Circular No. 11 TC/TCĐN stipulates the management of the temporary holding fund of the state budget at embassies and diplomatic missions abroad.

CIRCULAR

Regulations on the management of the temporary holding fund of the state budget at embassies and diplomatic missions abroad

I- GENERAL PRINCIPLES:

The temporary holding fund of the state budget at embassies and diplomatic missions of our country abroad (hereinafter referred to collectively as diplomatic missions) is formed from sources of income of the state budget arising at diplomatic missions and other representative offices such as economic trade representatives, news agencies, military attachés, labor management boards, etc. (collectively referred to as other representative offices) and is managed uniformly in accordance with the provisions of this Circular.

II- FOREIGN CURRENCY INCOME OF THE TEMPORARY HOLDING FUND OF THE STATE BUDGET:

TEMPORARY WITHHOLDING BY THE STATE BUDGET:

1/ Foreign currency income of officials dispatched to work at international organizations abroad, after deducting the personal share; foreign currency adjusted from the income of officials on short-term missions abroad covered by foreign sponsors according to current regulations.

2/ Foreign currency from international organizations, mass organizations, and individuals from foreign countries presented to the Government and people of our country; donations and contributions for national construction from officials, employees, overseas students, and interns working abroad. (Money from foreign organizations and individuals supporting specific localities or organizations shall be transferred by the diplomatic mission to the locality or organization concerned, and therefore will not be considered as income of the temporary holding fund of the state budget).

3/ Refunds of funds advanced by the state budget before departure for expenses such as air tickets, travel expenses, etc., for delegations sponsored by foreign countries.

For surplus funds of delegations traveling to countries where the local currency is non-convertible foreign currency and sponsored by the state budget, if not fully spent, they must be deposited into the temporary holding fund.

4/ Proceeds from the liquidation of assets of diplomatic missions and other representative offices.

5/ Compensation fees collected from overseas students, interns, and workers, and other compensation payments.

6/ All or part of the foreign currency income from the activities of diplomatic missions and other representative offices as follows:

a. Amounts that must be fully remitted to the state budget: income from notarization services, birth registration, death registration, certification of nationality-related documents, etc.

b. Amounts that must be partially remitted after retaining a certain percentage as stipulated in the current circulars issued by the Ministry of Finance or joint circulars between the Ministry of Finance and relevant sectoral ministries: visa fees, passport fees, commercial commissions, income from guesthouse services, bank deposit interest, service activities using diplomatic immunity in compliance with the laws of the host country, etc. For these revenues, diplomatic missions temporarily submit quarterly the foreign currency portion required to be remitted to the state budget into the temporary holding fund of the state budget after annual settlement approval. Any excess amount will be deducted from the provisional submission of the following year, and any shortfall must be paid within one month upon receipt of the approval notice.

Diplomatic missions need to proactively report foreign currency income from their activities to the Ministry of Finance and relevant sectoral ministries for timely study and issuance of circulars to guide implementation. Any revenue not covered by the above provisions falls under point a, Clause 6.

7/ Other income: income from remaining experts and workers from previous periods, etc.

III- REGULATIONS ON THE USE OF FOREIGN CURRENCY FROM

THE TEMPORARY HOLDING FUND OF THE STATE BUDGET

AT DIPLOMATIC MISSIONS

1/ For convertible foreign currency: it must be promptly transferred back to the country and deposited into the centralized foreign currency fund of the state (through banks or diplomatic mail channels), without exceeding the quarterly budget expenditure quota of the diplomatic mission.

2/ For non-convertible foreign currency: it can be used locally for budgetary expenditures.

- Expenditure on the operating costs of diplomatic missions.

- Expenditure on delegations sponsored by the state budget.

- Expenditure on transaction fees and transportation charges related to money transfers and withdrawals from the fund.

- Other expenditures for the state budget.

3/ Strictly prohibit lending or borrowing foreign currency from the fund for personal or other unauthorized purposes.

IV- PROCEDURES FOR RECEIVING AND SPENDING FOREIGN CURRENCY FROM

THE TEMPORARY HOLDING FUND OF THE STATE BUDGET. ACCOUNTING METHODS

AND REPORTING REQUIREMENTS OF DIPLOMATIC MISSIONS

1/ Procedures for receiving foreign currency into the temporary holding fund of the state budget:

a. Each time money is received, a "Receipt Certificate" must be prepared in three copies:

- One copy given to the payer,

- One copy kept as accounting records,

- One copy sent to the Ministry of Finance.

b. In cases where money is transferred through postal services or local banks to be deposited into the diplomatic mission, a "Receipt Certificate" should also be prepared in two copies:

- One copy retained together with the withdrawal receipt from the post office or bank for accounting records.

- One copy sent to the Ministry of Finance.

c. Foreign currency income deposited into the temporary holding fund of the state budget at diplomatic missions must be recorded separately in ledgers, not mixed with the operating funds of the diplomatic mission.

2/ Procedures for spending foreign currency from the temporary holding fund of the state budget:

All expenditures from the temporary holding fund must follow the withdrawal order from the Ministry of Finance based on official documents or encrypted messages through the communication system of the diplomatic mission. Exceptions include:

- Expenditures for bank transfer fees and diplomatic courier transportation fees.

- Additional expenditures for delegations sponsored by the state budget whose mission duration is extended beyond the initial budget allocation, and expenditures exceeding the pre-departure foreign currency advance.

a. Each time funds are withdrawn from the temporary holding fund, the diplomatic mission must prepare an expenditure voucher detailing the purpose of the expenditure and retain it with the withdrawal order.

b. When providing advance funding for delegations in urgent situations, the diplomatic mission must prepare three copies of a loan voucher (according to attached form number 1):

- One copy given to the borrower,

- One copy sent to the Ministry of Finance,

- One copy retained by the diplomatic mission.

The delegations temporarily funded above must report to the Ministry of Finance for settlement of the entire amount received (including cash taken domestically and loans from embassies) within fifteen days of their return to the country so that the Ministry of Finance can process the State Budget disbursement for the managing agency with the delegation.

3/ Foreign currency income and expenditure reporting system from the temporary holding fund of the State Budget.

- By the twentieth day of the last month of each quarter at the latest, the representative office must report to the Ministry of Finance via encrypted telegraph the balance of the fund to allow timely measures to be taken, avoiding accumulation. If the Ministry of Finance does not receive the balance report according to the above deadline, it will suspend the disbursement of funds for the next quarter to the diplomatic representative office.

- Quarterly and annually, the diplomatic representative office is responsible for reporting the consolidated situation of foreign currency income and expenditure from the temporary holding fund according to forms number 2 and 3 attached and send them to the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

V- IMPLEMENTATION PROVISIONS

1/ The heads of diplomatic representative offices are primarily responsible for managing the receipts and expenditures of the temporary holding fund in accordance with the provisions of this Circular. In case of discovering any incorrect receipt or expenditure or mismatched accounting entries... the Ministry of Finance will conduct an audit, and if necessary, the Ministry of Finance will cooperate with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to conduct on-site inspections.

2/ This Circular takes effect from the date of signature, all previous documents contrary to the provisions of this Circular shall cease to be effective./.