Why the Delay in Income Tax Refunds?

On August 5, the Ministry of Finance shared information regarding personal income tax arrears and delays in tax refunds.

According to the General Department of Taxation, delays in personal income tax refunds are often caused by taxpayers declaring insufficient taxable income, incorrect time periods for dependent deductions, or declaring dependents who do not meet the requirements for deductions.

To facilitate tax filing and refunds for taxpayers, the tax industry is continuously enhancing its IT applications (eTax Mobile and Icanhan).

The Ho Chi Minh City Tax Department has received a total of 174,478 applications for personal income tax refunds, a 38% increase compared to the same period in 2023. They have processed 106,544 applications so far and are currently handling 26,094 applications.

Regarding personal income tax debts, Decree 126/2020/ND-CP stipulates the cases in which resident individuals can authorize their employers to finalize their personal income tax.

Specifically, this applies to individuals with a single source of income from an employment contract of three months or longer with the same unit and who are actually working there at the time of tax finalization. It also applies to individuals with a single source of income from an employment contract of three months or longer and with casual income from other places, with an average monthly income of no more than VND 10 million, and who have had personal income tax deducted at a rate of 10%. The latter applies if the individual does not wish to finalize their casual income.

Individuals who do not fall under the above categories must directly finalize their personal income tax with the tax authority to determine their tax obligations. If an individual authorizes tax finalization incorrectly, the tax authority will verify, request the individual to fulfill their obligations, and collect the tax in accordance with regulations.

The eTax Mobile application features a “Lookup Tax Finalization Information” function to help individuals look up their income information. The tax industry has also implemented the sending of notifications about tax finalization obligations via email and the eTax Mobile application before the tax finalization deadline.

Previously, the tax authority announced that in the first six months of this year, nearly 32 million notifications of tax, fine, and late payment debts were issued to taxpayers. Additionally, nearly 175,000 decisions on tax debt enforcement were made.