Which authority has the power to issue a tax inspection decision in Vietnam?

Which authority has the power to issue a tax inspection decision in Vietnam?

According to Article 114 of the Law on Tax Administration 2019, the regulation on tax inspection decisions is as follows:

Decision on Tax Inspection

1. The heads of tax administration agencies at all levels have the authority to issue tax inspection decisions.

2. The tax inspection decision must include the following main contents:

a) Legal basis for the tax inspection;

b) Subjects, contents, scope, and tasks of the tax inspection;

c) Duration of the tax inspection;

d) Head of the tax inspection team and members of the tax inspection team.

3. No later than 03 working days from the date of signing, the tax inspection decision must be sent to the inspected entity.

4. The tax inspection decision must be announced no later than 15 days from the date of issuing the tax inspection decision.

From the above regulations, it can be seen that the authority to issue a tax inspection decision lies with the heads of the tax administration agencies at all levels.

Which authority has the power to issue a tax inspection decision in Vietnam? (Image from the Internet)

What are the principles of tax inspection in Vietnam?

According to Article 107 of the Law on Tax Administration 2019, tax inspection is conducted according to the following principles:

- Apply risk management in tax administration and information technology in tax inspection.

- Comply with the provisions of this Law, other relevant laws, and the inspection, examination forms, order, procedures, and tax inspection files as prescribed by the Minister of Finance.

- Do not obstruct the normal activities of taxpayers.

- When inspecting taxes at the taxpayer's office, the head of the tax administration agency must issue a tax inspection decision.

- Tax inspection aims to evaluate the completeness, accuracy, and honesty of documents, information, and dossiers declared, submitted, and presented by the taxpayer to the tax administration agency; assess the taxpayer’s compliance with tax laws and other relevant laws to handle tax issues according to the law.

What is the duration of a tax inspection in Vietnam?

According to Article 115 of the Law on Tax Administration 2019, the duration of a tax inspection is specified as follows:

- The duration of a tax inspection is carried out according to the provisions of the Inspection Law 2022. The duration of the inspection is calculated from the time of conducting the inspection at the taxpayer's office, starting from the date of announcing the inspection decision to the date of concluding the inspection at the taxpayer's office.

- If necessary, the person issuing the tax inspection decision may extend the tax inspection period according to the provisions of the Inspection Law 2022. The extension of the tax inspection period is decided by the person issuing the inspection decision.

Additionally, Article 47 of the Inspection Law 2022 stipulates the duration of an inspection as follows:

Inspection Duration

1. The duration for conducting an inspection is specified as follows:

a) Inspections conducted by the Government Inspectorate shall not exceed 60 days; if complex, a one-time extension not exceeding 30 days is possible; in particularly complex cases, a second extension not exceeding 30 days may be granted;

b) Inspections conducted by ministerial, general department, departmental, or provincial inspections shall not exceed 45 days; if complex, a one-time extension not exceeding 30 days is possible;

c) Inspections conducted by district or department inspections shall not exceed 30 days; if complex or in mountainous, border, island, remote, or difficult-to-reach areas, a one-time extension not exceeding 15 days is possible.

2. The time of suspension of an inspection as prescribed in Article 70 of this Law is not counted in the inspection duration.

From the above regulations, it can be inferred that the duration of a tax inspection is conducted according to the provisions of the Inspection Law 2022. Specifically:

- Inspections conducted by the Government Inspectorate shall not exceed 60 days; if complex, a one-time extension not exceeding 30 days is possible; in particularly complex cases, a second extension not exceeding 30 days may be granted;

- Inspections conducted by ministerial, general department, departmental, or provincial inspections shall not exceed 45 days; if complex, a one-time extension not exceeding 30 days is possible;

- Inspections conducted by district or department inspections shall not exceed 30 days; if complex or in mountainous, border, island, remote, or difficult-to-reach areas, a one-time extension not exceeding 15 days is possible.

How are tax inspection results handled?

According to Article 108 of the Law on Tax Administration 2019, tax inspection results are handled as follows:

- Based on the tax inspection results, the head of the tax administration agency shall issue a decision on tax handling, recover tax refunds not conforming to tax laws, impose administrative penalties on tax management violations within authority, or propose competent persons to issue administrative penalties on tax management violations.

- If a tax inspection identifies clear administrative violations in the inspection minutes, the tax inspection minutes are considered administrative violation minutes.

- If a tax inspection reveals tax evasion with criminal indications, the tax administration agency shall transfer the dossier to the competent investigative agency for investigation according to the law;

- The tax administration agency is responsible for cooperating with judicial agencies in investigation, prosecution, and trial in accordance with the law.