What are specialized measures during processing of tax refund applications in Vietnam?

What are specialized measures during processing of tax refund applications in Vietnam?

Pursuant to Article 35 of Circular 80/2021/TT-BTC, specific regulations on the application of specialized measures during processing of tax refund applications are as follows:

[1] The customs authority is responsible for export and import goods information on the customs declaration, in accordance with customs law and tax management law.

In cases where the customs declaration is not present in the database provided by the customs authority, the tax authority processing the tax refund request shall issue a document requesting the relevant customs authority to provide the necessary information to resolve the VAT refund for the taxpayer.

[2] Based on the results of analysis, risk assessment, requirements for managing VAT refunds, or upon inspection revealing signs of legal violations concerning tax and customs, the tax authority must provide violation information of the taxpayer to the customs authority for customs inspection and supervision in accordance with regulations.

- The General Department of Taxation shall quarterly by the 20th of the following month or on an ad-hoc basis, send a document requesting the General Department of Customs to apply criteria for channeling to inspect and supervise exported and imported goods at high risk regarding tax refund. The document must clearly state the criteria for determination and methods for inspection and supervision of export-import goods concerning enterprises; products; and territories, fields of export-import activities in accordance with customs law.

- Within a maximum of 5 working days from receiving the document from the General Department of Taxation, the General Department of Customs must apply the channeling criteria, inspection, and supervision measures on exported-imported goods. If not applied or in case of issues, the General Department of Customs must exchange documents with the General Department of Taxation within the stated time, clearly stating the reasons for non-application or delays.

[3] Upon inspection, if it is found that taxpayers purchase goods and services from other taxpayers (goods and services suppliers) involved in tax evasion, the tax authority must supplement the inspection or audit plan for the suppliers; or request the tax authority directly managing the goods and services suppliers to supplement the plan and conduct inspections or audits or provide information about the tax compliance of the goods and services suppliers as a basis to resolve the tax refund.

[4] If the taxpayer has payment transactions related to organizations, individuals with suspicious transactions on the bank inspection, surveillance warning list; or upon inspection, auditing finds that the taxpayer has bank payment documents with insufficient details, the following apply:

- The tax authority processing the tax refund request shall issue a document requesting relevant credit institutions or intermediary payment service providers to provide information (including account statements) of the payer (or transferor), payee on the document (or individuals related to the payee) as a basis for resolving VAT refunds.

- The tax authority resolving the tax refund request shall issue a document requesting the customs authority at the border gate to provide information about the cash amount (foreign currency or Vietnamese currency) brought across the border into Vietnam within 5 working days from the date of receiving the request document from the tax authority to use as a basis for resolving VAT refunds for goods exported across the land border in accordance with regulations.

[5] During tax refund processing, if the tax authority through inspection or audit finds that the taxpayer has indications of legal violations and has transferred the dossier to the investigative police authority, or the taxpayer's accounting books, invoices, and related documents are seized by a competent state authority concerning the tax refund request, the tax authority must send a Notice of insufficient conditions for tax refund according to form 04/TB-HT attached to appendix I of this Circular to the taxpayer. The tax authority will resolve the tax refund when receiving results or opinions from the investigative police authority or competent authority or when having complete dossiers according to regulations.

What are specialized measures during processing of tax refund applications in Vietnam? (Image from the Internet)

What is the time limit for processing of tax refund applications in Vietnam?

According to Article 75 of the Law on Tax Administration 2019, specific regulations on the time limit for processing of tax refund applications are as follows:

- For requests eligible for prior refund, the tax administration must, within a maximum of 6 working days from the date it issues the acceptance notice of the request and processing time frame, decide the tax refund to the taxpayer or notify the request is forwarded for pre-refund examination if it falls under clause 2, Article 73 of this Law, or notify non-refund if the request doesn't meet refund conditions.

- If the information on the tax refund request differs from the tax administration's records, the tax administration notifies, in writing, the taxpayer to explain or supplement the information. The time taken for such explanations or supplementations is not included in the processing time frame for tax refunds.

- For requests subject to post-refund inspection, the tax administration must decide within 40 days from the date it issues a written acceptance of the request and processing time to refund the taxpayer or not refund if conditions are unmet.

- Beyond the prescribed time at clauses 1 and 2 of this Article, if delay in issuing the refund decision is due to the tax administration's fault, in addition to the refundable amount, the tax administration shall additionally pay interest at a rate of 0.03% per day calculated on the refundable amount and the delayed days. The interest payment funding source is from the central budget as per state budget law.

What are regulations on processing of personal Income tax refund applications for income from wages, salaries in Vietnam?

According to clause 1 of Article 42 of Circular 80/2021/TT-BTC, there are specific regulations on PIT refund requests for income from wages and salaries as follows:

[1] For organizations and individuals paying income from wages and salaries, settling for individuals with authorization

The dossier includes:

- A written request to handle surplus tax, late payment, fines according to Form No. 01/DNXLNT in Appendix I of Circular 80/2021/TT-BTC

Form No. 01/DNXLNT....download

- A power of attorney in accordance with law where the taxpayer does not personally handle the refund procedures, except cases involving a tax agent submitting the tax refund dossier as per the contract between the tax agent and the taxpayer;

- A tax payment certificate list according to Form No. 02-1/HT in Appendix I of Circular 80/2021/TT-BTC (applied for organizations and individuals paying income).

[2] For individuals with income from wages and salaries settling tax directly with the tax authority, if there is excess tax payment and a refund request is made on the personal income tax finalization declaration, a separate refund dossier is not required.

The tax authority resolves the refund based on the PIT finalization dossier to settle the excess payment for the taxpayer following regulations.