Tax refunds to be accelerated

September 02, 2016 - 09:00

The tax watchdog is striving to increase the percentage of tax reimbursements processed through the “refund first, check later” regime, aiming to speed up refunds that would be beneficial for businesses, according to Lê Thị Duyên Hải, director of the Tax Declaration and Refund Department.

An official from Thanh Xuân District’s Department of Taxation in Hà Nội provides an online tax filing and payment consultation to a taxpayer. The tax watchdog is striving to increase the percentage of tax reimbursements. – VNA/VNS Photo Hoàng Hùng
Viet Nam News

HÀ NỘI – The tax watchdog is striving to increase the percentage of tax reimbursements processed through the “refund first, check later” regime, aiming to speed up refunds that would be beneficial for businesses, according to Lê Thị Duyên Hải, director of the Tax Declaration and Refund Department.

Hải said that the “refund-first-check-later” reimbursement was expected to account for at least 80 per cent of refunds, adding that the tax watchdog will make efforts to prevent businesses from taking advantage of legal gaps to get tax refunds.

The application of online tax refunds would also be promoted, Hải said.

As of November, online tax refunds would be applied in five cities and provinces, including Hà Nội, HCM City, northern port city of Hải Phòng and southern Bình Dương and Đồng Nai provinces, Hải said, adding that e-tax refunds were more complicated and that it would take more time to complete the online procedures. By the end of 2017, 95 per cent of provinces and cities nationwide would use online tax return services.

Currently, online tax submissions and payments already accounted for 95 per cent of all submissions.

Statistics from the General Department of Taxation revealed that businesses received VNĐ58 trillion (US$2.6 billion) in value-added tax refunds in the first seven months of this year, while a total of VNĐ12 trillion in claimed refunds were rejected.

Refund for Formosa law-compliant

Hải said at Wednesday’s conference of the General Department of Taxation that the tax refund for Hưng Nghiệp Formosa Hà Tĩnh Steel Company was compliant with the Law on Value Added Tax.

Since the company started investing in Hà Tĩnh Province in 2009, Formosa has received a total of VNĐ14.6 trillion in tax refunds, more than VNĐ10.6 trillion of which were refunded for taxes Formosa had already paid for its imported equipment and materials.

The remainder of the refund was for value added taxes that Formosa’s local contractors had paid.

The Taiwan-invested steel project, worth nearly $10 billion in investment, has already paid $500 million in compensation for causing sea pollution off four central provinces of Việt Nam that caused mass fish deaths in April, said Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Trần Hồng Hà, on August 30. - VNS

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