What are conditions for automatic processing of personal income tax refund claims in Vietnam in 2025?

What are conditions for automatic processing of personal income tax refund claims in Vietnam in 2025?

Based on Clause 1, Article 5 of Decision 108/QD-TCT of 2025 Download, stipulating the conditions for automatic processing of personal income tax (PIT) refund claims as follows:

The PIT refund subsystem automatically checks and determines the eligibility of dossiers for automatic processing. Eligible dossiers are those that meet the following conditions:

(i) At the time of resolving the PIT refund claim of the taxpayer (NNT), the income-paying organization has fulfilled its obligation to substitute the deducted PIT payment, or the total PIT of the taxpayer, being an individual, has been fully paid into the state budget for the period in which the taxpayer requests a refund,

(ii) The PIT refund claim must have the indicator "Total taxable income aligns accurately with the consolidated figures in the tax finalization period according to the tax management database (CSDL) of the Tax Authority at the time of dossier resolution and the indicator "Total refundable tax" must be less than or equal to the consolidated figures in the tax finalization period according to the Tax Authority's tax management database at the time of dossier resolution;

(iii) The account information for receiving the refund of the taxpayer has been verified and linked with the Tax Authority's tax management database.

What are conditions for automatic processing of personal income tax refund claims in Vietnam in 2025? (Image from the Internet)

How is a personal income tax refund claim handled if it does not meet automatic processing conditions in Vietnam?

Based on Clause 2, Article 5 of Decision 108/QD-TCT of 2025 Download, stipulating the resolution method for cases where the PIT refund claim does not meet one of the automatic processing conditions as follows:

In cases where the taxpayer's personal income tax refund claim does not satisfy one of the conditions for automatic processing, the Tax Authority's IT application automatically assigns and sends an email notification to the department head and tax officer assigned to resolve the refund claim. Based on the inspection results, information provided by the TMS application, and specific PIT refund claim, the dossier handling department reviews and processes each case as follows:

(1) If the taxpayer's PIT refund claim includes supplementary explanatory documents, the dossier handling department reviews, cross-checks supplementary explanatory documents of the taxpayer, and if accepted, creates a Refund Decision (or a Refund Decision combined with the offset of State Bank of Vietnam charges) and an Order for Refund of State Bank of Vietnam charges (or an Order for Refund combined with the offset of State Bank of Vietnam charges), and submits to the Head of the Tax Authority for electronic signature.

(2) If further determination is needed to clarify the discrepancies between the taxpayer's declared figures and the Tax Authority's consolidated data, the dossier handling department creates a Notification of Explanatory and Supplementary Information, Documents (Form No. 01/TB-BSTT-NNT issued with Decree 126/2020/ND-CP of the Government of Vietnam), submits it for the Head of the Tax Authority to sign, and sends it to the taxpayer.

Based on the receipt of supplementary explanations and information from the taxpayer, the PIT refund department performs:

+ If the explanation and supplements are accepted:

If the taxpayer has provided explanations or additional information and documents that prove the tax refund amount requested is correct, the PIT refund department creates a refund proposal on the TMS application, the Refund Decision (or Refund Decision combined with the offset of State Bank of Vietnam charges), and the Order for Refund of State Bank of Vietnam charges (or Order for Refund combined with the offset of State Bank of Vietnam charges), submitted to the Head of the Tax Authority for signature issuance.

+ If the explanation and supplements are not accepted:

If the taxpayer has provided explanations or additional information but there is insufficient basis to determine that the refund claim qualifies for a refund, or after the deadline according to the Notification of Explanatory and Supplementary Information, the taxpayer does not provide sufficient information or does not provide explanations or supplements to qualify the dossier for a tax refund, or cannot prove the declared tax is correct, the PIT refund department creates a Notification on Dossier Not Meeting Conditions for Tax Refund/Not Eligible for Tax Refund (Form No. 04/TB-HT issued with Circular No. 80/2021/TT-BTC) on TMS and submits to the Head of the Tax Authority for signature issuance, sent to the taxpayer.

(3) If it is determined that the refund claim does not fall under eligible categories for a refund, the PIT refund department drafts a Notification on Dossier Not Meeting Conditions for Tax Refund/Not Eligible for Tax Refund (Form No. 04/TB-HT issued with Circular 80/2021/TT-BTC) on the TMS (centralized tax management application) and submits to the Head of the Tax Authority for signature issuance, sent to the taxpayer.

These tasks must be completed no later than 3 working days from the date of receiving the refund request dossier notification.

What are regulations on post-refund personal income tax control in Vietnam?

Based on Article 6 of Decision 108/QD-TCT of 2025 Download, stipulating post-refund personal income tax control as follows:

The Tax Authority's IT application periodically compiles data every quarter to automatically issue alerts and provide the tax authority with a list regarding organizations and individuals paying income, deducting PIT, and submitting additional declarations that change the tax obligations information of the taxpayer being refunded, to provide a basis for the refund claim handling department to conduct post-refund control and recovery of refunded tax (if applicable). The Head of the Tax Authority specifically assigns the refund claim handling department to perform post-refund control and recovery of refunded tax (if applicable).