What is the application for writing off tax debt, late payment interest, and fines in Vietnam?

What are cases of deferral of tax debts, late payment interest, and fines in Vietnam?

According to Article 85 of the Law on Tax Administration 2019, the cases eligible for deferral of tax debts, late payment interest, and fines include:

- Enterprises and cooperatives declared bankrupt that have made payments as prescribed by the law on bankruptcy but have no remaining assets to pay tax debts, late payment interest, and fines.

- Individuals who have died or have been declared dead, lost civil act capacity by the Court and have no assets, including inherited assets, to pay the outstanding tax debts, late payment interest, and fines.

- Tax debts, late payment interest, and fines of taxpayers who are not covered under Clauses 1 and 2, Article 85 of the Law on Tax Administration 2019, but the tax administration agency has applied enforcement measures as prescribed in point g, clause 1, Article 125 of the Law on Tax Administration 2019, and these debts have exceeded 10 years from the due date without the ability to recover.

Taxpayers who are individuals, business individuals, household business owners, household owners, owners of private enterprises, and single-member limited liability companies that have their tax debts, late payment interest, and fines written off as prescribed in this clause, must repay the tax debts, late payment interest, and fines to the State before resuming production, business activities, or establishing new production or business facilities.

- Tax debts, late payment interest, and fines for cases affected by natural disasters, catastrophes, widespread diseases that have been considered for late payment interest exemption as prescribed in clause 8, Article 59 of the Law on Tax Administration 2019 and have been granted tax deferral according to point a, clause 1, Article 62 of the Law on Tax Administration 2019 but still suffer losses, cannot recover their production, business activities, and cannot pay tax debts, late payment interest, and fines.

- the Government of Vietnam shall provide regulations on the coordination between tax administration agencies, business registration agencies, and local governments to ensure that the written-off tax debts, late payment interest, and fines are repaid into the State budget as prescribed in clause 3, Article 85 of the Law on Tax Administration 2019 before issuing business registration certificates or business registration certificates; provide detailed regulations on clause 4, Article 85 of the Law on Tax Administration 2019.

What are cases of deferral of tax debts, late payment interest, and fines in Vietnam?​ (Image from the Internet)

Who has the authority to write off tax debts, late payment interest, and fines in vietnam?

According to Article 87 of the Law on Tax Administration 2019, the authority to write off tax debts, late payment interest, and fines is stipulated as follows:

- The Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee decides to write off tax debts, late payment interest, and fines for the following cases:

+ Cases specified in Clauses 1 and 2, Article 85 of the Law on Tax Administration 2019;

+ Households, business households, business individuals, and individuals specified in Clause 3, Article 85 of the Law on Tax Administration 2019;

+ Enterprises and cooperatives in the cases specified in Clause 3, Article 85 of the Law on Tax Administration 2019 with tax debts, late payment interest, and fines under 5,000,000,000 VND.

- The Director-General of the General Department of Taxation, the Director-General of the General Department of Customs decide to write off debts for enterprises and cooperatives in the cases specified in Clause 3, Article 85 of the Law on Tax Administration 2019 with tax debts, late payment interest, and fines from 5,000,000,000 VND to under 10,000,000,000 VND.

- The Minister of Finance decides to write off debts for enterprises and cooperatives in the cases specified in Clause 3, Article 85 of the Law on Tax Administration 2019 with tax debts, late payment interest, and fines from 10,000,000,000 VND to under 15,000,000,000 VND.

- The Prime Minister of the Government of Vietnam decides to write off debts for enterprises and cooperatives in the cases specified in Clause 3, Article 85 of the Law on Tax Administration 2019 with tax debts, late payment interest, and fines from 15,000,000,000 VND or more.

- The Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee reports the situation and results of writing off tax debts, late payment interest, and fines to the People's Council of the same level at the beginning of the year. The Minister of Finance consolidates the situation of writing off tax debts, late payment interest, and fines to report to the Government of Vietnam, which then reports to the National Assembly when finalizing the State budget.

What is the application for writing off tax debt, late payment interest, and fines in Vietnam?

According to the guidance in Article 16 of Circular 06/2021/TT-BTC, the application for writing off tax debt, late payment interest, and fines in Vietnam includes:

(1) Official Dispatch proposing the write-off of tax debts, late payment interest, and fines:

- Official Dispatch proposing the write-off of tax debts, late payment interest, and fines from the Customs Department where the taxpayer owes tax debts, late payment interest, and fines (for the cases where the authority to write off debts belongs to the Director-General of the General Department of Customs, the Minister of Finance, the Prime Minister of the Government of Vietnam) according to Form No. 16/TXNK Appendix 1 issued together with Circular 06/2021/TT-BTC: 01 original copy;

- Official Dispatch proposing the write-off of tax debts, late payment interest, and fines from the Customs Department or the Customs Branch (in provinces where the Customs Department does not have its headquarters) where the taxpayer owes tax debts, late payment interest, and fines (for the cases where the authority to write off debts belongs to the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee) according to Form No. 16/TXNK Appendix 1 issued together with Circular 06/2021/TT-BTC: 01 original copy.

(2) Corresponding to the cases eligible for writing off tax debts, late payment interest, and fines specified in Article 85 of the Law on Tax Administration 2019, the dossier for writing off includes the following documents:

- Decision of the competent state agency declaring the bankruptcy of the enterprise in the cases specified in Clause 1, Article 85 of the Law on Tax Administration 2019: 01 photocopy with the confirmation seal of the tax debt cancellation proposing agency;

- Death certificate, death notice or Court decision declaring a person missing; Court decision declaring a person to have lost civil act capacity or documents from competent state agencies proving that a person is dead, missing, or has lost capacity.