Circular No. 105/2014/TT-BTC amending and supplementing certain provisions of Circular No. 153/2013/TT-BTC dated October 31, 2013, issued by the Minister of Finance, concerning procedures for collecting and remitting fines, fine receipts, and state budget funds ensuring the operation of administrative penalty enforcement forces.

 CIRCULAR

Amending and supplementing certain provisions of Circular No. 153/2013/TT-BTC dated October 31, 2013 on procedures for collecting, depositing fines, fine receipts, and state budget funds ensuring the operation of administrative violation enforcement agenciesforces for administrative offense penalty enforcement

--------------------------------------------

Pursuant to the State Budget Law No. 01/2002/QH11;

Pursuant to the Law on Handling Administrative Violations No. 15/2012/QH13;

Pursuant to Decree No. 60/2003/NĐ-CP dated June 6, 2003 of the Government detailing and guiding the implementation of the Law on State Budget.

Pursuant to Decree No. 81/2013/NĐ-CP dated July 19, 2013 of the Government detailing certain provisions and measures for implementing the Law on Handling Administrative Offenses;

Pursuant to Decree No. 215/2013/NĐ-CP dated December 23, 2013 of the Government stipulating the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Finance;

At the request of the Director of the Legal Department,

The Minister of Finance promulgates this Circular amending and supplementing certain provisions of Circular No. 153/2013/TT-BTC dated October 31, 2013 on procedures for collecting, depositing fines, fine receipts, and state budget funds ensuring the operation of administrative violation enforcement agencies (hereinafter referred to as Circular No. 153/2013/TT-BTC).

Article 1. Amending and supplementing certain provisions of Circular No. 153/2013/TT-BTC

1. Amend Clause 3 of Article 4 as follows:

"3. The person authorized to directly collect fines as prescribed in point c, Clause 1, Article 10 of Decree No. 81/2013/NĐ-CP must prepare a list of fine receipts and deposit the entire amount collected into the State Treasury within the time specified in Clause 2, Article 69 and Clause 2, Article 78 of the Law on Handling Administrative Violations. When the Port Control Unit or its representative collects fines according to point c, Clause 1, Article 10 of Decree No. 81/2013/NĐ-CP, they must deposit the entire amount collected into the State Treasury within two working days from the date of collection of the fine.

The State Treasury or commercial bank where the State Treasury has delegated the collection of fines shall review and reconcile to ensure that the total amount actually deposited by the person authorized to directly collect fines matches the total amount calculated based on the List of Fine Receipts."

2. Amending Clause 5, Clause 6 of Article 4 as follows:

"5. Fines collected for administrative violations must be fully and promptly deposited into the state budget. One hundred percent of the collected fines for administrative violations are allocated to the local budget; the People's Council at the provincial level decides on the allocation of the fine revenue among different levels of the local budget. For road traffic, railway, inland waterway transport sectors, the allocation of collected fines shall be carried out in accordance with the guidelines of the Ministry of Finance.

6. Fines collected for administrative violations shall be recorded under the Chapter of the agency issuing the penalty decision, corresponding Sub-item according to the State Budget Classification. In the tax and customs sectors, it shall be recorded under the Chapter of the violator (taxpayer), corresponding Sub-item according to the State Budget Classification."

3. Amend Clause 2 of Article 5 as follows:

"2. The State Treasury or commercial bank where the State Treasury has delegated the collection of fines shall calculate and collect late payment penalties simultaneously with the collection of fines for administrative violations based on the penalty decision and the number of days overdue. Late payment penalties shall be collected for amounts of VND 1,000 or more; for amounts of VND 1,000 or more with cents less than VND 500, the cents shall be rounded down to zero; for amounts of VND 500 or more but less than VND 1,000, the cents shall be rounded up to VND 1,000."

4. Supplementing Clause 2a following Clause 2 of Article 5 as follows:

"2a. The method for determining the period for calculating late payment penalties for enforcing the penalty decision is as follows:

a) In cases where the penalty decision is delivered directly, the day for calculating late payment penalties for enforcing the penalty decision is ten days (including holidays and weekends) after the date of delivery of the penalty decision according to the Law on Handling Administrative Violations;

b) In cases where the penalty decision is sent through registered mail, the day for calculating late payment penalties for enforcing the penalty decision is ten days (including holidays and weekends) after the date the penalty decision is validly delivered according to Clause 3, Article 11 of the Postal Law;

c) In cases where the individual or organization subject to the penalty does not have confirmation of the date of receipt of the penalty decision and cannot present the valid delivery date of the penalty decision as prescribed in points a and b of this clause, but does not fall under the case of intentionally refusing to accept the penalty decision as prescribed in point d of this clause, the day for calculating late payment penalties for enforcing the penalty decision is twelve days (including holidays and weekends) after the date of issuance of the penalty decision. If the payer can prove the date of receipt of the penalty decision and such proof is substantiated, the State Treasury or commercial bank where the State Treasury has delegated the collection of fines shall calculate late payment penalties for enforcing the penalty decision ten days after receiving the penalty decision which the payer has proven;

d) In cases where individuals or organizations intentionally refuse to accept the penalty decision, the provisions of Article 70 of the Law on Handling Administrative Violations shall apply. The competent authority issuing the penalty decision and enforcing coercive measures shall notify the State Treasury where the fines are collected or the commercial bank where the State Treasury has delegated the collection of fines about the date considered as the delivery of the penalty decision so that the State Treasury or commercial bank where the State Treasury has delegated the collection of fines can calculate the late payment penalties;

e) In cases where individuals or organizations intentionally fail to pay the late payment penalties for enforcing the penalty decision, the units of the State Treasury where the fines are collected or the commercial banks where the State Treasury has delegated the collection of fines shall collect the fines for administrative violations as stated in the penalty decision; at the same time, continue to calculate the late payment penalties for enforcing the penalty decision and clearly indicate on the fine receipt the amount of late payment penalties calculated up to the date of payment by the individual or organization subject to the penalty."

5. Amending and supplementing Clause 5 of Article 5 as follows:

"5. The amount of late payment penalties for enforcing the penalty decision shall be recorded according to the State Budget Classification."

6. Amending and supplementing point a of Clause 2 of Article 11 as follows:

"a) Information purchase costs (if any):

- The maximum cost for information purchase per case shall not exceed 10% of the fine amount and the proceeds from the sale of confiscated items and means of transportation (if any) and shall not exceed VND 5,000,000. For environmental protection, anti-smuggling, trade fraud, and counterfeit goods enforcement, the maximum cost for information purchase per case shall not exceed 10% of the fine amount and the proceeds from the sale of confiscated items and means of transportation (if any) and shall not exceed VND 50,000,000."

- In cases where during the administrative violation penalty process, there is no decision to impose penalties, and confiscated items cannot be sold due to their destruction or transfer to state agencies for management and use according to the Law on Handling Administrative Violations, the cost of purchasing information shall not exceed 10% of the value of the administrative violation items and shall not exceed VND 5,000,000; for environmental protection, anti-smuggling, commercial fraud, and fake goods sectors, the cost of purchasing information shall not exceed 10% of the value of the administrative violation items and shall not exceed VND 50,000,000. The method for determining the value of the administrative violation items is stipulated in Article 60 of the Law on Handling Administrative Violations.

- Payment for purchasing information must be supported by complete documentation as prescribed; in cases where the name of the informant must be kept confidential, payment for purchasing information shall be based on a payment voucher with signatures from the person directly paying the informant, the cashier, the accountant, and the head of the unit directly investigating and handling administrative violations. The head of the unit directly investigating and handling administrative violations shall be responsible for the accuracy and honesty in the payment for purchasing information, ensuring that it is paid to the correct person, for the correct purpose, and is effective.

Article 2. Abolish the provision

Abolish the provision at Article 25 of Circular 190/2013/TT-BTC dated December 12, 2013, detailing the implementation of Decree No. 127/2013/NĐ-CP dated October 15, 2013 of the Government on administrative penalties and enforcement of administrative decisions in the customs sector.

Article 3. Implementation Organization

1. This Circular takes effect from October 1, 2014.

2. Transitional provisions:

The funds specified in Clause 2 of Article 14 of Circular 153/2013/TT-BTC and the funds allocated to support enforcement agencies before June 30, 2013, which remain unused until this Circular takes effect, may continue to be used for investment in infrastructure, procurement, repair, and maintenance of equipment and means of operation for administrative violation handling activities of agencies and organizations in accordance with the relevant laws applicable as of June 30, 2013, regarding the management and use of administrative violation fines. If these funds have already been deposited into the State budget, they will not be refunded.

During implementation, if any difficulties arise, please report them to the Ministry of Finance for consideration and resolution.