Refund of over 582 billion tax for Samsung: Will it be refunded or not? Just say one word.

Mr. Vo Van Hoan, Vice Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee, spoke at the dialogue conference this morning - Photo: HONG PHUC

Unclear source for tax refund settlement

At the Dialogue conference between Ho Chi Minh City leaders and Korean enterprises this morning (March 25), Mr. Kwon Choon Ki, general director of Samsung SEHC, said that this enterprise has not been refunded value added tax with a total amount of more than 582 billion VND.

Although we have worked many times with the Ho Chi Minh City Tax Department, the Ministry of Finance, the General Department of Customs and the General Department of Taxation, we have not yet received specific instructions on how to handle this.

As the conference chair, Mr. Vo Van Hoan, Vice Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee, requested the tax authority representative to respond to Samsung SEHC's reflection.

Mr. Giang Van Hien, deputy head of the Tax Department of Region II, said that the tax authority has received the issue and is coordinating with relevant units to resolve the problem.

At the same time, Mr. Hien said that the Ministry of Finance is currently assigning customs agencies to determine which enterprises are eligible for on-site export tax declarations.

Immediately afterwards, Mr. Vo Van Hoan asked Ho Chi Minh City Customs to give their opinion on this incident.

A representative of Ho Chi Minh City Customs confirmed that all customs procedures for on-site import and export goods nationwide are carried out according to the same regulations, and have been operating normally in the past.

According to Mr. Bui Tuan Hai, deputy head of the Customs Branch of Region II, in principle, the tax refund for Samsung SEHC will be carried out.

However, previously both the General Department of Taxation and the General Department of Customs had submitted a report to the Ministry of Finance to determine which agency was responsible for handling the matter.

Although in several meetings, the leaders of the Ministry of Finance decided to assign the General Department of Taxation to carry out tax refunds, after research, the General Department of Taxation encountered problems and continued to meet to clarify.

"Clearly the story here is how the decision is pending the decision of the Ministry of Finance's leadership," Mr. Hai said, adding that Samsung can work with the Ministry of Finance to speed up the process of assigning which agency to implement.

This person also said that in terms of tax refund procedures, the procedures are complete according to legal regulations.

"Based on the request of the ministry's leaders, we will follow the correct procedure," said Mr. Hai.

Resolutely handle problems

Concluding the case, Vice Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee Vo Van Hoan assessed that this issue had been "considered back and forth because he himself had not yet agreed on a solution".

He requested relevant agencies to report to the Ministry of Finance to clarify which unit will directly handle the tax refund issue for Samsung SEHC. Once determined, the parties need to discuss and set a specific timeline to conclude the case.

"If you want to refund or not, please say something so people can do other things with peace of mind. I suggest the Tax Department report to the ministry to resolve this once and for all," said Mr. Hoan.

Mr. Hoan also informed the representative of Samsung SEHC that if by June 2025, this issue is still not resolved or "the path is unclear, vague, not knowing whether it will be refunded or not, not knowing when it will end", the enterprise can send a document to the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee to jointly report to the Ministry of Finance to speed up the handling process.

In addition to Samsung's case, Mr. Kim Nyoun Ho, Chairman of the Korean Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam (KOCHAM), said the slow VAT refund situation is related to "on-site export" activities for raw material suppliers.

According to him, supporting enterprises in Vietnam currently have to pay 8-10% VAT when importing raw materials. After processing, they will supply to export enterprises with a VAT rate of 0%.

However, the postponement of VAT refunds is putting these businesses at a disadvantage.

Responding to this issue, Vice Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee Vo Van Hoan emphasized the view that the difficulties of enterprises, especially small and medium enterprises in the supporting industry, need to be resolved quickly.

He assessed that the tax rate difference between 8-10% and 0% is significant and can become an important resource for businesses to reinvest in production.

Although KOCHAM has not specifically stated which businesses are facing difficulties in this matter, Mr. Hoan affirmed that he will work with relevant units to come up with a quick and "correct" tax refund mechanism, and if there is a mistake, it will be deducted and handled clearly.

As an enterprise with an annual export ratio of over 90%, Samsung SEHC factory was approved by the Vietnamese Government to convert into an export processing enterprise (EPE) from May 2021.

However, since then, the enterprise has not yet received a value-added tax (VAT) refund with a total amount of about 22.9 million USD (equivalent to 582.1 billion VND) for the period from June 2021 to September 2024.

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Source: https://tuoitre.vn/hoan-thue-hon-582-ti-cho-samsung-co-cho-hoan-hay-khong-thi-noi-mot-cau-20250325142458411.htm