Having documents but still not being able to deduct tax: What does the Ministry of Finance say?

Regarding the problem of input VAT deduction, a citizen, Ms. Doan Thi Van Anh, sent a question to the Ministry of Finance .

Many businesses are facing difficulties in deducting input value added tax. PHOTO: NGOC THANG

According to the provisions of Point g, Clause 2, Article 26 of Decree 181/2025/ND-CP and Point b, Clause 2, Article 14 of the Law on Value Added Tax, Ms. Anh said she understood as follows:

For goods and services purchased on deferred or installment payments with a value of VND 5 million or more, at the time of payment according to the contract or contract appendix, if the business establishment does not have non-cash payment documents, the business establishment must declare and adjust the deductible input value-added tax amount for the value of these goods and services in the tax period in which the payment obligation arises according to the contract or contract appendix.

Goods and services purchased on deferred payment or installment payment at the time of payment according to the contract or contract appendix without payment documents and declared to reduce deducted input value added tax, but later (after the agreed period of deferred payment according to the contract or contract appendix) there are non-cash payment documents, then in this case, input value added tax can be declared as deductible.

Ms. Anh hopes the Ministry of Finance will clarify whether her understanding is correct or not.

Not only Ms. Anh's case, recently, many businesses have also sent petitions to tax authorities in localities such as Ho Chi Minh City, Ninh Binh , Vinh Long with similar problems.

The common point is that all businesses comply with the provisions of Decree 181/2025/ND-CP. However, after the payment deadline stated in the contract, even though the business has non-cash payment documents, the tax authority still responds that the business is not allowed to declare input VAT deduction.

What does the Ministry of Finance say?

Responding to Ms. Doan Thi Van Anh's question, the Ministry of Finance said that Clause 2, Article 14 of the Law on Value Added Tax stipulates the conditions for deducting input value added tax as follows: "There is a value added invoice for purchasing goods and services or a document for paying value added tax at the import stage or a document for paying value added tax on behalf of a foreign party. The Minister of Finance stipulates the document for paying value added tax on behalf of a foreign party.

There are non-cash payment documents for purchased goods and services, except for some special cases as prescribed by the Government .

Many experts recommend that the Ministry of Finance quickly provide unified guidance to help businesses overcome difficulties. PHOTO: NGOC THANG

According to Articles 25 and 26 of Decree No. 181/2025/ND-CP: "For goods and services purchased on deferred or installment payments with a value of 5 million VND or more, business establishments shall base on written contracts for purchasing goods and services, value-added invoices and non-cash payment documents for goods and services purchased on deferred or installment payments to deduct input value-added tax.

In case there is no non-cash payment document because the payment time according to the contract or contract appendix has not yet arrived, the business establishment is still allowed to deduct input value added tax.

In case at the time of payment according to the contract or contract appendix, the business establishment does not have non-cash payment documents, the business establishment must declare and adjust the deductible input value added tax amount for the value of goods and services without non-cash payment documents in the tax period in which the payment obligation arises according to the contract or contract appendix.

Thus, after citing many regulations, the Ministry of Finance did not clarify whether Ms. Anh's understanding was correct or incorrect, but only asked her to "study the legal regulations to comply with the regulations."

According to some tax and accounting experts, the Ministry of Finance's response is a "for the sake of answering" type of question, not going straight to the point, helping businesses to truly resolve difficulties.

Regarding this problem, Mr. Nguyen Van Thuc, Chairman of BCTC Tax Consulting Company Limited, said that he had sent a petition to the Ministry of Finance via the national public service since the end of September, but has not received a response yet.

Emphasizing the nature of the regulation to prevent fraud, not to permanently deprive businesses with real transactions and legal documents of their right to deduction, Mr. Thuc proposed having unified instructions to avoid confusion among accountants and businesses, which would cause huge losses for businesses.

Tax expert Nguyen Ngoc Tu (Hanoi University of Business and Technology) analyzed that current laws as well as Decree 181/2025/ND-CP do not state any provisions prohibiting or restricting businesses from deducting input value-added tax if they have complete documents.

"Difficulties and problems in deducting input value-added tax are widespread problems. The Ministry of Finance needs to quickly issue unified instructions to help businesses overcome difficulties," Mr. Tu emphasized./.

According to Thanh Nien Newspaper

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/co-chung-tu-van-khong-duoc-khau-tru-thue-bo-tai-chinh-noi-gi-185251115123840917.htm

Source: https://baolongan.vn/co-chung-tu-van-khong-duoc-khau-tru-thue-bo-tai-chinh-noi-gi-a206530.html