– In Clause 1, Clause 2, Article 33 of Circular No. 156/2013/TT-BTC dated November 6, 2013 of the Ministry of Finance guiding the handling of overpaid tax, late payment interest and fines:
“Article 33. Handling of overpaid tax, late payment interest and fines
1. Taxes, late payment interest and fines are considered overpaid when:
a) Taxpayers whose paid tax, late payment interest and fines are larger than the payable tax, late payment interest and fines for each type of tax with the same economic content (subsection) specified in the state budget index within 10 (ten) years from the date of payment to the state budget. For taxes subject to tax finalization, taxpayers can only determine the overpaid tax amount when the paid tax amount is larger than the payable tax amount according to the tax finalization…
2. Taxpayers have the right to settle overpaid tax, late payment interest and fines in the following order:
a) Offset automatically with tax, late payment interest, fines owed or payable of the same tax under the guidance in Clause 1, Article 29 of this Circular (except for the case mentioned at Point b, Clause 1 of this Article).
b) Offset automatically with the payable amount of the next tax payment of each tax with the same economic content (subsection) as prescribed in the state budget index (except for the case mentioned at Point b, Clause 1 of this Article). In case more than 06 (six) months from the time of arising the overpaid tax amount but no further payable amount is incurred, the guidance at Point c of this Clause shall be followed.
c) For taxpayers with the overpaid tax, late payment interest, and fine under the guidance at Point b, Clause 1 of this Article, and taxpayers with the overpaid tax, late payment interest and fine specified at Point a of this Clause, after offsetting according to the guidance at Points a and b of this Clause, if there are still overpaid tax, late payment interest, or fine, taxpayers shall send a tax refund request to the tax authority directly managing them for tax refund according to the guidance in Chapter VII of this Circular…”
– In Article 17 of Circular No. 84/2016/TT-BTC dated June 17, 2016 of the Ministry of Finance guiding the handling of errors, checking and adjusting tax collection and payment information:
“Article 77. Error handling, tracing and adjustment of tax collection and payment information
1. Principles of error handling
a) When errors arise or are discovered at any unit, that unit must proactively determine the cause of the error, remedy the consequences, and send a document to investigate or notify the relevant units for coordination and handling according to regulations…
b) The over- or under-transferred amounts shall be handled according to the regulations on handling errors in payment of the bank or the State Treasury…
2. Tracing and adjusting accounting information of state budget revenues
…c) For the authorized bank
When receiving a trace letter from the non-collecting bank or from the collecting bank, the authorized bank is responsible for tracing and correcting errors in accordance with regulations on handling errors in payment; at the same time send adjusted information to the state treasury agency (if the voucher has been sent to the state treasury agency) to correct errors related to the accounting of the amount paid at the state treasury agency.
In case of over-transfer of money (compared to the amount paid by the customer), the bank sends a trace letter to the State Treasury agency. Based on the content of the bank’s investigation, the State Treasury agency shall return the excess money to the bank. In case of insufficient money transfer, the bank shall make an additional transfer for the full amount payable to the state budget to the account of the state treasury agency, ensuring that the accounting information matches the previously recorded information.
d) For the state treasury agency
After accounting for state budget revenues and transferring state budget revenue information to tax authorities, if errors are detected, the state treasury agency is responsible for adjusting the information and sending a notice to the tax authority to adjust management information.
When receiving trace letters from taxpayers/tax authorities/banks, the state treasury agency is responsible for tracing and adjusting information and notifying relevant agencies for adjustment of state budget collection and payment information.
The State Treasury agency is responsible for compiling an electronic trace letter for the amounts already recorded in the accounts pending the receipts of the tax authority so that the tax authority can supplement the information of state budget revenues…”
Based on the above provisions, in principle, it is necessary to clearly identify the cause of errors for handling as follows:
* In case it is determined that there is an error in the payment operation of the bank that transfers money in excess of the amount on the original voucher (the original voucher shows the correct amount with the payable tax amount): The Tax Authority shall guide the Bank to carry out the investigation with the State Treasury. Based on the bank’s investigation, the State Treasury shall return the over-transferred amount as prescribed in Item b, Clause 1, Article 17 of Circular No. 84/2016/TT-BTC and do the same as prescribed in Item c. Clause 2, Article 17 of Circular No. 84/2016/TT-BTC cited above.
– In case it is determined that it is the taxpayer’s mistake in writing the wrong amount on the original voucher compared to the payable tax amount (the bank has transferred the correct amount on the original voucher): It is determined to be overpaid and the taxpayer is entitled to handle the overpaid tax according to the procedures specified in Article 33 of Circular No. 156/2013/TT-BTC dated November 6, 2013 of the Ministry of Finance.