Legal Secretary has just updated the Consolidated Document 19/VBHN-BTC issued by the Ministry of Finance, consolidating the documents guiding the implementation of certain provisions of the Law on Tax Administration and the Law amending and supplementing certain provisions of the Law on Tax Administration.
This document is consolidated from the following 06 Decrees:
- Decree 83/2013/ND-CP dated July 22, 2013, of the Government of Vietnam, detailing several articles of the Law on Tax Administration and the Law on Amendments and Supplements to several articles of the Law on Tax Administration, effective from September 15, 2013;
- Decree 91/2014/ND-CP dated October 1, 2014, of the Government of Vietnam, amending and supplementing several articles of the Decrees on tax regulations, effective from November 15, 2014, and the provisions of Article 1 of this Decree apply to the corporate income tax calculation period from 2014;
- Decree 08/2015/ND-CP dated January 21, 2015, of the Government of Vietnam, specifying and providing measures for implementing the Customs Law on customs procedures, inspection, supervision, and control, effective from March 15, 2015;
- Decree 12/2015/ND-CP dated February 12, 2015, of the Government of Vietnam, detailing the implementation of the Law on Amendments and Supplements to several Laws on taxes and amending and supplementing several articles of the Decrees on taxes, effective from January 1, 2015;
- Decree 100/2016/ND-CP dated July 1, 2016, of the Government of Vietnam, detailing and guiding the implementation of several articles of the Law on Amendments and Supplements to several articles of the Law on Value-Added Tax, the Law on Special Consumption Tax, and the Law on Tax Administration, effective from July 1, 2016;
- Decree 139/2016/ND-CP dated October 4, 2016, of the Government of Vietnam, prescribing the license fees, effective from January 1, 2017.
The consolidated document outlines the following basic regulations:
Regarding Tax Declaration Dossiers
Tax declaration dossiers include:
- Tax returns (as stipulated by the Ministry of Finance) containing the following main details:- Name and code of the tax return;- Tax period or the time of tax obligation arising;- Information about the taxpayer: Name, tax identification number, transaction address;- Information based on which the tax payable is calculated;- Signature of the taxpayer or the taxpayer's lawful representative;- In the case of tax declaration through a tax agent, in addition to the aforesaid details, the tax return must include: Name, tax identification number, transaction address of the tax agent; the agency contract; tax agent's staff details; signature of the tax agent's staff.- Relevant documents as the basis for the taxpayer to declare and calculate tax.
For electronic tax declaration dossiers: Follow the provisions of the law on electronic customs procedures and electronic tax procedures.
Regarding Changes, Supplements to Taxpayer Registration Information
Changing information in the taxpayer registration dossier:
- Upon changes, supplements to information in the submitted taxpayer registration dossier, the taxpayer must notify the directly managing tax office within 10 working days from the date of the changes or supplements.- Taxpayers who have been issued taxpayer registration but have not yet notified the tax office about their bank accounts at commercial banks, credit institutions before the effective date of Decree 83/2013/ND-CP (i.e., September 15, 2013) must notify before December 31, 2013.- Quarterly, taxpayers engaged in production and business activities must notify the tax office of changes, supplements to bank account details in their quarterly temporary corporate income tax returns.
Changing the headquarters of the taxpayer:
If the taxpayer's headquarters change results in a change of the directly managing tax office to another province or centrally run city, the taxpayer must pay any outstanding tax; request refund of overpaid tax (except personal income tax), VAT not yet fully credited qualify for tax refund (or request confirmation from the tax office for the VAT amount not fully credited to continue monitoring by the new managing tax office) before changing the headquarters and not need to settle tax with the tax office, except when the headquarters change coincides with the annual tax finalization according to legal regulations. For personal income tax, the overpaid tax amount can be offset against the tax payable at the new tax office.
Changing information in the taxpayer registration certificate:
When information in the taxpayer registration certificate changes, the directly managing tax office retrieves the issued taxpayer registration certificate and issues a new one to the taxpayer.
Regarding the Principles of Tax Calculation, Declaration, and Payment
Taxpayers are responsible for:
- Calculating and determining the payable tax amount for submission to the state budget as declared, except when the tax administration assesses tax or calculates tax.- Declaring accurate, honest, and complete information in the tax return and submitting all prescribed documents and records in the tax declaration dossier to the tax administration office.
Permitted to supplement and adjust the tax declaration dossier in the following cases:
- If taxpayers find errors in the submitted tax declaration dossier (after the submission deadline), they may supplement and adjust the dossier before the tax office or competent authority issues a decision to inspect or audit taxes.- If the tax office or competent authority issues conclusions or decisions after tax inspections or audits and taxpayers find errors in the submitted and inspected or audited tax declaration dossier (relating to the period and scope of inspection or audit), they can self-declare and adjust.
In case of taxpayers self-calculating taxes: Taxpayers must pay the full calculated and declared tax amounts to the tax office by the tax declaration filing deadline.
If the tax administration calculates or assesses taxes: Taxpayers pay tax according to the deadline specified in the tax payment notice or tax collection decision of the tax administration.
In case taxpayers temporarily suspend business operations (having sent a notice to the business registration office where the taxpayers have registered), they are not required to submit tax declaration dossiers during the business suspension period.
If taxpayers resume business operations after a suspension (having sent a notification to the business registration office where they registered), they must submit tax declaration dossiers as prescribed. The business registration office must inform the tax office about the information on businesses or business households suspending or resuming operations.
Regarding methods for determining taxable prices: Follow the arm's length principle reflecting market prices in business transactions between related parties based on Vietnamese law, double tax avoidance agreements, and anti-tax evasion agreements that Vietnam has signed, and conforming to international practices.
More details can be found in Unified Document 19/VBHN-BTC issued on October 21, 2016.