A personal income tax refund arises when the tax withheld during the year exceeds the tax actually payable after finalisation. The first point to grasp is that the refund framework is mid-transition: dossiers attached to the 2025 tax period follow the older framework, while periods from 2026 onward fall under the new one. This article presents both stages separately, for employees generally who are working in Vietnam.
The 2025 tax period: Tax Administration Law 38/2019 and Circular 80/2021
For finalisation of the 2025 tax period carried out in early 2026, the applicable framework is the Law on Tax Administration 38/2019/QH14 and Circular 80/2021/TT-BTC. An individual is refunded where the tax paid exceeds the tax payable after finalisation, the individual holds a tax code at the time of filing the refund request, and a written refund request is submitted. Employees have two routes: authorise the income-paying organisation to finalise on their behalf where the authorisation conditions are met, or finalise directly with the tax authority of residence or of the place where income arose, as guided by Circular 80/2021/TT-BTC.
The refund dossier in this stage basically comprises the tax finalisation return, the written refund request, withholding vouchers and documents evidencing family circumstance deductions where dependants are registered. Processing times under the Law on Tax Administration 38/2019/QH14 framework are six working days for dossiers in the refund-first, audit-later category and forty days for dossiers in the audit-first, refund-later category, counted from the tax authoritys receipt of a complete and valid dossier.
From 1 July 2026: Law on Tax Administration 108/2025 takes over
The Law on Tax Administration 108/2025/QH15 replaces the Law on Tax Administration 38/2019/QH14 from 1 July 2026. In practical terms, refund procedures for periods arising after that date must anchor to the new tax administration law, even where the overpayment originates from income of the transition stage. Taxpayers and HR teams should look up the corresponding refund provisions in the Law on Tax Administration 108/2025/QH15 and its guiding instruments at the time of filing, and not copy the forms and legal bases of the Circular 80/2021/TT-BTC stage into the new period.
The 2026 tax period and the Personal Income Tax Law 109/2025
The overpayment for the 2026 tax period is determined by the Law on Personal Income Tax 109/2025/QH15, with two major changes: family circumstance deductions of 15.5 million dong per month for the taxpayer and 6.2 million dong per month for each dependant, and a progressive tariff shortened to five brackets. The higher deductions mean mid-income employees are more likely to generate overpayments than in earlier periods if the income payer keeps withholding by old habit.
A scope note: this article is for employees generally who remain working in Vietnam. Foreign experts and expatriates ending their work and departing Vietnam face an additional departure finalisation with its own deadlines, covered in the dedicated articles on tax finalisation for departing foreigners in the same tax section.
Frequently Asked Questions
In which cases is a personal income tax refund available?
The most common case is tax withheld during the year exceeding the tax payable after finalisation, for example because the employee did not work all twelve months, registered additional dependants, or had uneven monthly income. Under the 2025-period framework in the Law on Tax Administration 38/2019/QH14 and Circular 80/2021/TT-BTC, refund conditions are: tax paid exceeds tax payable; the individual holds a tax code at the time of the refund request; and a written refund request is filed. The individual may instead carry the overpayment forward to a later period.
Can I authorise my employer to finalise and claim the refund on my behalf?
Yes, where the authorisation conditions for the finalisation period are met. In the 2025-period stage under Circular 80/2021/TT-BTC, an individual earning salary or wages from one organisation and meeting the income-source conditions may authorise that organisation to finalise and settle the overpayment on their behalf. Individuals with income from several sources, or who do not meet the authorisation conditions, must finalise directly with the tax authority. From 1 July 2026, the authorisation procedure must be re-checked under the Law on Tax Administration 108/2025/QH15.
What documents are required for a refund and how long does it take to receive the money?
The refund dossier basically comprises the tax finalisation return, the written refund request, withholding vouchers issued by the income-paying organisation and dependant documents where deductions are registered. On timing, under the Law on Tax Administration 38/2019/QH14 framework applying to the 2025 period, refund-first dossiers are processed within six working days and audit-first dossiers within forty days from the tax authoritys receipt of a complete valid dossier. Dossiers for periods after 1 July 2026 follow the deadlines in the Law on Tax Administration 108/2025/QH15.
This article has been quality-reviewed by the FLAW AI Legal Council