JOINT CIRCULAR
Guidelines on functions, tasks, powers, organization, staffing, and financial mechanisms of land registration offices
Pursuant to Decree No. 60/2003/NĐ-CP dated June 6, 2003, promulgated by the Government detailing and guiding the implementation of the Law on State Budget;
Pursuant to Decree No. 181/2004/NĐ-CP dated October 29, 2004 of the Government on implementing the Land Law and Decree No. 17/2006/NĐ-CP dated January 27, 2006 of the Government amending and supplementing certain articles of decrees guiding the implementation of the Land Law and Decree No. 187/2004/NĐ-CP on converting state-owned enterprises into joint-stock companies;
Pursuant to Decree No. 25/2008/NĐ-CP dated March 4, 2008 of the Government stipulating the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment;
Pursuant to Decree No. 48/2008/NĐ-CP dated April 17, 2008 of the Government stipulating the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Home Affairs;
Pursuant to Decree No. 118/2008/NĐ-CP dated November 27, 2008, of the Government stipulating the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Finance;
Pursuant to Decree No. 88/2009/NĐ-CP dated October 19, 2009 of the Government stipulating the issuance of certificates of land use rights, ownership of houses, and other assets attached to land;
The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, the Ministry of Home Affairs, and the Ministry of Finance issue guidelines on the functions, tasks, powers, organization, staffing, and financial mechanisms of land registration offices as follows:
Article 1. Position and Functions
1. Land registration offices established at provincial level and district level (hereinafter referred to collectively as provincial and district levels) are public service units with the function of organizing the registration and issuance of certificates of land use rights, ownership of houses, and other assets attached to land; adjusting changes in land use, house ownership, and other assets attached to land; building and managing cadastral records in accordance with the law.
2. Provincial-level land registration offices belong to the Department of Natural Resources and Environment and are established by the People's Committee of the province upon the proposal of the Director of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment and the Director of the Department of Home Affairs. District-level land registration offices belong to the District Office of Natural Resources and Environment and are established by the People's Committee of the district upon the proposal of the Head of the District Office of Natural Resources and Environment and the Head of the District Office of Home Affairs.
3. Land registration offices have their own seals and are allowed to open accounts in accordance with the law.
b) Draft five-year and annual socio-economic development plans for the province; major economic and social balances for the province; draft five-year and annual plans, programs, projects, measures to organize and implement tasks related to socio-economic development, finance-budget, planning-investment, and other tasks within the scope of state management of the Department of Finance as prescribed by law;
1. Provincial-level land registration office
a) Implement procedures for issuing certificates of land use rights, ownership of houses, and other assets attached to land (hereinafter referred to as certificates) within the provincial territory for organizations, religious establishments, overseas Vietnamese (except those entitled to own houses in Vietnam), foreign organizations, and foreign individuals in accordance with the law;
b) Register land use rights, ownership of houses, and other assets attached to land and adjust changes in land use, house ownership, and other assets attached to land in accordance with the law for organizations, religious establishments, overseas Vietnamese (except those entitled to own houses in Vietnam), foreign organizations, and foreign individuals;
c) Establish and manage all cadastral records for all parcels of land within the provincial territory; provide cadastral records to district-level land registration offices and commune-level People's Committees (hereinafter referred to collectively as commune level); build and manage cadastral databases and develop land information systems; review data entry related to cadastral attributes during the process of registering changes in land use, house ownership, and other assets attached to land;
d) Adjust cadastral records and cadastral databases when there are changes in land use and ownership of assets attached to land; notify adjustments for cases under provincial jurisdiction to district-level land registration offices and commune-level People's Committees to adjust cadastral records;
đ) Provide cadastral data to agencies responsible for determining land use fees, land lease fees, and taxes related to land and assets attached to land for land users and asset owners who are organizations, religious establishments, overseas Vietnamese (except those entitled to own houses in Vietnam), foreign organizations, and foreign individuals;
e) Store and manage original copies and certified copies of certificates and other documents formed during the performance of duties in accordance with the law;
g) Take the lead and coordinate with district-level land registration offices and commune-level People's Committees to organize the registration of changes and synchronous adjustment of cadastral records at various levels for cases of land changes that have not been registered;
h) Conduct cadastral surveys of land parcels, residential areas, and other assets attached to land; inspect the quality of cadastral survey materials provided by land users before use and management;
i) Conduct statistics and inventory of land and prepare provincial land use status maps;
k) Provide cadastral maps, extracts from cadastral maps, copies of cadastral records, and other information about land and assets attached to land to serve state management requirements and community needs;
l) Carry out fee and tax collection and services related to providing land information; conduct cadastral surveys of land parcels, residential areas, and other assets attached to land; extract information from cadastral maps and provide copies of cadastral records in accordance with the law;
m) Inspect the updating and adjustment of managed cadastral records and those conducted by district-level land registration offices;
n) Manage officials, employees, finance, and property of the office in accordance with the law;
o) Implement reporting regulations currently in effect;
p) Perform other tasks assigned by the Director of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment;
2. District-level land registration office
a) Implement procedures for issuing certificates within the district territory for households, individuals, and overseas Vietnamese entitled to own houses in Vietnam in accordance with the law;
b) Register land use rights, ownership of houses, and other assets attached to land and adjust changes in land use, house ownership, and other assets attached to land in accordance with the law for communities, households, individuals, and overseas Vietnamese entitled to own houses in Vietnam;
c) Store, manage, and update all land registration files and land attribute databases for all parcels within the district's jurisdiction; notify the provincial Land Registration Office and the People's Committee of the commune to update land registration files for cases within their authority; check the updating and updating of land registration files by the commune People's Committee;
d) Provide land data to competent authorities to determine land use fees, land lease fees, and taxes related to land and other assets attached to land for users and owners of such assets who are community groups, households, individuals, and overseas Vietnamese residing in Vietnam who own houses;
đ) Store, manage copies of certificates and other documents during the performance of tasks as prescribed;
e) Conduct land surveying of land parcels, areas, and assets attached to land; inspect the quality of land survey documents provided by land users before use and management;
g) Statistics and inventory of land, prepare land use status maps at the district and commune levels;
h) Provide extracts from land maps, copies of land registration files, and other information about land and assets attached to land to serve state management requirements and community needs;
i) Implement fee and service charges for providing land information, assets attached to land, land surveying of land parcels and areas, extracts from land maps, and copies of land registration files according to the provisions of the law;
k) Manage staff, workers, finances, and property of the Office in accordance with the law;
l) Implement reporting systems as currently prescribed;
m) Perform other tasks assigned by the Head of the Natural Resources and Environment Department;
Article 3. Organization
1. The Land Registration Office has a Director and not more than two Deputy Directors. The appointment and removal of the Director and Deputy Directors of the Land Registration Office are carried out according to the cadre management level of the provincial People's Committee and in accordance with the job title standards prescribed by law.
2. The provincial Land Registration Office establishes several specialized departments based on the characteristics of each locality and the tasks of the provincial Land Registration Office.
The Director of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment specifies the duties, powers, and organizational structure of the provincial Land Registration Office according to the proposal of the Land Registration Office Director.
The Chairman of the district People's Committee specifies the duties, powers, and organization of the district Land Registration Office according to the proposals of the Head of the Natural Resources and Environment Department and the Head of the Civil Service Department.
Article 4. Establishment
The staffing of the Land Registration Office is public service staffing decided by the provincial People's Committee. The management and use of staffing of the Land Registration Office are implemented according to Decree No. 112/2004/ND-CP dated April 8, 2004, of the Government on the mechanism for managing staffing for state-run public institutions; Decree No. 43/2006/ND-CP dated April 25, 2006, of the Government on the autonomy and responsibility for performing tasks, organizational structures, staffing, and finance for public institutions, and guiding documents for these Decrees.
Article 5. Financial Mechanism
1. The provincial and district land registration offices shall implement the financial mechanism as prescribed in Decree No. 43/2006/NĐ-CP dated April 25, 2006 of the Government on the autonomy and responsibility for performing tasks, organizational structure, staffing, and finance of public service units, and current guiding documents.
2. Sources of funds for the provincial and district land registration offices
a) Funds provided by the state budget, including:
- Funds to ensure regular operations in performing functions and tasks for provincial and district land registration offices that partially self-fund their operational costs (after balancing with revenue from public services); units fully funded by the state budget for all operational costs;
- Funds to carry out tasks ordered by competent state agencies, urgent tasks assigned by competent authorities;
- Capital for basic construction projects, funds for purchasing equipment, major repairs of fixed assets serving the unit's public service activities according to approved projects by competent authorities;
- Other funds.
b) Revenue from public services, including:
- Portion of fees and charges retained by the unit for use in accordance with state regulations (fees for land data exploitation and utilization, attached assets; cadastral surveying fees; certification fee; cadastral charges; land registration transaction guarantee charges);
- Income from service activities appropriate to the unit's expertise and capacity;
- Other income (if any): interest from bank deposits from service activities and other lawful sources as stipulated by law;
c) Expenditure items, including:
- Regular expenses, including: regular operational expenses according to functions and tasks assigned by competent authorities, regular expenses for fee and charge collection activities of the unit, including: salaries, wages; allowances; social insurance, health insurance, trade union fees as stipulated currently; public services; office supplies; business and professional expenses; regular maintenance of fixed assets and other expenses as regulated;
- Service activity expenses, including: salaries, wages; allowances; social insurance, health insurance, trade union fees as stipulated currently; raw materials; depreciation of fixed assets; repairs of fixed assets; tax payments as required by law and other expenses (if any);
- Non-regular expenditure, including:
+ Expenses for carrying out tasks ordered by competent state agencies, urgent tasks assigned by competent authorities. For tasks with economic and technical norms, the unit price issued by competent authorities shall be implemented according to the specified unit price and actual volume of work. For tasks without economic and technical norms, the budgeted unit price shall be implemented according to the current financial expenditure regulations of the state and approved by competent authorities.
+ Expenses for basic construction investment, equipment procurement, major repairs of fixed assets serving the unit's public service activities according to approved projects by competent authorities;
+ Other expenditure.
Article 6. Effectiveness and Responsibility for Implementation
1. This Circular takes effect from May 1, 2010.
2. Abolish the provisions in Section I of the Joint Circular No. 38/2004/TTLT-BTNMT-BNV dated December 31, 2004 of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and the Ministry of Home Affairs guiding the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of land registration offices and land development organizations.
3. Provincial People's Committees directly under the Central Government shall direct the establishment and consolidation of land registration offices at all levels based on this Joint Circular, allocate budgets for land registration offices to perform tasks as prescribed in Article 2 of this Joint Circular.
4. Departments of Natural Resources and Environment, Departments of Home Affairs, and Departments of Finance shall assist Provincial People's Committees directly under the Central Government in implementing this Joint Circular.
During implementation, if there are difficulties or obstacles, localities shall report to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment for unified consideration and resolution by the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Finance./.