VAT Refund or VAT Claim
In each month, if input tax exceeds output tax, taxpayer can claim for the refund, either in form of cash or tax credit to be used in the following months. Therefore, in case of zero-rated, taxpayer will always be entitled to VAT refund. As for unused input tax, it may be creditable against output tax within the next 6 months. However, the refund can only be claimed within 3 years from the last day of filing date.
Certain input taxes, such as tax in relation to entertaining expenses, are not creditable under VAT. However, those non-creditable input taxes can instead be used as deductible expenses under Corporate Income Tax (CIT).