Chapter VII
REFUNDING AND OFFSETTING TAX
Article 49. Form 01/DNHT enclosed herewith shall be used to claim refund of VAT when input tax is not completely deducted, or no output VAT is incurred during the investment period, or when VAT on purchased goods and services serving the project is offset against VAT on the business.
Article 50. Refund of VAT on ODA projects
1. For project owner and primary contractor
a) Submission of application for VAT refund:
The owner of the ODA project eligible for VAT refund shall submit an application for VAT refund to the Department of Taxation of the province where the project is executed whenever refundable input VAT is incurred during the project execution. If the ODA project is related to multiple provinces, the application shall be submitted to the Department of Taxation of the province where the project owner’s headquarter is situated.
The foreign contractors eligible for VAT refund shall submit the application for VAT refund to the tax authority where the tax declaration is submitted.
b) An application for VAT refund consists of:
- A claim for refund (form 01/DNHT enclosed herewith);
- A list of invoices and receipts for purchases goods and services (form 01-1/DNHT enclosed herewith);
- A decision of a competent authority to approve the project funded by non-refundable ODA or loaned ODA allocated by the state (photocopy bearing the seal and signature of a competent person). This decision shall only be presented when refund is claimed for the first time.
- A photocopy (certified by the taxpayer) of the certification made by the governing body of the ODA project that ODA is non-refundable or allocated by the State and no counterpart fund is provided to pay VAT. The taxpayer must submit this document together with the first application for tax refund of the project.
if the application is made by the primary contractor, apart from the documents mentioned in this Point, it is also required to have a project owner’s certification that no counterpart fund is provided by the state to pay the contractor at VAT-inclusive prices, and the winning prices are exclusive of VAT.
2. Representative office of sponsor for ODA project
a) Submission of application for VAT refund:
The representative office shall submit the application for VAT refund to the local Department of Taxation whenever refundable input VAT is incurred during the execution of the project.
b) An application for VAT refund consists of:
- A claim for refund (form 01/DNHT enclosed herewith);
- A list of invoices and receipts for purchases goods and services (form 01-1/DNHT enclosed herewith);
- The written agreement between a Vietnamese competent authority and the sponsor on the establishment of the representative office (a photocopy certified by the representative office).
- The decision of the competent authority on the establishment of the representative office (a photocopy certified by the representative office).
Article 51. Refund of tax incurred by foreign entities, organizations in Vietnam that use money from humanitarian aid and/or non-refundable aid to buy charitable goods that subject to VAT in Vietnam
1. Submission of application for VAT refund:
The aforesaid entities shall submit the application for VAT refund whenever refundable input VAT is incurred.
2. An application for VAT refund consists of:
- A claim for refund (form 01/DNHT enclosed herewith);
- A list of invoices and receipts for purchases goods and services (form 01-1/DNHT enclosed herewith);
- The written approval for the aid made by a competent authority (a photocopy certified by the taxpayer);
- The certification made by the Ministry of Finance (if the aid is transferred to the central budget) or Service of Finance (if the aid is transferred to the provincial budget) of the aid provided by the foreign non-governmental organization, specifying the name of the aid provider, the recipient, the manager, and the aid value.
Article 52. Refund of VAT for beneficiaries of diplomatic immunity
1. Submission and processing of application for VAT refund
Within ten first days of the first month of the quarter, the diplomatic missions eligible for VAT refund shall make an application for the refund of tax in the previous quarter and send it to Directorate of State Protocol for verification.
Within 15 working days from the receipt of the satisfactory application, Directorate of State Protocol shall verify the eligibility for VAT refund, the names and quantity of goods/services eligible for VAT refund. After Directorate of State Protocol verifies the application for VAT refund, it shall be sent to the Department of Taxation.
If the diplomatic mission is not eligible for VAT refund or the application for VAT refund is not satisfactory, Directorate of State Protocol shall return the application within 05 days from its receipt.
2. An application for VAT refund consists of:
- A request for refund (form 01/DNHT enclosed herewith) certified by Directorate of State Protocol.
- A list of VAT on purchased goods and services serving the operation of the diplomatic mission (form 01-2/DNHT enclosed herewith) and a list of VAT on purchased goods and services serving the foreign service officer (form 01-3/DNHT enclosed herewith).
- The original and 02 photocopies of the VAT invoice bearing the seal of the diplomatic mission. The tax authority shall return the original invoices to the diplomatic mission after VAT is refunded.
Article 53. Refund of personal income tax (PIT)
Only the individuals that have TINs shall receive PIT refund.
When an individual authorizes the income payer to make the terminal declaration, tax shall be refunded via the income payer.
If the individual submits the terminal declaration himself, overpaid tax shall be refunded or offset against the tax payable in the next period.
1. When an individual authorizes the income payer to make the terminal declaration, tax shall be refunded via the income payer.
After offsetting overpaid tax against tax arrears and tax is still overpaid, the income payer shall submit an application for tax refund to the local tax authority. An application for tax refund consists of:
- A request for refund (form 01/DNHT enclosed herewith);
- Photocopies of tax receipts bearing the signature of the legal representative of the income payer.
2. If tax is overpaid by the individual that earns income from business or wages and directly submits the terminal declaration, the individual shall write the amount of tax refund in box 45 “Amount of tax refund” or box 47 “Tax offset against next period” in the terminal declaration (form 09/KK-TNCN).
3. If tax is overpaid by the individual that earns income from securities transfer, the individual shall write the amount of tax refund in box 31 “Amount of tax refund” or box 33 “Tax offset against next period” in the terminal declaration form 13/KK-TNCN.
Article 54. Tax refund according to Double taxation agreements
1. Submission of application for tax refund:
The application for tax refund according to a Double taxation agreement shall be submitted to the Department of Taxation of the province where the headquarter of the organization or the permanent residence of the individual is situated, or the Department of Taxation where tax was overpaid.
2. An application for tax refund consists of:
- A written request for tax refund according to a Double taxation agreement (form 02/DNHT enclosed herewith).
- The original copy (or certified true copy) of the consularly legalized Certificate of residence issued by a tax authority of the home country, specifying the tax year.
- Photocopies of business contracts, service contract, agent contract, entrustment contract, technology transfer contract, or documents proving the shipping business (if the taxpayer is an international transport company), or labor contract with the Vietnamese entity, certificate of deposit in Vietnam, certificate of capital contribution to a company in Vietnam (depending on the income earned) that are certified by the taxpayer.
- Tax receipts certified by a State Treasury, commercial bank, credit institution, or tax authority, or photocopies of tax receipts certified by the taxpayer.
- Certification of the operation period and performance according to the contract by the Vietnamese party.
- A letter of attorney if the taxpayer authorizes a legal representative to follow the procedure. If the taxpayer authorizes a legal representative to claim tax refund that is transferred to the account of another entity, consular legalization (if the authorization is made overseas) or notarization (if the authorization is made in Vietnam) is required.
If the taxpayer fails to provide sufficient information or documents, explanation must be provided in the aforesaid request for refund (form 02/DNHT).
Article 55. Refund of overpaid tax and fees upon merger, amalgamation, division, bankruptcy, ownership transfer, or shutdown
An application for refund consists of:
- A request for refund (form 01/DNHT enclosed herewith);
- A decision of a competent authority on the merger, amalgamation, division, bankruptcy, ownership transfer, or shutdown;
- A declaration or terminal declaration of tax upon merger, amalgamation, division, bankruptcy, ownership transfer, or shutdown.
Article 56. Refund of VAT on specialized machinery, equipment, and vehicles in a technological line, building materials that cannot be manufactured in Vietnam and must be imported to form fixed assets
1. Article 1 of the Circular No. 92/2010/TT-BTC dated June 17, 2010 of the Ministry of Finance providing guidance on deferral and refund of tax on specialized machinery, equipment, and vehicles in a technological line, building materials that cannot be manufactured in Vietnam and must be imported to form fixed assets shall be applied.
- If the company derived from a project of investment is not inaugurated and tax refund is claimed before VAT on imported goods is paid, an application for refund of tax on the imported goods that cannot be manufactured in Vietnam shall be made and mentioned in the declaration of VAT on project of investment.
- If an operating business establishment that pays VAT using credit-invoice method is making investment in a manufacturing line:
+ if the project of investment is located in the same province as the headquarter, the business establishment must declare the VAT on imported goods and VAT on the current business. If VAT on imported goods is not cleared after offsetting, tax shall be refunded.
+ If the project of investment is located in another province than the headquarter and tax refund is claimed before VAT on imported goods is paid, an application for refund of tax on the imported goods that cannot be manufactured in Vietnam shall be made and mentioned in the declaration of VAT on project of investment.
2. An application for tax refund consists of:
- A request for refund (form 01/DNHT enclosed herewith) specifying the VAT on specialized machinery, equipment, and vehicles in a technological line, building materials that cannot be manufactured in Vietnam and must be imported to form fixed assets.
- A manifest of imported goods (form 01-4/DNHT enclosed herewith).
3. Deciding tax refund
- Within 02 working days from the receipt of the application, the tax authority shall request the taxpayer to complete the application if it is not satisfactory.
- If the documents are sufficient, accurate and conformable, the tax authority shall examine the application in accordance with the procedure for VAT refund.
Within 06 working days from the day on which the sufficient documents are submitted, the tax authority shall notify the taxpayer that the application is approved (including inspections before refund), and request the taxpayer to submit the receipt for VAT on imported goods before issuing a decision to refund tax.
- Within 03 working days from the day on which the VAT receipt is received, the tax authority shall compare it with the figures in the application for tax refund and issue a decision to refund tax. If the amount of paid VAT on the receipt is smaller than the claimed refund, the refundable amount is the amount on the receipt; if the amount of paid VAT on the receipt is greater than the claimed refund, the refundable amount is the claimed refund.
4. The taxpayer must write the input VAT on imported goods in the declaration of VAT on project of investment. If the taxpayer has received a refund of such input VAT before submitting the tax declaration, the declaration shall be made as usual but the taxpayer must not request a refund of the VAT on imported goods that was refunded.
Article 57. Refund of other taxes and fees
A request for refund (form 01/DNHT enclosed herewith) enclosed with other documents.
Article 58. Processing application for tax refund
1. Places to submit applications for tax refund:
a) The application for tax refund of a organization or individual that is a taxpayer and has a TIN shall be submitted to their supervisory tax authority.
The application for tax refund of a organization or individual that is not a taxpayer shall be submitted to the Department of Taxation of the province where the headquarter of the organization or the permanent residence of the individual is situated.
a) The applications for tax refund of income payers or individuals that submit the terminal declarations directly code shall be submitted to place where the terminal declarations are submitted.
b) If the application for tax refund is submitted directly to the tax authority, the recipient shall add a seal on the application, record the date of receipt and the enclosed documents.
c) If the application for tax refund is sent by post, the recipient shall add date stamp on the application.
d) If the application for tax refund is submitted electronically, it shall be received, checked, and accepted via a electronic data processing system.
dd) Within 03 working days from the receipt of the application, the tax authority shall request the taxpayer to complete the application if it is not satisfactory.
2. Cases of inspection before tax refund
- Refund is demanded according to a international agreement to which Vietnam is a signatory.
- The taxpayer claims the refund of tax for the first time (except for personal income tax). If the taxpayer submits the application for tax refund for the first time and is eligible for tax refund, inspection shall be carried out before tax refund. If the taxpayer submits the application for tax refund for the first time but is not eligible for tax refund, the next application for tax refund is still considered the first application.
- The taxpayer claims a tax refund within 02 years from the imposition of penalty for tax offences.
When the taxpayer makes multiple claims for tax refund over the aforesaid 02-year period: if the tax authority does not found understatement of tax payable or overstatement of refundable tax according to Clause 33 Article 1 of the Law on the amendments to the Law on Tax administration, or any of the tax offences mentioned in Article 108 of the Law on Tax administration and Clause 34 Article 1 of the Law on the amendments to the Law on Tax administration, the taxpayer is exempt from inspection before tax refund from the second claim. When making the subsequent claims, if the taxpayer is found making incorrect declaration or committing one of the tax offences in Clause 33 Article 1 of the Law on the amendments to the Law on Tax administration, Article 108 of the Law on Tax administration, and Clause 34 Article 1 of the Law on the amendments to the Law on Tax administration, inspection shall be carried out before refund over the 02-year period.
- The payment for goods and services mentioned in the application for tax refund is not made via a bank, including the goods traded domestically, imported goods, and exported goods. This regulation is not applied to applications for VAT refund. In particular: If payment for the goods and services in the application is not made via a bank, the tax authority shall not carry out an inspection at the taxpayer’s premises before refund, and shall not refund the VAT on such goods and services.
- The company is merged, amalgamated, split, divided, dissolved, bankrupt, converted, or shut down; the state-owned company is allocated, sold, or leased.
- The taxpayer fails to provide explanation or complete the application for tax refund, or fails to prove the accuracy of the tax declared. This regulation is not applicable to the goods and services eligible for tax refund.
3. Responsibility to process application for tax refund
a) If an inspection must be carried out before refund (except for the case in Point c of this Clause), within 06 working days from the receipt of the sufficient application for tax refund, the head of the tax authority must send a notice of inspection before refund (form 01/HT-TB enclosed herewith), or a decision to refund tax (form 01/QDHT), or a decision to refund and offset tax (form 02/QDHT enclosed herewith), and/or a notice of ineligibility for tax refund (form 02/HT-TB enclosed herewith) to the taxpayer.
In this case, if the taxpayer is eligible for tax refund before inspection, the period from the day on which the tax authority makes the request for explanation to the day on which the tax authority receives the explanation is not included in the time limit for processing the application.
b) If the taxpayer is not eligible for tax refund before inspection (except for the case in Point c of this Clause), within 30 days from the receipt of the sufficient application for tax refund, the head of the tax authority must send a decision to refund tax (form 01/QDHT), or a decision to refund and offset tax (form 02/QDHT) and/or a notice of ineligibility for tax refund (form 02/HT-TB enclosed herewith) to the taxpayer
If the inspection is delayed on account of the taxpayer, the delay is not included in the time limit for processing the application.
c) If the application for tax refund according to Clause 13 Article 1 of the Law No. 21/2012/QH12 on amendments to the Law on Tax administration is certified by a competent authority (such as: a certification of overpaid VAT during importation by a customs authority, or a tax inspection record certifying the overpaid tax): within 05 working days from the receipt of the sufficient application for tax refund, the head of the tax authority shall send a decision to refund tax (form 01/QDHT) or a decision on tax refund and offsetting (form 02/QDHT) to taxpayers without considering the necessity of inspection before tax refund.
d) If the tax authority finds that the refundable tax is different from the claimed refund:
- If the claimed refund is greater than the refundable tax, the taxpayer shall receive an amount equal to the refundable tax.
- If the claimed refund is smaller than the refundable tax, the taxpayer shall receive an amount equal to the claimed refund.
While the application for tax refund is being processed, the taxpayer shall receive the refundable amount before the tax authority finishes processing the application. The tax authority shall request the taxpayer to provide explanation and additional documents about the claimed refund that need verifying.
dd) Entitlement to refund tax
According to refundable tax, outstanding tax, the head of the tax authority shall:
- Issue a decision to refund tax (form 01/QDHT enclosed herewith) if the taxpayer does not owe any tax, late payment interest, or fines; or
- Issue a decision to refund and offset tax (form 02/QDHT enclosed herewith) if the taxpayer owes outstanding tax, late payment interest, or fines.
The Department of Taxation shall decide the refunds of taxes incurred by the taxpayers under the management of Sub-departments of taxation.
The decision to refund tax must specify the name of the taxpayer, the refundable tax, and the place to receive the refund.
e) If the application for tax refund is processed behind schedule on account of the tax authority, the taxpayer shall also receive an interest on the refundable amount on top of the refundable amount. The interest on late refund is the fundamental interest announced by the State bank when the decision on tax refund is issued. The number of days to calculate interest is from the day succeeding the deadline for processing the application for tax refund to the day on which the decision to refund tax or the decision to refund and offset tax is issued, including days off (Saturdays, Sundays, holidays).
The interest shall be written in the decision to refund tax. The taxpayer shall receive the refund and the interest.
The interest shall be provided by the Tax Refunding Fund according to regulations of the Ministry of Finance.
4. Inspection after tax refund
a) In the following cases, the inspection must be carried out within 01 year from the day on which the decision to refund tax is issued:
- The company declares a lost in 02 consecutive years preceding the year in which the decision to refund tax is issued, or suffers from a loss that exceeds the owner’s equity in the year preceding the year in which the decision to refund tax is issued. The loss is determined according to the terminal declaration of corporate income tax or the inspection record made by a competent authority (if any).
- If tax on real estate trading, sale, and service provision is refunded but the company fails to separate the refundable tax on real estate trading, sale, and service provision, and the ratio of revenue from real estate trading, sale, and service provision to the total revenue is 50% or more when the refund is claimed, an inspection shall be carried out after refund (within 01 year from the day on which the decision to refund tax is issued). - The company changes its location twice over 12 months before the issuance of the decision to refund tax.
- The company’s taxable income and refundable tax fluctuate sharply over 12 months before the issuance of the decision to refund tax.
b) In other cases than those in Point a of this Clause, inspection shall be carried out after tax refund in accordance with risk management principles within 10 years from the day on which the decision to refund tax is issued.
Article 59. Refunding tax, offsetting refundable tax against other payables to government budget
1. VAT refund:
a) The Department of Taxation shall make an Order to refund according to the decision to refund and offset tax (01/QDHT), or an Order to refund and offset according to the decision to refund and offset tax (form 02/QDHT), then send it to the State Treasury of the same province.
b) The State Treasury of the same province shall offset payables to government budget or request the State Treasury to which the taxpayer owes a debt to collect the payables by offsetting, make refunds by wire transfer or in cash, then request the superior State Treasury to draw money from VAT Refunding Fund.
When refunding VAT in the case mentioned in Point a Clause 1 Article 33 of this Circular, instructions in Point b and Point d Clause 2 of this Article shall be followed.
2. Refund of other taxes:
a) The Department of Taxation shall make an Order to refund according to the decision to refund tax (01/QDHT), or an Order to refund and offset according to the decision to refund and offset tax (form 02/QDHT), then send it to the State Treasury of the same province. The State Treasury of the same province shall offset the payables to government budget, then refund the taxpayer in cash or by wire transfer.
b) When refunding taxes (except for personal income tax), if the taxpayer applies for tax registration in one locality but pay tax in the others, the tax authority where tax declarations are submitted shall make and send the Order to refund to the State Treasury in the same locality. The tax authority must determine and distribute the refundable amount among the localities to which government revenues are distributed. Each and every of them must be enumerated in the Order. The State Treasury in the same province shall transfer the refunded amount to the taxpayer in full, record the refund, transfer debit notes to the State Treasuries where revenues are collected and credit notes to the State Treasuries to which the revenues are distributed.
c) If the taxpayer pays tax in multiple localities but submits the terminal declaration and claims refund at a tax authority, such tax authority shall make and send an Order to refund or Order to refund and offset to the State Treasury of the same locality. The State Treasury shall refund personal income tax and records the refunds of personal income tax where the taxpayer submits the terminal declaration and claims tax refund.
d) Two cases of recording tax refunds:
- If the refunds are completely made before the deadline for adjusting government revenue settlement in the year, the State Treasury shall record a decrease in government revenues.
If personal income tax is refunded in the form of a decrease in government revenue, but the total amount of personal income tax collected locally at the time is not sufficient to make the refunds, the State Treasury shall withdraw from the budget to make the refunds.
- If the revenues are refunded after the deadline for adjusting government revenue settlement, the State Treasury shall record the expenditures in the year in proportion to the distribution of revenues.
3. Documents circulation
According to the method of payment (cash or wire transfer), the tax authority shall send the Orders to refund or Orders to refund and offset to relevant entities. In particular:
- The taxpayer that receives the refund shall be given 01 stub;
- The tax authority that issues the decision on refund shall receive 01 stub after certifying the refund;
- The State Treasury shall keep 01 stub as evidence;
- The bank shall receive 01 stub if the refund is transfer to the bank account.
4. According to the decision to refund tax or decision to refund and offset tax, the tax authority shall record the refunded and offset amounts to monitor the fulfillment of tax liability of the taxpayer.
Tìm kiếm
Thông tư 156/2013/TT-BTC (Bản Word)
Thông tư 156/2013/TT-BTC (Bản Pdf)