What are the cases of tax audit at the taxpayer's premises in Vietnam?

What is the definition of the taxpayer's premises in Vietnam?

According to Clause 4, Article 3 of the Tax Administration Law 2019, “premises " of the taxpayer means the location where the taxpayer partially or fully operate their business, including the headquarters, branches, stores, factories, goods storage, asset storage; residences or places where tax is incurred. 

What are the cases of tax audit at the taxpayer's premises in Vietnam? (Image from the Internet)

What are the cases of tax audit at the taxpayer's premises in Vietnam?

According to Clause 1, Article 110 of the Tax Administration Law 2019, the tax audit at the taxpayer's premises will be conducted in the following cases:

- The tax refund claim is subject to inspection before refund or eligible for refund before inspection;

- The cases specified in Point b, Clause 2, Article 109 of the Tax Administration Law 2019;

In case clarification of specific content in the tax dossier relevant to the amount of tax payable, exempt, reduced, refunded or carried forward is necessary, the tax authority shall request the taxpayer to provide explanation or additional information or documents. In case the explanation or additional information or documents provided by the taxpayer prove that tax is declared correctly, the tax dossier will be accepted. Otherwise, the tax authority will request the taxpayer to supplement the tax dossier.

If the taxpayer fails to provide additional explanation, information or document or fails to supplement the tax dossier, or the additional explanation or supplementation is incorrect, the tax authority shall impose tax liability or issue a decision on examination on the taxpayer’s premises, or use it as the basis for development of the inspection plan according to tax risk management rules.

- Post-clearance inspection on the declarant’s premises shall be carried out in accordance with customs law;

- Violations are suspected;

- The inspection is carried out under a plan or theme;

- The inspection is requested by State Audit Office of Vietnam, State inspectorates or another competent authority;

- The enterprise is undergoing full division, partial division, merger, amalgamation, conversion, dissolution, shutdown, equitization, TIN invalidation, relocation of business location; other cases of surprise inspection and inspection requested by competent authorities, except for the cases of dissolution or shutdown in which tax is not finalized by tax authorities.

What are the tax audit procedures at the taxpayer's premises in Vietnam?

According to Clause 4, Article 110 of the Tax Administration Law 2019, the procedures for tax audit at the taxpayer's premises are as follows:

- Announce the tax audit decision before carrying out the inspection;

- Compare the declared information with accounting books, accounting records, financial statements, tax risk analysis, information about the document inspection on the tax authority’s premises, the situation within the scope of the tax audit decision;

- The duration of the inspection shall not exceed 10 working days and be specified in the inspection decision. The inspection begins when the decision is announced. In case the inspection is complicated, the issuer of the decision may extend the duration for up to 10 more days;

- Issue a tax audit record within 05 working days from the end of the inspection;

- Take proper actions or request a competent authority to take actions according to the inspection results.

What are the rights and obligations of taxpayers during tax audit at their premises in Vietnam?

According to Article 111 of the Tax Administration Law 2019, the rights and obligations of taxpayers during a tax audit at their premises in Vietnam are as follows:

- The taxpayer has the right to:

+ Reject the inspection if the tax audit decision is not available;

+ Refuse to provide information and documents that are not relevant to the audit; information and documents that are state secrets, unless otherwise prescribed by law;

+ Receive the tax audit record and request explanation for the contents thereof;

+ Leave comments in the tax audit record;

+ File a complaint or lawsuit and claim damages as prescribed by law;

+ Report violations of law committed during the audit.

- The taxpayer has the responsibility to:

+ Comply with the tax audit decision;

+ Fully and accurately provide information and documents relevant to the inspection as requested by the auditors; take legal responsibility for the accuracy of the information and documents provided;

+ Sign the tax audit record within 05 working days from the end of the inspection;

+ Comply with the requests specified in the tax audit record, conclusion and relevant decisions.