What are 03 conditions for the PIT finalization to be refunded automatically in Vietnam?

What are cases of PIT refund in Vietnam in 2025?

Pursuant to Clause 2, Article 8 of the 2007 Personal Income Tax Law and Article 28 of Circular 111/2013/TT-BCT, the regulations on personal income tax refunds are as follows:

Individuals who have registered and have a tax code at the time of submitting tax finalizations are eligible for tax refunds in the following cases:

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

- The individual has paid tax but their taxable income is below the taxable threshold;

- Other cases determined by a competent state authority decision.

Note:

- For individuals who have authorized organizations or entities paying income to finalize taxes on their behalf, the individual’s tax refund shall be conducted through those organizations or individuals.

The organization or individual paying income conducts offsetting of excess or deficit paid tax amounts for individuals. After offsetting, if there remains excess tax paid, it can be offset in the next period or refunded if requested.

- Individuals filing directly with the tax authority can choose to receive a refund or offset it to the next period within the same tax office.

- In case an individual is eligible for a personal income tax refund but submits the tax finalization declaration late, no administrative fine for late tax finalization is imposed.

What are 03 conditions for the PIT finalization to be refunded automatically in Vietnam?

As per Clause 1 of the automatic personal income tax refund process issued with Decision 108/QD-TCT of 2025, it is stipulated as follows:

Automatic PIT Refund Processing

1. The automatic PIT refund subsystem checks and determines if the dossier is eligible for automatic processing. A dossier eligible for automatic processing must meet the following conditions:

(i) At the time of resolving the tax refund dossier for the taxpayer, the entity paying income has fulfilled the obligation of paying the withheld PIT or the total PIT paid by the individual taxpayer is fully paid to the state budget in the finalization period where the taxpayer requests a refund;

(ii) The PIT refund claim contains the criteria “Total taxable income” accurately matching the aggregated figures in the tax finalization period in the tax administration database at the time of resolving the dossier, and the criterion “Total tax amount requested for refund” is less than or equal to the aggregated figures in the tax finalization period in the tax administration database at the time of resolving the dossier;

(iii) The refund recipient’s account information is verified and linked to the tax administration database.

...

Thus, the three conditions required for a tax finalization to be eligible for an automatic refund process include:

- Firstly, at the time of resolving the personal income tax refund dossier, if the income-paying entity has fulfilled the obligation of paying the deducted PIT or the taxpayer has fully paid the PIT in the finalization period requesting a refund into the state budget.

- Secondly, the personal income tax refund dossier must have the criterion “Total taxable income” accurately matching the aggregated figures in the tax finalization period according to the tax administration database and the criterion “Total tax amount requested for refund” is less than or equal to the aggregated figures in the tax finalization period according to the tax administration database at the time of resolving the dossier.

- Thirdly, the refund recipient's account information must be verified and linked to the tax administration database.

If the PIT tax finalization meets all three conditions, the refund will be processed automatically.

What are 03 conditions for the PIT finalization to be refunded automatically in Vietnam? (Image from the Internet)

What is the procedure for the PIT refund claim that does not meet the above 03 conditions?

Based on Clause 3 of the automatic personal income tax refund process issued with Decision 108/QD-TCT of 2025, in the case where one of the conditions is not met, the tax industry's IT application system automatically assigns and sends an email to the relevant department head and assigned tax officer to continue resolving the PIT refund claim.

Based on the checking result, information provided by the TMS application, and the specific PIT refund claim, the GQHS department will review and resolve each case as follows:

- Case 1: If the taxpayer's PIT refund claim includes supplementary explanation documents, the GQHS department reviews the supplementary explanation documents. If accepted, the GQHS department drafts a Refund Decision (or a Refund-cum-offset Decision) and an Order to Refund State Revenue (or an Order to Refund-cum-offset State Revenue) and submits it to the Head of the Tax Authority to be signed electronically.

- Case 2: If further clarification is needed regarding the discrepancy between the taxpayer's declared data and the tax authority's consolidated data, the GQHS department drafts a Notice on Explanation and Supplement Submission (form 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 signing and sending to the taxpayer.

Upon receiving supplementary information and explanation from the taxpayer, the PIT refund department performs:

+ In case of acceptance of the explanation and supplements:

If the taxpayer's explanation or supplements prove that the requested tax refund amount is correct, the PIT refund department creates a refund proposal on the TMS application, drafts a Refund Decision (or Refund-cum-offset Decision) and an Order to Refund State Revenue (or Order to Refund-cum-offset State Revenue) for submission to the Head of the Tax Authority for issuance.

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

If the taxpayer's explanation or supplements are inadequate for determining the eligibility of the tax refund or the timeframe stated in the Notice on Explanation and Supplement Submission passes without sufficient supplementary information from the taxpayer to prove the declared tax amount's correctness, the PIT refund department drafts a Notice that the dossier does not meet refund conditions (form 04/TB-HT issued with Circular 80/2021/TT-BTC) on TMS and submits it to the Head of the Tax Authority for issuance and sending to the taxpayer.

- Case 3: If it's determined that the tax refund dossier does not qualify for a refund

The PIT refund department drafts a Notice on the dossier not meeting refund conditions/not eligible for a refund (form 04/TB-HT issued with Circular 80/2021/TT-BTC) on TMS and submits it to the Head of the Tax Authority for issuance and sending to the taxpayer.

Note: The tasks in (3) must be completed within 3 working days from the date of receipt of the tax refund request dossier.