The story of delayed VAT refunds continues to be the focus at the Dialogue Conference on tax and customs policies and procedures organized by the Ministry of Finance and VCCI on December 13.
Mr. To Vinh Hung, Deputy General Director of Southern Steel Company (VNSteel), expressed his concerns about VAT refunds – Photo: AH
Enterprises propose to separate responsibilities when processing VAT refund dossiers
Up to 450 enterprises from the South, from Quang Ngai and further south, attended this conference, which is held annually.
Mr. To Vinh Hung - Deputy General Director of Southern Steel Company (VNSteel) - said that the company has not received a tax refund since August 2022 until now with an amount of nearly 200 billion VND.
Mr. Hung said that at the time the company started buying and selling scrap, all of the company's documents and procedures were in accordance with regulations. The company checked the input invoices of all suppliers and found that they were all operating.
But when it came time to refund VAT, the local tax authority inspected and found that the input units had stopped operating and were waiting for bankruptcy and dissolution procedures, leading to doubts about the legality of the invoices. From there, the tax authority suspended the tax refund.
In addition, a partner from whom the company purchased goods was identified by the Ho Chi Minh City Tax Department as being involved in illegal invoice trading and is transferring the case to the investigation agency. This caused the Ba Ria - Vung Tau Provincial Tax Department to temporarily suspend tax refunds for VNSteel.
“At the time the company started scrap trading, all the documents and procedures were correct and could be explained. The unit that declared the tax incorrectly will be responsible. We recommend that the investigation and verification should only take place during the tax audit.
After that, we will separate them. The principle is that the wrong unit will be punished. If there is no basis to conclude that the input invoice of the enterprise is illegally refunded, we suggest that the enterprise be considered for a tax refund," he suggested.
In response, Mr. Mai Son - Deputy General Director of the General Department of Taxation - said that he would accept the comments of the enterprises and would complete them during the process of drafting the law. However, Mr. Son said that because the company purchased goods, scrap and products from other units, when completing the tax refund dossier, the tax authority determined that these enterprises had signs of risk.
In fact, many businesses have recently set up to buy and sell invoices and appropriate tax refunds. Therefore, tax authorities must verify and even coordinate with the police to investigate.
Mr. Mai Son also requested that the Tax Department of Ba Ria - Vung Tau province actively coordinate with VNSteel to resolve problems promptly, in accordance with regulations, and ensure the rights of businesses.
Headache about on-site export
Ms. Cao Thi Theu, representative of Namtex Company, expressed her concerns at the conference – Photo: AH
Ms. Cao Thi Theu, representative of Namtex Company, raised the issue that the company has been exporting on the spot for more than 20 years. When making the declaration, there was no request to verify whether the foreign trader was present in Vietnam or not. Now that the incident happened a long time ago, it was not until July 2023 that verification of this issue was requested.
“So how will the declarations that businesses made before 2023 be handled? When businesses have cleared all declarations and completed all production processes, they are now required to pay all VAT. So are the declarations from 2023 and earlier correct or incorrect? If they were incorrect, why not stop the businesses and let them do it, and now they are being prosecuted and said that the businesses did it wrong,” Ms. Theu said indignantly.
A representative of Fashion Garments Company (Dong Nai) said that they imported raw materials from a foreign company. According to regulations, on-site importers will pay VAT and import tax in advance depending on the item. After providing documents of finished products using imported raw materials that have been exported, the VAT paid will be refunded.
However, since 2021, businesses' tax refund dossiers have encountered problems. Of the total 8 million USD (200 billion VND), the tax authority has only refunded 2 million USD, while 6 million USD has not been refunded.
“We cannot let some businesses do business dishonestly and let other businesses suffer. Currently, all businesses are in dire need of capital, so the delay in VAT refunds makes it very difficult for businesses,” this business expressed indignation.
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