Hanoi-Vietnam: The newest time limit for processing applications for tax refund

Hanoi-Vietnam: The newest time limit for processing applications for tax refund (Image from Internet)

1. What does the application for tax refund include?

Clause 1, Article 71 of the Law on Tax Administration 2019 states that taxpayers who are entitled to tax refund must prepare and submit the application for tax refund to the competent tax authority.

Clause 2, Article 71 of the Law on Tax Administration 2019 stipulates that the application for tax refund includes:

- A written request for tax refund;- Documents related to the tax refund request.

2. The newest applications subject to inspection before tax refund

Article 73 of the Law on Tax Administration 2019 stipulates the classification of applications for tax refund as follows:

- Applications for tax refund are classified into inspection before tax refund and tax refund before inspection applications.

- Applications subject to inspection before tax refund include:

+ The application of taxpayers requesting a tax refund for the first time in each tax refund case as prescribed by tax law. If a taxpayer's initial application for tax refund submitted does not qualify, subsequent requests will still be considered as the first request;

+ Applications of taxpayers requesting tax refund within 02 years from the time they were penalized for tax evasion activities;

+ Applications of dissolving, bankrupt, terminating activities, selling, transferring, and handing over state-owned enterprises;

+ Applications classified as high-risk in tax management according to risk management classification;

+ Applications initially eligible for refunds but exceeding the timeframe notified in writing by the tax authority without taxpayers providing explanations or supplementary application documents, or with explanations but failing to prove the declared tax amount;

+ Refund applications for exported/imported goods not transacted via commercial banks or other credit institutions as prescribed by law;

+ Refund applications for exported/imported goods requiring pre-inspection before refund as stipulated by the Government of Vietnam.

- Applications subject to tax refund before inspection are those that do not fall under Clause 2, Article 73 of the Law on Tax Administration 2019.

3. Places for checking applications for tax refund

Article 74 of the Law on Tax Administration 2019 stipulates the places for checking applications for tax refunds as follows:

- Applications subject to tax refund before inspection are checked at the tax authority's office.

- Applications subject to inspection before tax refund are checked at the taxpayer's office or the office of the related authority, organization, or individual.

4. The newest time limit for processing applications for tax refund

Article 75 of the Law on Tax Administration 2019 stipulates the time limit for processing applications for tax refund as follows:

For applications subject to tax refund before inspection, the tax authority must decide on the tax refund within 6 working days from the date of notification acceptance and processing period approval, or notify the transfer of the application to pre-inspection if falling under Clause 2, Article 73 of the Law on Tax Administration 2019 or notify the rejection if the application does not qualify.

In cases where the information in the refund application differs from the tax administration's management information, the tax authority must notify the taxpayer in writing for explanations or supplementary information. The time for explanations and information supplementation is not included in the time limit for processing the application.

For applications subject to inspection before tax refund, the tax authority must decide on the refund or non-refund within 40 days from the written notification of application acceptance and processing period approval.

If the time limit specified in Clauses 1 and 2 of Article 75 of the Law on Tax Administration 2019 is exceeded due to the fault of the tax authority, in addition to the tax refund amount, the authority must also pay interest at a rate of 0.03% per day on the refundable amount and the days delayed. The interest payment is sourced from the central budget according to state budget law provisions.

To Quoc Trinh

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