The General Department of Taxation to guide the inspection and examination of VAT refunds in Vietnam

The General Department of Taxation to guide the inspection and examination of VAT refunds in Vietnam (Internet image) 

Regarding this issue, LawNet would like to answer as follows:

On November 9, 2023, the General Department of Taxation issued Official Dispatch 5004/TCT-TTKT on the implementation of VAT refund inspection and examination.

The General Department of Taxation to guide the inspection and examination of VAT refunds in Vietnam

In order to ensure uniform and synchronous implementation in accordance with legal regulations on tax administration, strengthen discipline in performing public duties, and solve problems in accordance with the responsibilities and duties of civil servants and tax authorities in the inspection and examination of VAT refunds, the General Department of Taxation requests that the Department of Taxations of provinces and cities thoroughly and seriously carry out the inspection and examination of VAT refunds with the following contents:

- Promote review and synthesis of system information, apply information technology to connect information to the risk assessment database on tax management and invoice management, and promptly inspect, examine, and supervise tax refunds according to the provisions of law.

The Department of Taxation organizes inspections and tax refund inspections according to the provisions of Article 77 and Article 110 of the Law on Tax Administration.

- For pre-tax refund inspection dossiers, the Department of Taxation organizes the assignment and implementation of inspection of tax refund dossiers immediately upon receipt of the dossiers.

During the inspection, if force majeure reasons arise and the inspection cannot continue, the inspection team leader shall report to the person who issued the inspection decision to pause the test. Force majeure reasons are implemented according to the provisions of Clause 27, Article 3 of the Law on Tax Administration, and Clause 1, Article 3 of Decree 126/2020/ND-CP.

Leaders of the Department of Taxation and leaders of the Tax Inspection and Examination Department are responsible for organizing and supervising each inspection team to ensure that procedures and orders comply with the provisions of the Law on Tax Administration and the tax inspection process.

- After the tax refund processing time has passed and there has been no response from the authorities, the Department of Taxation has issued a document urging and requesting the authorities to comment on the reason for not being able to provide information. Complete the inspection and examination on time and resolve tax refund documents according to the provisions of Point dd, Clause 1, Article 34 of Circular 80/2021/TT-BTC dated September 29, 2021 of the Ministry of Finance.

- In case an enterprise under an approved inspection and examination plan at the taxpayer's headquarters has a tax refund application subject to pre-refund inspection, the Department of Taxation prioritizes the inspection of tax refund request documents, arranges resources to implement plans in accordance with regulations on tax inspection and examination, regulations on tax refund settlement in the Law on Tax Administration, and guiding documents.

More details can be found in Official Dispatch 5004/TCT-TTKT, issued on November 9, 2023.

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