Personal income tax refund service in Vietnam

Currently, personal income tax refund is an issue that many foreign people are concerned about when they work in Vietnam. So, what are the conditions for receiving a tax refund? In what cases will personal income tax be refunded? Viet An Law Firm – Tax Agent will summarize the information related to the personal income tax refund service in Vietnam.

Legal basis

• Law on Personal Income Tax 2007, as amended and supplemented in 2012, 2014, and 2020.
• Circular 92/2015/TT-BTC on instructions for implementing value-added tax and personal income tax, amended and supplemented by Circular 95/2016/TT-BTC, Circular 40/2021/TT -BTC, Circular 80/2021/TT-BTC.
• Circular 80/2021/TT-BTC guiding the implementation of several articles of the Law on Tax Administration and Decree 126/2020/ND-CP, as amended and supplemented by Circular 13/2023/TT-BTC and Circular 43/2023/TT-BTC.

What is the personal income tax refund?

According to the Personal Income Tax Law 2007, amended and supplemented in 2014, and guiding documents, we can define personal income tax refund as follows: The State refunds the tax collected from personal income taxpayers in the settlement year if it is eligible for tax refund and meets the conditions prescribed by law.

Cases of personal income tax refund

According to Clause 2, Article 8 of the Personal Income Tax Law 2007, amended and supplemented in 2014, personal income taxpayers will receive tax refunds in the following cases:

• That individual has the amount of tax paid greater than the amount payable.
• Individuals who have paid taxes but have taxable income that is not enough to pay tax.
• Other cases as prescribed by competent authorities.

Conditions for personal income tax refund

According to the provisions of Article 23 of Circular 92/2015/TT-BTC, conditions for personal income tax refund include:

• Only individuals who have a tax code at the time of requesting a tax refund will receive a refund of their income tax.
• For individuals who have authorized income-paying organizations or individuals to perform tax finalization, the refund will also be made through the income-paying organization or individual.
• For individuals who are not authorized to finalize taxes, need to directly declare income to the tax authority or pay compensation in the next period.

Personal income tax refund procedures

Currently, people requesting a personal income tax refund must prepare documents and submit them in two ways: direct payment or online payment via the Electronic Tax Page. As follows:

Step 1: Prepare documents

Pursuant to the provisions of Article 42, Circular 80/2021/TT-BTC, tax refund documents for income from salaries and wages will include:

In cases where organizations or individuals pay income from salaries or wages, a settlement is made to authorized individuals.

Personal income tax refund documents include:

• 01 written request for handling tax, late payment interest, and overpaid fines according to Form No. 01/DNXLNT issued with Appendix I of Circular 80/2021/TT-BTC;
• 01 Power of Attorney as prescribed in case the taxpayer does not directly carry out tax refund procedures and except in cases where the tax agent submits tax refund documents according to the contract signed between the tax agent and the taxpayer;
• 01 List of tax payment documents according to form No. 02-1/HT issued with Appendix I Circular 80/2021/TT-BTC (applicable to organizations and individuals paying income).

Note: In this case, the business will have to carry out tax procedures for the person requesting a tax refund.

For individuals with income from salaries and wages who directly settle taxes with tax authorities:

• Income taxpayers with overpaid tax amounts who request a refund on the personal income tax finalization declaration (form No. 02/QTT-TNCN) will not have to submit a tax refund application.
• Tax authorities handle tax refunds based on personal income tax finalization records to refund overpayments to taxpayers according to regulations.

Step 2: Submit a request for personal income tax refund

If you pay directly, prepare the following documents and submit them to the competent tax authority. Include:

• Tax finalization declaration form No. 02/QTT-TNCN.
• List 02-1/BK-QTT-TNCN.
• Certificate of PIT withholding (a tax deduction document issued by the business.
• Valid citizen identification card or ID card.
• Scanned copy of the labor contract (If tax finalization is done at the tax agency managing the family circumstance deduction enterprise) or residence registration certificate/temporary residence book (If tax finalization is done at the tax agency where the individual resides).

After submitting the dossier, within 03 working days from the date of receiving the dossier, in case the tax refund dossier is incomplete, the tax authority must notify the taxpayer to complete the dossier. After checking the tax records that the taxpayer has submitted, if the records are complete and valid, the head of the competent tax agency is responsible for issuing a tax refund decision to the requester based on the personal income tax amount they are refunded within the prescribed time limit.

In case of submitting a personal income tax refund request online on the information portal of the General Department of Taxation, the following order will be followed:

Step 1: Log in to the system.

• First, log in to the e-Tax website via the link: https://thuedientu.gdt.gov.vn
• Register an account according to the instructions or log in if you already have an account.
• Then enter the tax code and inspection code. Next, enter your password and select Login to access the e-Tax page.

Step 2: Select Online declaration.

Click on Tax finalization -> Online declaration to proceed with personal income tax declaration.

Step 3: Fill in the online declaration information.

Online declaration information includes the following contents:

• Name of person submitting the declaration
• Address
• Contact phone
• Email address

Select declaration form: Form 02/QTT-TNCN

Then, choose the settlement agency depending on the specific case. Enter the tax code of the withholding agency at the source and the system will automatically identify the settlement agency.

After completing the steps to declare information, click on the Continue box.

Step 4: Proceed to file the tax finalization declaration.

Step 5: Complete the declaration.

• Once you have filled out all the information, you need to check all the information again.
• To complete the declaration procedure, click on the Complete declaration box.

Step 6: Submit the declaration.

After completing the declaration procedure, you need to check whether the declaration information is correct or not and then scroll down and select Output XML. The declaration will be saved to the device.

Then click Submit declaration.

Step 7: The system notifies you of successful submission.

Enter the test code and click Continue. If the information is correct and complete, the system will notify you of successful submission.

Step 8: Print the declaration.

• Next, print the declaration after rendering the XML.
• Note: You should print the declaration in two copies to supplement the documents submitted to the agency.

Step 9: Submit the declaration.

Executive time

According to current law, the processing time for personal income tax refund applications will be as follows:

• For dossiers subject to advance tax refund: The tax authority will notify you in writing of the acceptance of the dossier and the time limit for processing the tax refund dossier within 06 working days at the latest.
• For dossiers subject to pre-tax refund inspection: The tax administration agency will notify you in writing of the acceptance of the dossier and the time limit for processing the tax refund dossier within 40 working days at the latest.

Clients who want to use personal income tax refund service in Vietnam, please contact Viet An Law Firm – Tax Agent for our best support!