Strive for 90% tax dossiers are refunded electronically in 2017

Each year the tax agencies resolved more than 20,000 records of tax refund for taxpayers. Photo: Hữu Linh

According to the General Department of Taxation, the budget of VAT refund in 2016 has been approved by the National Assembly at 98,000 billion VND. To 21 November 2016, the total expense of tax refund estimates for 2016 is 96,196 billion VND.

Ensuring the implementation of VAT refunds is done properly and fairly, the General Department of Taxation regularly inspects tax refund dossiers in accordance with law. Accordingly, the total of VAT reimbursements in the first 9 months of 2016 was 9,817 decisions. The number of VAT reimbursement decisions which were inspected by the General Department of Taxation in the first 9 months of 2016 was 5,551 decisions. Of that number, 1,343 decisions were inspected; there were 4,208 reimbursement decisions arising before 2016 that were inspected.

Implementing the direction of the Ministry of Finance, the number of reimbursement decisions in 2016 have to be inspected is at least 20%. Thus, the total reimbursement decisions and inspections that incurred in the first 9 months of 2016 by the General Department of Taxation achieved the rate of 14% and 68% respectively, compared to the required rate of the Ministry.

In order to control VAT refunds, General Department of Taxation is continuing to coordinate with the State Treasury to exchange information for controlling VAT refunds as prescribed in Circular No. 99/2016/TT-BTC periodically, twice a day. Specifically, the General Tax Department sent a list of tax refund decisions by electronic methods to the State Treasury to control the expenditure for VAT refund. By the end of the day, the Treasury will provide data on the implementation of tax refunds in each province and city and nationwide for the General Department of Taxation for tracking, reconciliation and management of VAT refund estimates.

In addition, the General Tax Department also coordinated with the Customs authorities in the exchange of information, intelligence, and import declarations data for goods and enterprises that related to tax refund dossiers being tested. Hence ensuring tax refunds in accordance to regulations and right targets.

Regarding the application of information technology in electronic tax refunds; publicizing the database of reimbursement, ensuring 100% of tax refund dossiers are checked, the General Department of Taxation has upgraded the application in accordance to the draft of process of receiving dossiers and return the result of VAT refund by electronic methods. By the end of November 2016, the General Department of Taxation implemented electronic application for tax refund at 5 Tax Departments (Hanoi, Dong Nai, HCMC, Hai Phong and Binh Duong) and will implement electronic tax refunds nationwide in the first quarter of 2017. At the same time, the General Department of Taxation has completed the pilot testing system for iHTKK, eTax, and TMS applications.

According to Le Thi Duyen Hai, Director of Accounting and Tax Declaration (GDT), the pilot implementation of electronic VAT refund is part of the chain of tax reform on tax administrative procedures, as a task that the Government and the Ministry of Finance allocated in Resolution 19 and Resolution 2016 on e-Government 36a.

The statistics of the General Department of Taxation shows that the sector now manages more than 560,000 tax business, and tax offices with each year more than 20,000 settlement refunds to taxpayers. Therefore, the implementation of electronic VAT refund will be beneficial for both tax agencies and taxpayers. Striving by 2017 to reach 90% of the tax service of reimbursement records made through electronic tax refund.