Circular No. 03/2003/TT-BTC stipulates the regime for collecting, submitting, and managing the use of fees for technical safety inspections and charges for issuing certificates guaranteeing quality and technical safety for machinery, equipment, materials, and substances with strict safety requirements.

CIRCULAR

Regulations on the collection, submission, and management of fees for technical safety inspections and charges for issuing certificates ensuring quality and technical safety for machinery, equipment, materials, and substances with strict requirements for safety.

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Pursuant to Ordinance No. 38/2001/PL-UBTVQH10 on Fees and Charges, Government Decree No. 57/2002/NĐ-CP dated June 3, 2002 detailing the implementation of the Ordinance on Fees and Charges, and other guiding documents.

After receiving opinions from the Ministry of Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs, the Ministry of Finance shall issue regulations on the collection, submission, and management of fees for technical safety inspections and charges for issuing certificates ensuring quality and technical safety for machinery, equipment, materials, and substances with strict requirements for safety as follows:

I. OBJECTS AND AMOUNTS OF COLLECTION:

1. Organizations and individuals of Vietnam and foreign organizations and individuals when being inspected and issued certificates ensuring quality and technical safety for machinery, equipment, materials, and substances with strict requirements for safety (collectively referred to as technical safety inspections) by state management agencies or authorized agencies (collectively referred to as Technical Safety Inspection Agencies) according to the provisions of the law must pay fees and charges as stipulated in this Circular.

2. The fee schedule for technical safety inspections and charges for issuing certificates ensuring quality and technical safety for machinery, equipment, materials, and substances with strict requirements for safety is hereby promulgated together with this Circular.

The inspection fee is collected based on the actual number of samples inspected (not charged on the entire consignment).

3. Fees and charges are collected in Vietnamese Dong (VND).

II- COLLECTION, SUBMISSION AND MANAGEMENT OF FEES AND CHARGES:

1. Technical Safety Inspection Agencies shall collect fees and charges in accordance with the following provisions:

a) Collect and submit fees and charges for technical safety inspections strictly in accordance with this Circular. When collecting money for fees and charges, they must issue a receipt for payment to the payer (the type of receipt issued by the Ministry of Finance, obtained at the local Tax Office where the Technical Safety Inspection Agency is located).

b) Register, declare, and submit fees and charges for technical safety inspections in accordance with Circular No. 63/2002/TT-BTC dated July 24, 2002 of the Ministry of Finance guiding the implementation of laws on fees and charges.

c) Maintain accounting records to track the collection, submission, and use of fees and charges in accordance with current accounting and statistical regulations. They must prepare a list daily or at least once every ten days and deposit all collected fees and charges into a temporary account for fees and charges opened at the State Treasury where the Technical Safety Inspection Agency is located and manage it strictly in accordance with current financial regulations.

d) Implement settlement and reconciliation of receipts for fees and charges and settlement of collected fees and charges with the directly managing Tax Authority in accordance with the receipt and stamp management system prescribed by the Ministry of Finance.

2. Technical Safety Inspection Agencies that have not been funded by the state budget for inspection activities may retain a portion according to a percentage (%) of the total amount of collected fees and charges before submitting them to the state budget to serve the work of collecting fees and charges and issuing certificates ensuring technical safety as follows:

- Central Inspection Center Region I (Hanoi City): 85% (eighty-five percent).

- Central Inspection Center Region II (Ho Chi Minh City): 70% (seventy percent).

- Central Inspection Center Region III (Da Nang City): 80% (eighty percent).

- Other Technical Safety Inspection Agencies (not under the Ministry of Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs): 80% (eighty percent).

The retained amount according to the above percentages can be used for the following expenditure items:

a) Salaries, wages, and allowances as prescribed.

b) Contributions as prescribed for employees under the responsibility of the employer.

c) Hazardous duty allowance and labor protection expenses for employees as prescribed.

d) Payment for public services.

đ) Purchase of office supplies, information, propaganda, and communication materials.

e) Travel expenses.

g) Expenses for conferences, seminars, and vocational training serving the work of collecting fees and charges.

h) Regular maintenance and major repair expenses for machinery and equipment directly serving the work of collecting fees and charges.

i) Printing (purchase) of declaration forms, permits, and stamps serving the work of collecting fees and charges.

k) Purchase of equipment and tools directly serving the work of collecting fees and charges.

l) Other regular expenses serving the work of collecting fees and charges.

m) Expenses for setting up a reward fund and welfare fund for staff directly organizing the collection of fees and charges for technical safety inspections. The average annual total amount extracted for the reward and welfare fund of each unit, per person, shall not exceed three months' salary if the revenue exceeds the previous year or two months' salary if the revenue is lower than or equal to the previous year.

All funds extracted for use in the aforementioned expenditure items must be included in the annual budget and used for their intended purposes with legal documentation as prescribed by the Ministry of Finance. In cases where funds are used for purposes not specified or without legal documentation, they must be returned to the state budget. At the end of the year, if the retained fees and charges are not fully utilized, the remaining amount must be managed and used in accordance with Government Decree No. 10/2002/NĐ-CP dated January 16, 2002 on financial regulations applicable to units with income and related guiding documents.

Annually, Technical Safety Inspection Agencies must prepare budgets and settle accounts for the collection and expenditure of fees and charges for technical safety inspections and submit them to the sectoral management agency, the Finance Department, and the Tax Authority at the same level. After settling accounts in accordance with regulations, any unspent fees and charges in the year will be carried over to the next year for continued expenditure in accordance with the prescribed regulations.

3. The Technical Safety Inspection Agency, which has been provided with funding from the state budget for its fee and charge collection activities, may allocate funds from the reward and welfare fund to staff directly involved in collecting fees and charges within the agency according to the provisions set forth in point 2m of Section II above. The remaining amount must be fully remitted to the state budget.

4. After deducting the amount retained according to the prescribed ratio, the total amount of fees and charges collected by the Technical Safety Inspection Agency shall be remitted to the state budget (SB) in accordance with the following regulations:

a) The Technical Safety Inspection Agency shall declare to the Tax Authority directly managing it the number of receipts used, the amount of fees and charges collected, the amount retained, and the amount due to the SB for the previous month on the Tax Authority's prescribed form within the first five days of the following month, and shall proactively pay the amount due to the SB based on the declaration.

Upon receiving the declaration, the Tax Authority shall examine the declaration, determine the amount due to the SB, and notify the fee and charge collection agency of the amount due and the deadline for payment to the SB. The Technical Safety Inspection Agency shall settle the amount due to the SB according to the notification of the Tax Authority; if the payment is insufficient, it must make up the shortfall according to the deadline specified in the notification; if the payment exceeds the amount due, the excess shall be deducted from the amount due for the subsequent period.

The deadline for payment to the SB shall not exceed the 15th day of the following month, recorded under the corresponding chapter, type, and clause, item 038 of the SB ledger (fees collected by the Technical Safety Inspection Agency under central management shall be allocated to the central budget; fees collected by the Technical Safety Inspection Agency under local management shall be allocated to the local budget).

b) The Tax Authority directly managing shall have the responsibility to examine the declaration, compare it with the issued and used receipts to determine the amount of fees and charges collected, the amount due, and notify the Technical Safety Inspection Agency to settle with the SB according to the regulations.

III- IMPLEMENTATION:

1. This Circular shall take effect fifteen days from the date of signature; it abolishes the provisions on the collection, remittance, and use of fees and charges for technical inspections and issuance of permits for machinery, equipment, materials, and substances with strict safety requirements as stipulated in Decision No. 58/2000/QĐ-BTC dated April 21, 2000, Decision No. 70/2002/QĐ-BTC dated June 4, 2002, and Circular No. 102/2000/TT-BTC dated October 19, 2000 of the Ministry of Finance.

2. During implementation, if there are any difficulties, agencies, organizations, and individuals are requested to promptly report them to the Ministry of Finance for further guidance and supplementary instructions.