Vietnam: Is tax audit on taxpayers’ premises allowed when there are signs of legal violations?

Vietnam: Is tax audit on taxpayers’ premises allowed when there are signs of legal violations?

Based on Article 110 of the Tax Administration Law 2019, the regulation is as follows:

Tax audit at the taxpayer’s premises

1. Tax audit at the taxpayer’s premises is conducted in the following cases:

a) Cases where the dossier is subject to inspection before tax refund; inspection after tax refund for dossiers subject to a prior refund;

b) Cases stipulated at point b, clause 2 of Article 109 of this Law;

c) Cases of post-customs clearance inspection at the premises of the customs declarant following customs law;

d) Cases where there are signs of legal violations;

dd) Cases selected according to plan, thematic;

e) Cases based on recommendations from State Audit, State Inspectorate, or other competent authorities;

g) Cases of division, separation, merger, consolidation, transformation of enterprise type, dissolution, termination of operation, equitization, invalidation of tax code, change of business location, and other sudden inspections or inspections directed by the competent authority, except for the dissolution, termination of operation where tax finalization is not required to be conducted by the tax authorities according to the law.

2. For cases stipulated at points đ, e, and g, clause 1 of this Article, the tax authority shall not conduct more than one inspection on taxpayers’ premises within one year.

3. The decision to inspect must be sent to the taxpayer within 3 working days and published within 10 working days from the signing date. Before publishing the inspection decision, should the taxpayer prove that the declared tax amount is correct, and has paid the full amount of payable tax, the tax authority shall cancel the inspection decision.

4. The procedure for tax audit is as follows:

a) Announce the inspection decision at the start of the tax audit;

b) Compare the declared contents with the accounting books, accounting vouchers, financial statements, tax risk analysis results, related documents, the actual situation within the scope, and contents of the tax audit decision;

c) The inspection period is determined in the inspection decision but shall not exceed 10 working days on taxpayers’ premises. The inspection period starts from the day the inspection decision is announced; if the inspection scope is extensive and the content is complex, the inspector who issued the decision may extend it once but for no more than 10 working days on taxpayers’ premises;

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

đ) Handle according to authority or propose competent authorities handle according to the inspection results.

5. Post-customs clearance inspection follows customs law regulations.

Therefore, the case of showing signs of legal violations is one of the cases subject to tax audit on taxpayers’ premises.

Vietnam: Is tax audit on taxpayers’ premises allowed when there are signs of legal violations? (Image from Internet)

What are 2 cases where the taxpayer is allowed to refuse the tax audit at their premises in Vietnam?

Based on clause 1, Article 111 of the Tax Administration Law 2019, the regulation is as follows:

Rights and obligations of the taxpayer in tax audit at their premises

1. The taxpayer has the following rights:

a) Refuse the inspection if there is no tax audit decision;

b) Refuse to provide information, documents unrelated to the tax audit content; information, documents classified as state secrets, except where otherwise provided by law;

c) Receive the tax audit record and request an explanation of the content of the tax audit record;

d) Reserve opinions in the tax audit record;

đ) Complain, file lawsuits, and request compensation for damages as regulated by law;

e) Report violations of law during the tax audit process.

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Therefore, the 2 cases in which the taxpayer is allowed to refuse the tax audit at their premises are:

- Refuse the inspection if there is no tax audit decision.

- Refuse to provide information, documents unrelated to the tax audit content; information, documents classified as state secrets unless otherwise provided by law.

What are the 4 obligations of the taxpayer in tax audit at their premises in Vietnam?

Based on clause 2, Article 111 of the Tax Administration Law 2019, the 4 obligations of the taxpayer in tax audit at their premises are as follows:

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

- Promptly and accurately provide information, documents related to the inspection content as requested by the tax audit team; take responsibility before the law for the accuracy and truthfulness of the provided information, documents;

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

- Comply with the recommendations in the tax audit record, conclusion, and decision on handling inspection results.