Personal income tax refund takes too long, why?

At the 2024 Taxpayer Dialogue Conference in 5 Southern Provinces and Cities recently organized by the General Department of Taxation, one of the many recommendations from taxpayers was the prolonged process of personal income tax (PIT) refunds. Many people have been waiting for months without getting their refunds resolved.

A taxpayer residing in District 3, Ho Chi Minh City reported that the local tax authority had accepted his application since the end of June 2024, but after 3 months, there was still no notification of a tax refund decision. Up to now, the taxpayer has contacted many times but has not been resolved.

"The law stipulates penalties ranging from warnings to fines for late submission of personal income tax finalization declarations. It also stipulates a penalty for late payment by tax authorities when handling late applications due to the fault of the tax authorities at 0.03%/day. But in reality, many applications are being processed for a long time and we don't know when the results will be available," this person wondered.

Business representatives asked questions at the dialogue conference recently organized by the General Department of Taxation.

Another person also said that he had submitted his tax settlement documents several months ago, and the system message said the submission was successful, but he still had not received a tax refund...

The representative of the General Department of Taxation said that they have acknowledged the taxpayers' feedback on the late processing of personal income tax refund dossiers. The General Department of Taxation will direct the Ho Chi Minh City Tax Department to inspect, determine the cause, and request tax branches to promptly process personal income tax refund dossiers in accordance with regulations.

According to Mr. Mai Son, Deputy Director General of the General Department of Taxation, the tax authority also recorded the reflections of taxpayers nationwide regarding the slow processing of personal income tax refund dossiers. In the first 7 months of 2024, the number of personal income tax refund dossiers nationwide tended to increase (by 145% compared to the same period in 2023).

The peak of personal income tax refund requests from individuals directly settling their taxes in April, May and June is one of the reasons why some applications are processed slower than prescribed, affecting taxpayers.

To resolve this situation, the General Department of Taxation will continue to direct and urge tax authorities at all levels to step up the review of outstanding and overdue records; and resolve personal income tax refund records in accordance with regulations and procedures.

The tax sector is focusing on researching and proposing amendments to legal documents to simplify processes and procedures; promoting the modernization of information technology applications to support the settlement of personal income tax refund dossiers more conveniently and quickly.

Mr. Mai Xuan Thanh, Director General of the General Department of Taxation, said that the tax sector aims to be able to automatically refund personal income tax by 2025. At that time, both taxpayers and tax officials will save a lot of time and manpower; thereby having more time to support businesses, improving the efficiency of tax management.

Source: https://nld.com.vn/hoan-thue-thu-nhap-ca-nhan-qua-lau-vi-sao-196240928105442683.htm