A news article about the difficulties taxpayers face when following procedures for tax refunds has sparked a wave of complaints. Many VietNamNet readers have sent emails to the editorial board to share their experiences in getting tax refunds.

“I had a bad experience in applying for tax refund in early 2023. I searched for guidance on the internet, then followed the steps as instructed, while downloading app. Sometimes I had to go directly to the taxation agency to ask to re-open my account or cancel my declarations when I made mistakes,” Chien Bui wrote.

“As I felt too tired of the complicated procedures, I decided to contact tax refund service providers. After some calculations, they informed me about the amount of tax refund I could get, which was lower than the amount I expected. However, as I had spent 6-7 months on procedures, I accepted the amount for the sake of peace and quiet,” he reported.

Hung Nguyen also complained that the procedures were too complex.

“I found in the national tax system that I could get a tax refund of VND5 million in 2023. But surprisingly, I could not complete the tax declaration and update to the system after a lot of attempts. The system repeatedly required me to fill in information in No 11 and No 12, though I had filled in with the information already,” he recalled.

“The software used by the tax system is not good and simple enough, which needs to be improved to ease the burden on taxpayers,” he added. 

Nguyen Cuong complained that if taxpayers still owe tax, they will be found out and forced to pay tax arrears. Meanwhile, if taxpayers want tax refund, they have to present many documents and make many declarations. 

Though everyone now has his or her own tax identification number, they still have to show identity cards. Though taxpayers show invoices certifying their incomes, they still have to show labor contracts. They also have to show the decision on resignation if they no longer work and make a commitment on not having income from other sources.

In reality, taxation agencies have data about all sources of income and total income of every tax identification number. However, they still require many documents to prove taxpayers’ incomes. As a result, taxpayers often have to travel between their homes, their offices and taxation agencies. 

Meanwhile, Thanh Long Bui faced another problem. He submitted his dossier online, but his dossier was pending for three months. After the period, the taxation agency told him that the documents were unreasonable and was asked to submit additional documents and to wait.

Similarly, Can Tho said he submitted all documents, but taxation agency judged that he still needed to submit more documents. Several months have elapsed, but he still cannot get money.

Thanh, another reader, complained that he had submitted a dossier for 2023 tax refund. But to date, no further information has been released, and he doesn’t know if the documents are sufficient to get the refund.

Dao Tuyet commented while taxpayers are fined when they are slow in paying tax, taxation agencies don’t have to take any responsibility if they are slow in paying refunds to taxpayers.

“I filled in all information as required by the tax system. One month later, I was informed by taxation agency that my application for tax refund was refused. The reason was that the figures in my documents were different from the ones on the systems,” she said. “They (taxation agency) did not specify which figures had problems and told me to come directly to taxation agency.”

Because of complicated procedures, many taxpayers have given up.

Cong, another taxpayer, estimated that the total tax refund he could have is up to VND10 million, but he doesn’t intend to claim the money.

“I believe there are many other taxpayers facing the same problem,” he said.

Regarding the suggestion on automatic tax refund mechanism, most readers said that this would be the solution.

“With advanced technologies, people now can pay tax online. So I hope taxation agencies can refund tax online,” Do Quan said.

He said that modern technology can solve the existing problems but the problem is whether or not the taxation agencies want to apply the technology.

Luong Bang