Which exported goods and services shall have VAT refunded in Vietnam?

Which exported goods and services shall have VAT refunded in Vietnam?

According to Clause 4, Article 18 of Circular 219/2013/TT-BTC, amended by Article 2 of Circular 25/2018/TT-BTC, specific regulations on subjects entitled to VAT refund for exported goods and services are as follows:

VAT Refund for Exported Goods and Services

- Business establishments with exported goods and services in a month (for monthly declarations) or a quarter (for quarterly declarations) that have uncredited input VAT of 300 million VND or more are eligible for monthly or quarterly VAT refunds. If in the month or quarter the uncredited input VAT is less than 300 million VND, it is carried forward to the next month or quarter.

- Business establishments that have both exported goods/services and domestic sales in a month/quarter must separately account for the input VAT used for production and business activities concerning exported goods/services. If unable to account separately, the input VAT for exported goods/services is determined based on the ratio of revenue from exported goods/services to the total revenue of goods/services for the VAT declaration periods from the next period after the previous tax refund to the current tax refund request period.

- The input VAT of exported goods/services (including separately accounted input VAT and input VAT allocated by the above ratio) that remains after offsetting against the VAT payable for domestically consumed goods/services, if from 300 million VND or more, allows the business establishment to get a refund for the exported goods/services. The refunded VAT amount should not exceed 10% of the revenue from exported goods/services.

- Subjects eligible for tax refunds in certain export cases include: for entrusted export cases, it is the establishment having entrusted export goods; for onward processing, it is the establishment entering into an export processing contract with foreign parties; for exported goods to execute construction projects abroad, it is the enterprise having exported goods/materials for executing construction projects abroad; for on-the-spot exported goods, it is the business establishment with on-the-spot exported goods.

- Business establishments are not eligible for tax refund in cases where goods are imported then exported, or exported goods do not undergo the export process in the customs operation area as regulated by the Customs Law and Decree No. 01/2015/ND-CP dated January 2, 2015, by the Government of Vietnam, detailing the implementation of customs operation scopes, coordination responsibilities in combating smuggling, unauthorized transport of goods across borders, and guiding documents.

- The tax authority will implement refunds before audit for taxpayers producing exported goods who have not been subject to penalties for smuggling, illegal transport of goods across borders, tax evasion, tax fraud, or commercial fraud in the two consecutive years; taxpayers not classified as high-risk according to the provisions of the Tax Administration Law and its guiding documents.

Where to submit tax returns in Vietnam?

According to Article 45 of the Tax Administration Law 2019, specific regulations on locations for submitting tax returns are as follows:

- Taxpayers shall submit tax returns at the directly managing tax authority.

- In case of submitting tax returns through a one-stop interlinked mechanism, the location for submitting tax returns shall be in accordance with that mechanism's regulations.

- The location for submitting tax returns for exported and imported goods shall be as regulated by the Customs Law.

- The Government of Vietnam regulates locations for submitting tax returns in the following cases:

+ Taxpayer conducts multiple production/business activities;

+ Taxpayer operates production/business in various locations; taxpayers incur tax obligations for taxes declared and paid per each arising occurrence;

+ Taxpayers incur tax obligations on land revenue; granting rights to exploit water resources and mineral resources;

+ Taxpayers incur tax obligations for personal income tax finalization;

+ Taxpayers declare taxes through electronic transactions and other necessary cases.

Which exported goods and services shall have VAT refunded in Vietnam? (Image from Internet)

What is deadline for tax dossier supplementary submission when errors are found in Vietnam?

Based on Article 47 of the Tax Administration Law 2019, specific regulations for tax dossier supplementary submission are as follows:

Tax dossier supplementary 

1. Taxpayers who discover errors or omissions in tax returns submitted to the tax authority are entitled to file supplementary returns within 10 years from the deadline for submission of tax returns for the tax period where errors or omissions occurred, but before the tax authorities or competent agencies announce audit or inspection decisions.

2. If tax authorities or competent agencies have announced audit or inspection decisions at the taxpayer's premises, taxpayers may still submit tax dossier supplementarys; tax authorities will penalize administrative violations in tax management for conduct as stipulated in Articles 142 and 143 of this Law.

3. After competent tax authorities have issued conclusions or decisions on tax handling following inspection or audit at the taxpayer's premises, tax dossier supplementarys are regulated as follows:

a) Taxpayers can file tax dossier supplementarys in cases that increase taxes payable, reduce deductible taxes, or reduce tax exemptions, reductions, refunds and are subject to administrative penalties for violations in tax management as stipulated in Articles 142 and 143 of this Law;

b) If errors are found in tax returns that would decrease taxes payable or increase deductible, exempt, reduced, or refunded taxes, taxpayers should proceed according to regulations on tax grievance resolution.

4. tax dossier supplementary submission include:

a) Supplementary tax declaration;

b) Explanation of supplementary submission and relevant documents.

5. For exported or imported goods, supplementary tax submission shall comply with customs law.

Thus, according to the above regulations, the deadline for tax dossier supplementary submission when taxpayers discover errors in submitted tax returns is 10 years from the submission deadline of the tax return period.