Propose many solutions to shorten tax refund time

VCN - Fully defining the duties and responsibilities of tax officials and having a mechanism to protect tax officials in tax refunds are breakthrough solutions being proposed to remove bottlenecks and barriers, speeding up the tax refund process in the coming time.
Are goods imported on-spot for export production eligible for tax refund? Are goods imported on-spot for export production eligible for tax refund?
Tax refund applied for imported raw material serving for export production Tax refund applied for imported raw material serving for export production
Propose many solutions to shorten tax refund time

Supplementing regulations that tax officials should only be responsible for handling tax records and tax refund records in accordance with their duties and responsibilities and in compliance with legal regulations. Photo: Internet

Limitation of tax officials' liability

Data from the General Department of Taxation shows that in the first 9 months of 2024, the Tax authority issued 13,762 VAT refund decisions with a total refund amount of VND 101,167 billion, equal to 59.2% of the decentralized tax refund estimate in 2024, equal to 100.1% compared to the same period in 2023.

This figure shows that although there has been an improvement compared to the same period in 2023, the tax refund progress is still slower than the estimate.

At this rate, it is likely that tax refunds would not reach the target set at the beginning of the year.

To remove bottlenecks and promote tax refunds, the Tax sector has proposed a number of important solutions in the draft amendments to the Law on Value Added Tax and the Law on Tax Administration.

According to Ms. Nguyen Quynh Anh, Vice President of the Vietnam Bar Federation, the amendment of the Law on Tax Administration must ensure the State budget revenue but must also have a mechanism to protect tax officials and create business development.

Believing that the current tax law, especially the Law on Tax Administration, does not limit the responsibility of tax officials, Ms. Nguyen Quynh Anh emphasized that this inadvertently leads to tax officials having to take the highest responsibility when making decisions to handle a tax issue to ensure that their decisions are absolutely safe and do not cause budget losses.

Accordingly, Ms. Nguyen Quynh Anh recommended that the legislature study and add provisions to the Law on Value Added Tax and the Law on Tax Administration to limit the responsibility of tax officials. Tax officials should only be responsible for handling tax records and tax refund records in accordance with their duties and responsibilities and in compliance with the provisions of the law.

This will solve the bottleneck of VAT refunds, contributing to creating a stable and flexible policy environment for both taxpayers and tax authorities.

Regarding this issue, Mr. Nguyen Van Phung, member of the Central Executive Committee of the Vietnam Association of Accountants and Auditors, former Director of the Department of Large Enterprise Tax Management (General Department of Taxation) said that in order to harmonize the interests of the state and enterprises, ministries, branches and localities must have consistent guidance in the way of looking at handling tax violations, specifically the violation at which stage will be resolved at that stage, not putting the responsibility solely on the tax authority and tax officials.

It is necessary to clearly define the responsibilities of tax officials in the Law on VAT and the Law on Tax Administration, in which tax officials are only responsible for reviewing documents according to the provisions of law.

Regarding this issue, in the process of drafting the amended Law on VAT expected to be passed at the ongoing 8th Session of the 15th National Assembly, the General Department of Taxation has reported to the Ministry of Finance to propose adding to the draft Law a provision that tax officials are responsible for tax refunds in accordance with their duties and responsibilities, complying with the provisions of the law on VAT, the law on tax management within the scope of records and documents provided by taxpayers, and information documents provided by competent state agencies related to the settlement of tax refund dossiers to ensure strictness and the scope of responsibility of tax officials in settling tax refund dossiers.

Decentralization, delegation of authority, avoiding the accumulation of tax refund dossiers at tax departments

Along with the proposal to supplement the responsibilities of tax officials, in the draft revised Law on Tax Administration, the drafting agency proposed to amend the regulations on the authority to decide on tax refunds. Accordingly, the Ministry of Finance proposed to amend and supplement Clause 1, Article 76 in the direction of supplementing the authority to decide on tax refunds of the Director of the Department of Taxation of large enterprises, the head of the tax branch and the head of the regional tax branch.

Explaining this supplement, the Ministry of Finance said that Article 2 of the current Law on Tax Administration stipulates that tax agencies including the General Department of Taxation, tax departments, tax branches and regional tax branches that have the right to decide on tax refunds.

According to Article 72 of the Law on Tax Administration, the tax agency directly managing the taxpayer receives tax refund dossiers for cases eligible for tax refunds according to the provisions of the law on tax.

Clause 1, Article 76 of the Law on Tax Administration only stipulates that the Director of the Tax Department of a province or municipal city has the authority to decide on tax refunds in cases of tax refunds in accordance with the provisions of the law on tax, but there is no provision stipulating the authority to refund taxes of the Director of the Tax Department of Large Enterprises, the Director of the Tax Sub-department and the Director of the Regional Tax Sub-department.

Meanwhile, the current regulation assigns the Tax Department of Large Enterprises to manage a number of large corporations and general companies. Therefore, when VAT refunds arise from large corporations and general companies, they must be transferred to local tax departments for settlement.

This regulation has not created favorable conditions for taxpayers, causing the settlement of tax refund dossiers to be delayed because they are all concentrated in tax departments, negatively affecting tax refund activities, taxpayers, organizations and individuals involved.

The drafting agency also said that according to current law, taxpayers directly managed by the tax department will have their refund dossiers received by the tax department, but the head of the tax department does not have the authority to decide on tax refunds.

Therefore, it is necessary to amend and supplement the regulations on the authority to decide on tax refunds; the tax agency directly managing the taxpayer is responsible for receiving the tax refund dossiers and handling the tax refunds.

This regulation will avoid shifting responsibility between the tax sub-department and the tax department, limiting the accumulation of tax refund dossiers at the tax departments.

Adding two more tax refund levels, the tax sub-department and the large enterprise tax department, is expected to speed up the tax refund process for enterprises.

“If we decentralize and delegate authority, tax refunds will be faster. Because, with the current process, the person who receives the tax refund dossiers is still the head of the tax sub-department.

They submit them to the tax department and the tax department must open an appraisal council. This does not enhance the role of the tax sub-departments in tax refunds.

Therefore, with the proposal to delegate authority and responsibility to the levels assigned to the tax refund role, they will have to implement it more systematically," Mr. Nguyen Van Phung affirmed.

According to the assessment, when decentralizing the authority of tax branches to consider tax refunds for the records under their management, it will create conditions to shorten the time for considering tax refunds.

By Hoai Anh/Phuong Linh

Related News

Regularly check tax obligations to avoid temporary exit suspension

Regularly check tax obligations to avoid temporary exit suspension

VCN - In order to avoid the situation of arriving at the airport or border gate and only finding out that you owe taxes and being temporarily suspended from leaving the country by the Tax Authority, the Tax Authority recommends that taxpayers regularly look up their tax obligations to have a plan to pay taxes on time, not letting the tax debt situation drag on and drag on.
Budget revenue is about to be completed for the whole year estimate

Budget revenue is about to be completed for the whole year estimate

VCN - After 10 months of 2024, the budget collection progress has almost completed the assigned estimate for the whole year. From now until the end of the year, the entire Finance sector is striving to achieve the revenue exceeding the set target.
Policy adaptation and acceleration of digital transformation in tax and customs management

Policy adaptation and acceleration of digital transformation in tax and customs management

VCN - In order to contribute to economic growth, tax, customs and logistics management policies need to ensure high adaptability, stability and predictability so that they require little amendment or supplementation.
State revenue collection poised to surpass annual target

State revenue collection poised to surpass annual target

VCN - With ten months of 2024 behind us, Vietnam’s state budget revenue is on track to exceed the year’s target. The Ministry of Finance is pushing hard to achieve results that go beyond initial projections as the year draws to a close.

Latest News

Revising the title of a draft of 1 Law amending seven finance-related laws

Revising the title of a draft of 1 Law amending seven finance-related laws

VCN - On November 19, 2024, the Standing Committee of the National Assembly (SCNA) discussed amendments and refinements to the draft of a law revising seven existing finance-related laws. Concluding the session, Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Nguyen Duc Hai emphasized the need for the Government to direct the drafting body and relevant agencies to collaborate closely to finalize a persuasive and widely supported report, ensuring the quality of the draft law for the National Assembly's consideration and decision.
Transparency evates the standing of listed companies

Transparency evates the standing of listed companies

VCN - According to the Hanoi Stock Exchange (HNX), the number of companies placed under warning, control, or restricted trading on the listed and registered markets has increased over the past two years compared to 2022.
State-owned securities company trails competitors

State-owned securities company trails competitors

Contrary to the outstanding performances in the banking sector, the securities subsidiaries of major banks have yet to fully leverage their potential, despite numerous inherent advantages.
Strengthening the financial “health” of state-owned enterprises

Strengthening the financial “health” of state-owned enterprises

VCN - The state economy plays a key role in the socio-economic development process, but it is necessary to strengthen the financial health and competitiveness of state-owned enterprises (SOEs).

More News

U.S. Treasury continues to affirm Vietnam does not manipulate currency

U.S. Treasury continues to affirm Vietnam does not manipulate currency

VCN - In its latest report, the U.S. Department of the Treasury has positively assessed Vietnam's monetary policy, reaffirming that Vietnam does not engage in currency manipulation.
Exchange rate fluctuations bring huge profits to many banks

Exchange rate fluctuations bring huge profits to many banks

Net profits from the foreign exchange trading segment of many banks have gained positive results thanks to a strong USD/VNĐ exchange rate fluctuations this year.
A “picture” of bank profits in the first nine months of 2024

A “picture” of bank profits in the first nine months of 2024

VCN - Pre-tax profits for banks during the first nine months of 2024 remained positive, exceeding 200 trillion VND, solidifying the sector's position as a market leader.
Many challenges in restructuring public finance

Many challenges in restructuring public finance

VCN - Restructuring public finance is an important step to improve state financial management, ensure resources are allocated reasonably and effectively, contributing to the country's sustainable development. In addition to the achieved results, the process of accelerating public finance restructuring also faces many pressures.
Tax declaration and payment by e-commerce platforms reduces declaration points and compliance costs

Tax declaration and payment by e-commerce platforms reduces declaration points and compliance costs

VCN - E-commerce platforms that declare and pay taxes on behalf of traders not only help to reduce the number of tax declaration points but also reduce the cost of compliance with administrative procedures for the whole society because only one point as the e-commerce trading platform implements tax deduction, payment and declaration on behalf of tens, hundreds of thousands of individuals and business households on the platform.
Disbursement of public investment must be accelerated: Deputy PM

Disbursement of public investment must be accelerated: Deputy PM

Deputy Prime Minister Ho Duc Phoc has called on ministries, agencies, and localities to accelerate the disbursement of public investment from now until the year-end and further tighten investment management.
HCMC: Domestic revenue rises, revenue from import-export activities begins to increase

HCMC: Domestic revenue rises, revenue from import-export activities begins to increase

VCN - The results of State budget revenue in HCMC in the first 10 months of 2024 are estimated to increase by 10% over the same period last year, of which the highlight is that revenue from import-export activities has begun to increase.
Effectively control fiscal and monetary policy : Deputy Prime Minister and Minister Ho Duc Phoc

Effectively control fiscal and monetary policy : Deputy Prime Minister and Minister Ho Duc Phoc

VCN - Monetary policy and fiscal policy are the driving force for economic development, so that there has been effective coordination, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Ho Duc Phoc.
Seaport stocks surge amid positive sector outlook

Seaport stocks surge amid positive sector outlook

During the trading session on 12 November, while the VN-Index fell for the fourth consecutive session to 1,244 points, several seaport and shipping stocks such as MVN (VIMC), VOS (Vietnam Shipping), and GMD (Gemadept) maintained upward momentum.
Read More

Your care

Latest Most read
Revising the title of a draft of 1 Law amending seven finance-related laws

Revising the title of a draft of 1 Law amending seven finance-related laws

On November 19, 2024, the Standing Committee of the National Assembly (SCNA) discussed amendments and refinements to the draft of a law revising seven existing finance-related laws.
Transparency evates the standing of listed companies

Transparency evates the standing of listed companies

According to the Hanoi Stock Exchange (HNX), the number of companies placed under warning, control, or restricted trading on the listed and registered markets has increased over the past two years compared to 2022.
State-owned securities company trails competitors

State-owned securities company trails competitors

Contrary to the outstanding performances in the banking sector, the securities subsidiaries of major banks have yet to fully leverage their potential, despite numerous inherent advantages.
Strengthening the financial “health” of state-owned enterprises

Strengthening the financial “health” of state-owned enterprises

VCN - According to the State Capital Management Committee at Enterprises, to date, the country has six hundreds and seventy one SOEs including 6 economic groups, 53 state-owned corporations and 19 LLCs operating under the parent-subsidiary model.
U.S. Treasury continues to affirm Vietnam does not manipulate currency

U.S. Treasury continues to affirm Vietnam does not manipulate currency

In its latest report, the U.S. Department of the Treasury has positively assessed Vietnam's monetary policy, reaffirming that Vietnam does not engage in currency manipulation.
Mobile Version