Warning about the "theft" of personal income tax identification numbers.

Responding at a thematic meeting on tax settlement, Mr. Nguyen Van Phung, Director of the Department of Large Enterprise Tax, General Department of Taxation, acknowledged that the phenomenon of exploiting other people's tax identification numbers to falsely declare expenses has existed for quite some time and continues to occur.

"In many cases, taxpayers lose their identity cards or their tax identification numbers (TINs) are leaked, exploited by other businesses to manipulate payment documents for wages and salaries, and then included in the business's expense declarations, leading to wrongful tax assessments," a representative from the General Department of Taxation stated.

Taxpayers may be unfairly charged taxes due to losing their identity card or tax identification number. (Illustrative image: KT.)

According to Mr. Nguyen Van Phung, many individuals and organizations use the names of others to declare expenses related to wages and salaries in order to evade and avoid taxes. Therefore, taxpayers who are issued a tax identification number must be careful and keep it confidential; if it is leaked or lost, it will cause great trouble.

Mr. Phung stated that currently, by simply visiting tncnonline.com.vn and entering anyone's ID card or passport number, one can find out their tax identification number. Therefore, if someone accidentally loses their documents, their tax identification number can easily be obtained by others.

Mr. Nguyen Van Phung, Director of the Department of Large Enterprise Taxation, General Department of Taxation. Photo: KT

Therefore, representatives from the General Department of Taxation advise taxpayers with tax identification numbers to "keep them safe and not disclose them" to prevent others from exploiting them. They also urge citizens to immediately report to the tax offices if they discover they have been charged personal income tax for amounts they did not receive. The tax authorities will receive the information from the individual reporting the issue and will trace the tax identification number of the business to summon that business and apply tax management measures to handle the matter.

Businesses that "steal" people's tax identification numbers will be subject to retroactive collection of corporate income tax related to the fraudulent declarations, while the victims will receive a refund of the personal income tax that was incorrectly collected.

"The tax authorities strongly condemn this fraud and, together with law enforcement agencies, are determined to handle it. We have issued directives to local tax departments. The tax authorities will receive information from individuals reporting the fraud. We will summon businesses if there are reports and handle the fraudulent activities," Mr. Phung affirmed.

Regarding the issue of some individuals receiving tax assessment notices more than a year after the tax settlement season, a representative from the General Department of Taxation stated that some individuals do not remember all of their income. If the income falls under the category requiring tax settlement, the tax authorities will collect the arrears. There are also cases where businesses pay income late, so the data is only transferred to the tax authorities in June, July, or even a year later, allowing the tax authorities to recalculate and issue supplementary payment notices.