What is the guidance on automatic PIT refund 2025 according to Official Dispatch 126 from the Tax Departments of major businesses in Vietnam?

What is the guidance on automatic PIT refund 2025 according to Official Dispatch 126 from the Tax Departments of major businesses in Vietnam?

The Tax Departments of major businesses in Vietnam has issued Official Dispatch 126/DNL-THNV in 2025 guiding automatic personal income tax (PIT) refunds. The detailed guidance on creating a suggested PIT finalization declaration and automatic PIT refunds is as follows:

Download Official Dispatch 126/DNL-THNV 2025

(1) Cases for Automatic Personal Income Tax Refund File Processing

According to section 1 of Official Dispatch 126/DNL-THNV 2025, files eligible for automatic processing are those that meet the following conditions:

- At the time of processing the tax refund claim of the taxpayer, the income-paying organization has fulfilled its obligation to pay the withheld PIT on behalf of the taxpayer, or the total PIT the taxpayer has fully paid to the state budget during the finalization period for which the taxpayer requests a refund.

- The tax refund claim has the "Total taxable income" indicator that matches the aggregated data during the tax finalization period, according to the tax management database at the time of processing the file, and the "Total tax amount requested for refund" indicator is less than or equal to the aggregated data in the tax finalization period according to the tax management database at the time of processing the file.

- The account information for receiving the refund of the taxpayer has been verified and linked with the tax management database.

(2) Creating a Suggested PIT Finalization Declaration

According to section 2 of Official Dispatch 126/DNL-THNV 2025, the detailed guidance for creating a suggested PIT finalization declaration is as follows:

Currently, the Etax Mobile application has been upgraded by the General Department of Taxation, providing taxpayers with many utilities, including compiling and creating a suggested PIT finalization declaration, identifying the tax office where the PIT finalization file is submitted, and submitting the suggested PIT finalization declaration via the MaxMobile application, specifically:

- From the declared data database of income-paying organizations and individuals, taxpayer registration data and dependent registration data, the general tax obligation data, and the taxpayer’s nationwide liabilities, the IT application system of the Tax sector automatically compiles data for indicators on the PIT finalization declaration to determine the taxpayer's declaration obligation and create a suggested PIT finalization declaration for taxpayers who are individuals directly finalizing PIT.

+ Individuals using the Etax Mobile application, the electronic tax application for individuals from the General Department of Taxation, can check the information on the suggested PIT finalization declaration automatically created by the IT application system of the Tax sector.

+ If the taxpayer agrees with the suggested information on the PIT finalization declaration, the taxpayer confirms and submits the finalization file as prescribed in the application.

- If the taxpayer does not agree with the suggested information on the PIT finalization declaration, the taxpayer corrects the information in the corresponding indicators, supplements the reason for the discrepancy with the suggested number from the tax agency, and submits the finalization file accompanied by supporting documents as prescribed.

>>> See detailed Official Dispatch 126/DNL-THNV 2025 guidance on automatic PIT refund here

What is the guidance on automatic PIT refund 2025 according to Official Dispatch 126 from the Tax Departments of major businesses in Vietnam? (Image from the Internet)

What are regulations on classification of tax refund claims in Vietnam?

According to Article 73 of the Law on Tax Administration 2019, the tax refund claim is classified into files for pre-refund audit and files for pre-refund issuance, specifically:

- Files for pre-refund audit include:

+ Files from taxpayers requesting a refund for the first time for each refund case as stipulated by tax law. If the taxpayer sends the refund file to the tax authority for the first time but it does not fall under the refundable category according to regulations, the next refund request will still be deemed the first refund request;

+ Files from taxpayers requesting a refund within 2 years from the time they were penalized for tax evasion;

+ Files of dissolving, bankrupt, terminated, sold, handed, and transferred state-owned enterprises;

+ Files with a high tax risk category according to the risk management classification in tax management;

+ Files that belong to the pre-refund issuance category but the taxpayer does not explain or supplement the refund dossier within the period specified in writing by the tax administration agency, or if the taxpayer's explanation or supplementation cannot substantiate the declared tax amount;

+ Refund files for exported or imported goods that are not settled via commercial banks or other credit institutions in accordance with the law;

+ Refund files for exported or imported goods that need pre-refund inspection according to Government regulations.

- Files for pre-refund issuance are those from taxpayers not falling under the pre-refund audit category.

What is the processing time for tax refund claims in Vietnam in 2025?

According to Article 75 of the Law on Tax Administration 2019 (with certain provisions repealed by Clause 13 Article 6 of the Law amending the Law on Securities, Accounting, Independent Audit, State Budget, Public Property Management, Tax Administration, Personal Income Tax, National Reserves, and Handling Administrative Violations 2024), the provisions on processing time for tax refund claims are as follows:

(1) For files classified for pre-refund issuance:

- The maximum processing time for personal income tax refunds is 6 working days from the date the tax administration agency issues a notice of acceptance of the file and the refund processing deadline.

- The tax administration agency decides to refund the tax to the taxpayer or issues a notice transferring the taxpayer's file to pre-refund audit if the file does not meet the refund conditions.

(2) For files classified for pre-refund audit:

- The maximum processing time for personal income tax refunds is 40 days from the date the tax administration agency issues a written notice of file acceptance and the refund processing deadline.

- The tax administration agency processes the tax refund for the taxpayer or does not refund the tax if the file does not meet the refund conditions.

Note:

- The personal income tax refund processing time is calculated in working days, excluding holidays, Tet, and weekly days off.

- If the personal income tax refund file does not meet the conditions for refund processing, the tax administration agency must notify the taxpayer and specify the reasons.

- If the tax administration agency does not process the personal income tax refund within the stipulated time, it is considered a delay in handling the refund file.