Consultation on Value-Added Tax (VAT) Refund

Question: What conditions must my company meet in order to obtain a value-added tax (VAT) refund?

Answer:

According to Article 37 of Decree No. 181/2025/NĐ-CP, the conditions for VAT refund applicable from 1 July 2025 are as follows:

1. The enterprise must declare VAT under the credit (deduction) method, and maintain accounting books and documents in accordance with the Law on Accounting.
2. The enterprise must have a bank account registered under its tax identification number.
3. The enterprise must satisfy the conditions for input VAT credit, and must not use invoices or documents arising from prohibited acts prescribed in Article 13 of the 2024 Law on VAT.
4. At the time of submitting the refund application, the seller must:
   • have already submitted their VAT return; and
   • have no outstanding VAT payable for the tax period corresponding to the refund period of the enterprise requesting the refund.

Note: Where the seller has not fully submitted their VAT return (including cases where the deadline has not yet arrived) or still owes VAT for the corresponding tax period, the enterprise will not be eligible for a VAT refund with respect to the invoices of that tax period.

5. The enterprise must prepare a VAT refund dossier for each specific refund case as required by law.

Accordingly, at the time the enterprise submits the VAT refund application, it must ensure that:

• it falls within a VAT refund-eligible category;
• its input VAT satisfies all refund conditions;
• it complies with regulations on tax declaration and preparation of VAT refund dossiers; and
• the complete dossier is submitted to the competent tax authority.

The tax authority will classify the VAT refund dossier as either “refund first – audit later” or “audit first – refund later” and process it in accordance with the law.

Consultation: Tax Law Services