Tax refunds to be accelerated

Hai said that the “refund-first-check-later” reimbursement is expected to account for at least 80% 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 will also be promoted, she said. 

From November, online tax refunds will be applied in five cities and provinces, including Hanoi, HCM City, the northern port city of Hai Phong and the southern provinces of Binh Duong and Dong Nai, Hai said, adding that e-tax refunds are more complicated and that it will take more time to complete the online procedures. 

By the end of 2017, 95% of provinces and cities nationwide will use online tax return services. 

Currently, online tax submissions and payments already account for 95% of all submissions.

Statistics from the General Department of Taxation revealed that businesses received VND58 trillion (US$2.6 billion) in value-added tax refunds in the first seven months of this year, while a total of VND12 trillion in claimed refunds were rejected. 

Hai said at the August 31 conference of the General Department of Taxation that the tax refund for Hung Nghiep Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Company was compliant with the Law on Value Added Tax. 

Since the company started investing in the central province of Ha Tinh in 2009, Formosa has received a total of VND14.6 trillion in tax refunds, more than VND10.6 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 US$10 billion in investment, has already paid US$500 million in compensation for causing sea pollution off four central provinces of Vietnam that caused mass fish deaths in April, said Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Tran Hong Ha on August 30.