How to Manage Value-Added Tax Refunds
How to Manage Value-Added Tax Refunds

Author: Mario Pessoa

Publisher: International Monetary Fund

Published: 2021-05-10

Total Pages: 29

ISBN-13: 1513577042

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The value-added tax (VAT) has the potential to generate significant government revenue. Despite its intrinsic self-enforcement capacity, many tax administrations find it challenging to refund excess input credits, which is critical to a well-functioning VAT system. Improperly functioning VAT refund practices can have profound implications for fiscal policy and management, including inaccurate deficit measurement, spending overruns, poor budget credibility, impaired treasury operations, and arrears accumulation.This note addresses the following issues: (1) What are VAT refunds and why should they be managed properly? (2) What practices should be put in place (in tax policy, tax administration, budget and treasury management, debt, and fiscal statistics) to help manage key aspects of VAT refunds? For a refund mechanism to be credible, the tax administration must ensure that it is equipped with the strategies, processes, and abilities needed to identify VAT refund fraud. It must also be prepared to act quickly to combat such fraud/schemes.

Tax Administration
Tax Administration

Author: James R. White

Publisher: DIANE Publishing

Published: 2009-11

Total Pages: 13

ISBN-13: 1437917771

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Millions of fed. taxpayers receive billions of dollars in income tax refunds every year. Many of these refunds are paid to taxpayers who owe money to the fed. gov¿t. or to their state or local gov¿t. The law allows certain types of debts to be collected through offsets of fed. income tax refunds before payments are issued to taxpayers -- in calendar year 2008, over $5 billion was deducted from income tax refunds and used instead to pay other fed. agency non-tax debt, state income tax debt, and overdue child support payments. This report describes: (1) recent proposals to expand the refund offset program; and (2) challenges and design issues that would need to be addressed in the event of program expansion. Charts and tables.