough to necessitate tax payment;

- Other cases as decided by a competent state authority.

Note:

- For individuals who have authorized tax finalization to organizations or individuals paying income to finalize on their behalf, the tax refund of the individual is conducted through the organization or individual paying income.

The organization or individual paying income will offset the excess or deficit tax amount of individuals. After offsetting, if there is still an excess tax amount, it can be carried forward to the next period or refunded if there is a request.

- For individuals who directly file with the tax authority, they can choose to receive a tax refund or offset it to the next period at the same tax authority.

- In cases where individuals have incurred a personal income tax refund but submit the tax finalization return late as regulated, no penalty will be applied for the administrative violation of late tax finalization declaration.

How to determine the amount of personal income tax to be refunded in Vietnam?

Based on the regulations in the Personal Income Tax Law 2007 and the contents of form No. 02/QTT-TNCN issued with Circular 80/2021/TT-BTC, the refundable personal income tax is calculated as follows:

Where:

+ Personal Income Tax Paid: This is the amount that the individual has been deducted and paid into the state budget.

+ Personal Income Tax Payable per Tax Finalization = (Total taxable income – Total deductions) x Tax rate

This is the tax amount that the individual must pay per tax finalization. This tax amount is calculated based on legal regulations on taxable income, deductions, and tax rates.

To calculate the refundable personal income tax, it is necessary to know the exact amount of tax already paid temporarily and the amount of tax that needs to be paid.

What is the processing time for personal income tax refund claims in Vietnam in 2025?

Based on Article 75 of the Law on Tax Administration 2019 (certain contents repealed by Clause 13, Article 6 of the Law Amending the Law on Securities, the Law on Accounting, the Law on Independent Auditing, the Law on State Budget, the Law on Management and Use of Public Property, the Law on Tax Administration, the Law on Personal Income Tax, the Law on National Reserves, the Law on Handling Administrative Violations 2024), the tax refund dossier processing time is regulated as follows:

Tax Refund Dossier Processing Time

1. For dossiers eligible for a tax refund beforehand, no later than 06 working days from the date the tax management authority issues notification of dossier acceptance and tax refund dossier processing time, the tax management authority must decide to refund the tax to the taxpayer or notify of transferring the taxpayer's dossier for inspection before refunding tax if falling into the cases provided in Clause 2, Article 73 of this Law or notify of not refunding tax to the taxpayer if the dossier does not meet the conditions for a tax refund.

In cases where the information declared in the tax refund dossier differs from the management information of the tax management authority, the tax authority shall notify in writing for the taxpayer to explain or provide additional information. The time for explanation and additional information provision is not counted in the tax refund dossier processing time.

2. For dossiers subject to an inspection before a tax refund, no later than 40 days from the date the tax management authority issues written notification of dossier acceptance and tax refund dossier processing time, the tax management authority must decide to refund the tax to the taxpayer or not refund the tax to the taxpayer if the dossier does not meet the conditions for a tax refund.

Accordingly, for each type of tax refund dossier, there is a different processing time for personal income tax refunds, specifically:

(1) Cases eligible for a tax refund beforehand:

- The processing time for personal income tax refunds is no later than 06 working days from the date the tax management authority issues notification of dossier acceptance and tax refund dossier processing time.

- The tax management authority decides to refund the tax to the taxpayer or notifies transferring the taxpayer's dossier for inspection before a refund if the dossier does not meet the refund conditions.

(2) Cases subject to an inspection before a tax refund:

- The processing time for personal income tax refunds is no later than 40 days from the date the tax management authority issues written notification of dossier acceptance and tax refund dossier processing time.

- The tax management authority implements a tax refund for the taxpayer or does not refund the tax if the dossier is not eligible for a tax refund.

Note:

- Personal income tax refund processing time is calculated in working days, excluding holidays, Tet, and weekends.

- In cases where the personal income tax refund claim is not eligible for a refund, the tax management authority must notify the taxpayer and specify the reason.

- In cases where the tax management authority does not process the personal income tax refund within the prescribed time, it is considered as a delay in processing the tax refund dossier.