A tax refund request will always trigger a tax audit. Due to the requirement for the DGT to decide on a refund request within 12 months, a tax audit will typically begin from a few weeks to several months from the refund request date. A corporate income tax refund request will normally trigger a complete tax audit covering all taxes. A refund request of any other tax will normally trigger a tax audit covering only one particular tax. The DGT will likely broaden the tax audit scope to include other taxes.

Other events may trigger a tax audit; these include:

• A tax return in an overpayment position (not necessarily accompanied by a refund request);
• An annual income tax return presenting/claiming a tax loss;
• • A tax return not fled within the prescribed time;
• • A tax return meeting certain (undisclosed) DGT criteria.