Author(s): Bich Ngoc Du
The article provides insights on the current tax dispute resolution mechanisms in Vietnam including administrative review procedure, court proceedings and the Mutual Agreement Procedure (MAP) under applicable tax treaties. It analyses the current regulations in Vietnam and practical implementation on these dispute resolution mechanisms and compares with relative provisions of other international instruments. The findings of this study suggest that the remedies under the administrative review and MAP currently do not offer effective and satisfactory means for resolution of tax disputes; whereas the court proceeding is the most effective mechanism for protecting taxpayers. The article recommends that apart from considering court proceedings as their first choice, taxpayers also need to apply other preventive measures to minimise potential tax disputes. On the other hand, Vietnamese government should improve the current legal mechanisms including: specialising judges in tax dispute settlement both in domestic and international tax disputes; providing a prescribed timeframe for steps to be taken by the General Department of Taxation to resolve disputes under MAP; adding compulsory arbitration procedure as a part of MAP; revising the inter-relation between domestic legal remedies and MAP and improving the Advanced Pricing Agreement (APA) review process to make it more effective and efficient for taxpayers.