HCMC – The HCMC Tax Department processed 436 value-added-tax (VAT) refund requests in the first half of 2023, with a total amount of about VND2.4 trillion, down 50% versus the year-ago period.
In the year to June, the tax authorities had resolved 428 VAT refund requests in the export sector, accounting for 98.2% of the total. The refunded VAT amount for these requests reached VND2.3 trillion, representing 96% of the total VAT refunds in the period.
Out of these, 256 of the requests got VAT refunds prior to a tax inspection.
For nearly a year, many enterprises have been struggling as they face a crisis due to delays in receiving tax refunds worth hundreds of billions of Vietnamese dong.
Addressing the issue at a conference, Phan Van Mai, chairman of the HCMC People’s Committee, emphasized the urgency of resolving the delays in VAT refunds in the city.
The total amount of VAT refunds required exceeds VND3 trillion, while the outstanding VAT refunds yet to be settled total nearly VND300 billion.
In other news, VAT collection for the first six months of 2023 amounted to around VND34 trillion, equivalent to 87.2% of the figure for the same period last year.
The decline in VAT collection was attributed to the extended deadline for tax payments and the poor performance of numerous enterprises in the city, particularly in the construction, real estate, and manufacturing sectors.