What are procedures for automatic personal income tax refund in Vietnam in 2025?

What are procedures for automatic personal income tax refund in Vietnam in 2025?

On January 24, 2025, the General Department of Taxation issued Decision No. 108/QD-TCT of 2025 regarding the automatic personal income tax refund process. This procedure takes effect from the date of signing and is applicable to tax authorities at all levels nationwide.

In Chapter 2 of Decision No. 108/QD-TCT of 2025, it is clearly stated that the automatic personal income tax refund is carried out through the following three main steps:

Step 1: Create and Receive the Suggested Personal Income Tax Finalization Form

According to Article 4 of Decision 108/QD-TCT 2025, taxpayers (NNT) must check information on the eTax Mobile application, where they can confirm or edit before submitting the personal income tax (PIT) finalization dossier.

- If the taxpayer agrees with the suggested information on the PIT finalization form: The taxpayer confirms and submits the personal income tax finalization dossier on the application.

- If the taxpayer does not agree with the suggested information: The taxpayer edits the information at the corresponding criteria, supplements reasons for discrepancies with the tax authority's suggested data, and submits the dossier with supporting documents as prescribed.

Step 2: Automatically Resolve the PIT Refund

Based on Article 5 of Decision 108/QD-TCT 2025, the system cross-checks data to determine refund eligibility as follows:

- Check for excess tax paid and the refund receiving account.

- If eligible, the system automatically prepares and electronically signs the Refund Decision, transferring the information to the State Treasury to execute the refund as prescribed.

Step 3: Post-Refund Control

According to Article 6 of Decision 108/QD-TCT 2025, the Taxation industry's IT system will periodically, quarterly aggregate data and alert cases where organizations or individuals have made supplementary declarations affecting previously refunded PIT amounts.

- The alert list is provided to the tax authority for the dossier processing department to perform post-refund control and recover refunds (if any).

- The head of the tax authority will specifically assign the dossier processing department to perform post-refund control and recover refunds as prescribed.

What are procedures for automatic personal income tax refund in Vietnam in 2025? (Image from the Internet)

What are conditions for tax refund claims to be processed automatically in Vietnam?

According to Clause 1, Article 5 of Decision 108/QD-TCT 2025, the conditions for a document to be refunded under the automatic process include:

- At the time of resolving the taxpayer's PIT refund dossier, the income-paying organization has fulfilled its obligation to pay the deducted PIT on behalf of the taxpayer, or the total taxpayer's PIT as an individual has been fully paid to the state budget in the fiscal year for which the taxpayer requests a refund;

- The PIT refund dossier includes the criterion "Total taxable income" correctly matching the aggregate data in the tax finalization period according to the Taxation industry's tax management database at the time of resolving the dossier, and the criterion "Total amount of tax requested for refund" is less than or equal to the aggregate data in the tax finalization period according to the Taxation industry's tax management database at the time of resolving the dossier;

- The refund receiving account information of the taxpayer is verified and linked with the Taxation industry's tax management database.

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

According to Article 28 of Circular 111/2013/TT-BTC regarding tax refunds:

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 income-paying organizations or individuals to conduct the tax finalization on their behalf, the individual's tax refund is processed through the income-paying organization or individual. The income-paying organization or individual offsets the overpaid and underpaid tax amounts of individuals. After offsetting, if there is an overpaid amount, it can be offset to the next period or refunded if requested.

3. For individuals who are required to file directly with the tax authority, they can choose to have the tax refunded or offset to the next period at the same tax authority.

4. In cases where individuals qualify for a personal income tax refund but submit their finalization declarations late, no administrative penalties for late filing are applied.

Thus, there are 02 forms of PIT refunds, including:

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

The income-paying organization or individual offsets the overpaid and underpaid tax amounts of individuals. After offsetting, if there is an overpaid amount, it can be offset to the next period or refunded if requested.

- For individuals required to file directly with the tax authority, they can choose to have the tax refunded or offset to the next period at the same tax authority.