VAT refund service for businesses in Vietnam

VAT is one of the important taxes levied on consumers and collected by organizations, businesses, and units trading in goods and services. According to the regulations of the Ministry of Finance, eligible businesses will be refunded taxes. If you know how to take advantage of it, this will be a valuable financial item to help solve the problem of business resources for businesses. The regulations are so, but not all businesses can successfully implement the tax refund request, or the handling of this process takes a lot of time and effort without achieving results. To help businesses save time, costs, and handle the entire cumbersome process, Viet An Tax Agent launches “VAT refund service for businesses”.

What is a value-added tax refund?

Value-added tax (VAT) refund is the process by which state agencies return to taxpayers the tax amount that they have overpaid into the State budget revenue. This means that tax amounts in excess of the payable amount are returned to taxpayers, creating favorable and fair conditions in the process of tax and financial management of enterprises.

VAT refund conditions

Pursuant to Article 70 of the Law on Tax Administration No. 38/2019/QH14 dated June 13, 2019, the cases eligible for tax refund are as follows: “Tax administration agencies shall refund tax for organizations and individuals subject to tax refund in accordance with the tax law”

The tax authority shall refund the overpaid amount in case the taxpayer has an amount already paid to the state budget greater than the amount payable to the state budget revenue as prescribed in Clause 1, Article 60 of this Law.

Thus, in order to be eligible for VAT refund, it is necessary to meet two main conditions:

Subjects eligible for VAT refund

Subjects and cases of VAT refund are detailed in Article 13 of the Law on Value Added Tax 2008) amended in 2013, 2014, 2016)

• Business establishments that pay VAT by the tax deduction method
• Deductible in the next period if there is an input VAT amount that has not been fully deducted in the month or quarter
• Value-added tax refund if there is a new investment project, in the investment stage, and has a remaining tax amount of three hundred million VND or more
• VAT refund is not allowed if the business does not meet the conditions prescribed by the law on investment.
• Export business establishments
• Eligible for value-added tax refund of three hundred million VND or more in a month or quarter
• Refund tax first, inspect later for taxpayers who produce export goods that do not violate the tax and customs law for a period of two consecutive years; taxpayers are not subject to high risk according to the provisions of the Law on Tax Administration.
• Business establishments that change ownership, transform enterprises, merge, consolidate, divide, separate, dissolve, bankrupt, terminate operations
• To be entitled to a VAT refund if the conversion has an overpaid tax amount or an input VAT amount that has not been fully deducted.
• Foreigners, Overseas Vietnamese
• Value-added tax refund for goods purchased in Vietnam to be carried upon exit
• Programs and projects funded by official development assistance (ODA)
• To be refunded the VAT paid for goods and services purchased in Vietnam to serve programs and projects.
• Diplomatic immunity
• To be entitled to a refund of the paid VAT amount inscribed on invoices or payment vouchers

Time to complete VAT refund procedures

The time to complete VAT refund procedures at Viet An Tax Agent is committed to be fast within only 45 working days. This is ensured by a team of experienced professionals, who are well versed in the process and laws related to VAT refund

In fact, according to the experience of VAT refund of Viet An Tax Agent for many years, most businesses have made mistakes in documents, VAT refund procedures, affecting the process as well as the results of tax refund, Some common errors such as:

• In the customs declaration of exported goods without certification by customs
• In the VAT refund request, the case of tax refund of the enterprise has not been clearly determined
• The account number receiving VAT refund is different from the account number registered with the tax authority
• The VAT data that has been declared incorrectly has not been adjusted, leading to the tax amount to be refunded not matching the declared tax amount

With extensive experience, Viet An Tax Agent will support businesses to avoid these unfortunate errors, ensure that the tax refund is always complete and accurate, thereby shortening the tax refund time to 45 working days.

Procedure for implementing VAT refund service

• Step 1: Prepare a complete dossier as prescribed
• Collect legal records, including tax returns and related documents
• Verify and collect relevant invoices, documents and accounting records
• Step 2: Perform specific tasks
• Carefully check and review the collected documents and tax refund dossiers
• Consulting and guidance on adjusting dossiers to optimize tax refund benefits
• Preparation of tax refund application dossier as prescribed
• Step 3: Business representative
• On behalf of the enterprise, Viet An Tax Agent directly submits the dossier and explains to the tax authority the contents of the submitted dossier
• Ensure all information is presented clearly and accurately
• Step 4: Receive a tax refund decision
• After completing the explanation process, we receive a tax refund decision from the tax authority.
• Ensure that every decision is made according to the process.

Tax refund dossier

A dossier of request for VAT refund in accordance with the VAT Law includes: Application form (Form No. 01/HT according to Circular No. 80/2021/TT-BTC) and relevant documents in the following cases:

• Investment projects:
• Investment registration certificate or investment license
• Land use right certificates, construction permits
• Documents on capital contribution, charter, business license
• List of invoices and purchase documents (Form No. 01-1/HT)
• Decision on establishment of the Project Management Board
• Export
• List of invoices and purchase documents (Form No. 01-1/HT)
• List of customs declarations (Form No. 01-2/HT)
• Non-refundable ODA support capital
• Decision or agreement on non-refundable ODA
• Request for confirmation of expenses
• List of invoices and purchase documents (Form No. 01-1/HT)
• Written certification of the managing agency of the O program
• Emergency Aid and International Aid Sources
• Decision on receipt or policy of aid
• List of swaps, purchase vouchers (Form No. 01-1/HT)

Time to receive VAT refund

After receiving the tax refund dossier, the tax authority shall organize the appraisal. The time limit for appraisal is as follows: 01 working day for the first tax refund dossier, 03 working days for the first inspection dossier, tax refund later, counting from the time of receipt of a complete dossier.

The Department of Taxation is responsible for conducting appraisal of the process, dossiers, subjects and cases that can be refunded, as well as the decision on tax refund and other related matters. In case of detecting unclear issues or lack of information, the tax authority shall organize exchanges and clarifications among relevant departments to agree on the appraisal contents within the prescribed time limit; if the dossier is not eligible, the tax authority may refuse to appraise and update the information into the Tax Administration System.

When the appraisal results determine factors such as dossier procedures, subjects and cases that can be refunded, the tax authority shall update the VAT refund appraisal results into the tax administration system, ensuring compliance with regulations.

Commitment to VAT refund service at Viet An Tax Agent

Using the VAT refund service at Viet An Tax Agent, businesses will be guaranteed the following commitments:

With this commitment, businesses can refund and entrust the VAT refund process to Viet An Tax Agent, saving time and effort and focusing on core business activities.

If you have any difficulties or questions related to VAT refund services for businesses, please contact Viet An Tax Agent for the most specific advice.