Finance Minister pledges to "remove tax refund regulations that make it difficult for businesses"

(Dan Tri) - According to the Minister of Finance, abolishing the requirement that the seller must declare and pay taxes before the buyer can receive a tax refund will make tax officials work hard, even take risks, but must definitely be abolished to help businesses.

This is one of the commitments made by Finance Minister Nguyen Van Thang when explaining at the end of the discussion session on the afternoon of December 9 on the Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Value Added Tax.

The Minister admitted that the Ministry of Finance 's advice to the Government to submit to the National Assembly an amendment to the Law on Value Added Tax after only a few months of implementation "is something that we feel has not fulfilled our responsibility". However, he said the amendment was necessary and urgent because many problems arose during the process of the law coming into effect.

Minister of Finance Nguyen Van Thang explained at the discussion session on the afternoon of December 9 (Photo: Quang Vinh).

One of the contents explained by the Minister is the amendment of the regulations on tax refund conditions, specifically the abolition of the requirement that the seller has declared and paid value added tax before the buyer can receive a tax refund. When the Law on Tax Administration has not been amended, this regulation is considered a tax management solution.

However, Mr. Thang said that during the implementation process, the Ministry of Finance received many opinions from businesses that tax declaration and payment is the responsibility of the seller, while tax refund is the right of the buyer.

Requiring the buyer to prove that the seller has fulfilled its tax obligations is “inappropriate” and causes difficulties for businesses, because the buyer cannot verify or prove the seller's tax payment status.

Minister Nguyen Van Thang said that removing this provision could make it much harder for tax officials, and even pose certain risks in the management process. However, if it is not removed, the enterprise will have to take responsibility for the tax management of another business entity.

"Even family members find it difficult to advise each other, let alone take responsibility for each other," the Minister said, affirming that "this regulation must definitely be removed" to ensure fairness.

Regarding tax policy for agricultural products, the issue that most concerns National Assembly deputies, the Minister said that the 2008 Tax Law has determined that this subject is subject to a 5% tax. However, this has led to many businesses taking advantage of buying and selling invoices through many stages to fraudulently claim tax refunds.

Therefore, the 2016 Law on Value Added Tax was amended to stipulate that this is an object not subject to tax. By 2024, the Law was amended to include agricultural products as objects subject to tax at a rate of 5%, but the implementation process encountered many difficulties.

Therefore, the Government proposed to adjust it in accordance with the content of the 2016 Tax Law. The Minister affirmed that the spirit of implementation will follow the method of the 2016 Tax Law and this has been implemented stably for a long time, so National Assembly deputies can "completely rest assured".

Discussion session at the National Assembly on the afternoon of December 9 (Photo: Quang Vinh).

Regarding the proposal to study and consider the issue of value-added tax on fertilizers, the Minister said he would take note of this issue to continue studying, reviewing and reporting to competent authorities.

In addition, the draft Law on Tax Administration (amended) being submitted to the National Assembly at this session has added regulations to more strictly manage taxes for taxpayers, using analytical measures to assess risk levels, and adding inspection measures to avoid creating legal gaps in tax refund work.

Regarding the effective date, the Minister said that the necessary conditions, including the decree, guiding circular and invoice software program, have been fully prepared by the Ministry of Finance. Therefore, he proposed that the National Assembly allow the Law to take effect from January 1, 2026 to promptly support policies for the agricultural sector.

“We will take responsibility during the implementation process to ensure that there are no risks or difficulties during implementation, because businesses are also looking forward to the National Assembly's approval this time,” the Minister pledged.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/thoi-su/bo-truong-tai-chinh-cam-ket-bo-quy-dinh-hoan-thue-lam-kho-doanh-nghiep-20251209184405030.htm