Circular No. 13/2025/TT-BTC on the level of collection, collection regime, payment, management, and use of fees for maintaining the system to check the status of digital signature certificates

CIRCULAR

Regulations on the level of collection, collection regime, payment, management, and use of fees for maintaining the system to check the status of digital signature certificates

Pursuant to the Law on Fees and Charges dated November 25, 2015;

Pursuant to the State Budget Law dated June 25, 2015;

Pursuant to the Law on Tax Administration dated June 13, 2019;

Pursuant to the Law on Electronic Transactions dated June 22, 2023;

Pursuant to Decree No. 120/2016/NĐ-CP dated August 23, 2016 of the Government detailing and guiding the implementation of certain provisions of the Law on Fees and Charges; Decree No. 82/2023/NĐ-CP dated November 28, 2023 of the Government amending and supplementing certain provisions of Decree No. 120/2016/NĐ-CP dated August 23, 2016 of the Government detailing and guiding the implementation of certain provisions of the Law on Fees and Charges;

Pursuant to Decree No. 126/2020/NĐ-CP dated October 19, 2020 of the Government detailing certain provisions of the Law on Tax Administration; Decree No. 91/2022/NĐ-CP dated October 30, 2022 of the Government amending and supplementing certain provisions of Decree No. 126/2020/NĐ-CP dated October 19, 2020 of the Government detailing certain provisions of the Law on Tax Administration;

Pursuant to Decree No. 11/2020/NĐ-CP dated January 20, 2020 of the Government on administrative procedures under the domain of State Treasury;

Pursuant to Decree No. 123/2020/NĐ-CP dated October 19, 2020 of the Government on invoices and vouchers;

BASED ON Decree No. 23/2025/NĐ-CP dated February 21, 2025 of the Government on electronic signatures and trusted services;

Pursuant to the Decree No. 29/2025/NĐ-CP dated February 24, 2025 of the Government stipulating the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Finance;

Based on the proposal of the Director of the Department of Management and Supervision of Tax, Fee, and Charge Policies;

The Minister of Finance issues this Circular regulating the level of collection, collection regime, payment, management, and use of fees for maintaining the system to check the status of digital signature certificates.

Article 1. Scope of Regulation and Applicability

Article 1. This Circular regulates the level of collection, collection regime, payment, management, and use of fees for maintaining the system to check the status of digital signature certificates.

2. This Circular applies to:

a) Organizations granted business licenses for trust services.

b) Organizations providing national electronic authentication services.

c) Other organizations and individuals related to the collection, payment, management, and use of fees for maintaining the system to check the status of digital signature certificates.

Article 2. Persons Paying Fees

1. The payer of the fee for maintaining the system to check the status of digital signature certificates is the organization granted a business license for trust services.

2. For public key certification service licenses issued according to the provisions of the Law on Electronic Transactions No. 51/2005/QH11 and the detailed implementing regulations still in effect, the organization granted the license shall be the payer of the fee for maintaining the system to check the status of digital signature certificates as stipulated in this Circular.

Article 3. Fee Collection Organizations

The organization providing national electronic authentication services according to the laws on electronic transactions is the entity collecting the fee as stipulated in this Circular.

Article 4. Fee Rates

The level of collection of fees for maintaining the system to check the status of digital signature certificates is regulated as follows:

1. For public key certification services: VND 3,000/month/per public key certificate of the organization providing public key certification services issued to organizational subscribers.

The period for calculating the fee runs from the month when the public key certificate becomes effective until the month immediately preceding the month when the public key certificate expires or is suspended or revoked. In cases where the public key certificate becomes effective and expires or is suspended or revoked within the same month, the fee will be calculated for one month.

2. For time stamping services and message authentication services: VND 4,200,000/month/per digital signature certificate for time stamping services and message authentication services provided by the organization providing national electronic authentication services to trust service providers.

The period for calculating the fee is rounded up from the month when the digital signature certificate for time stamping and message authentication services is issued by the organization providing national electronic authentication services to trust service providers until the month immediately preceding the month when the certificate expires or is suspended or revoked.

Article 5. Declaration and Payment of Fees

1. For the Fee Payer

The payer of the fee shall pay the fee for maintaining the system to check the status of digital signature certificates quarterly, no later than the last day of the first month of the next quarter to the entity collecting the fee in accordance with the form prescribed in Circular No. 74/2022/TT-BTC dated December 22, 2022 of the Minister of Finance on the forms, deadlines for collection, payment, and declaration of fees and charges under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Finance.

2. For the Fee Collection Organization

a) By the fifth day of each month, the fee collection organization shall deposit the amount of fees collected from the previous month into the fee account awaiting budget submission opened at the State Treasury.

b) The entity collecting the fee shall collect, pay, and settle the fee in accordance with Circular No. 74/2022/TT-BTC.

Article 6. Management and Use of Fees

1. The entity collecting the fee may retain 85% of the collected fees to cover operating costs for providing services and collecting fees as stipulated in Clause 4, Article 1 of Decree No. 82/2023/NĐ-CP dated November 28, 2023 of the Government amending and supplementing certain provisions of Decree No. 120/2016/NĐ-CP dated August 23, 2016 of the Government detailing and guiding the implementation of certain provisions of the Law on Fees and Charges; and remit 15% of the collected fees to the State budget according to the current State budget classification, except in the case stipulated in Clause 2 of this Article.

2. If the entity collecting the fee is a state agency not allocated operating costs from the collected fees as stipulated in Clause 3, Article 1 of Decree No. 82/2023/NĐ-CP, it must remit all collected fees to the State budget. Operating costs for providing services and collecting fees shall be covered by the State budget and allocated in the budget of the entity collecting the fee in accordance with the State budget expenditure regulations.

Article 7. Effective Date

Article 2. This Circular takes effect from April 10, 2025.

Article 3. This Circular abolishes Circular No. 19/2022/TT-BTC dated March 23, 2022 of the Minister of Finance on the level of collection, collection regime, payment, management, and use of fees for maintaining the system to check the status of digital certificates.

3. Other contents related to the collection, submission, payment receipts, and public disclosure of fee collection not mentioned in this Circular shall be implemented in accordance with the provisions of the following documents: Law on Fees and Charges; Decree No. 120/2016/ND-CP dated August 23, 2016 of the Government detailing and guiding the implementation of certain articles of the Law on Fees and Charges; Decree No. 82/2023/ND-CP dated November 28, 2023 of the Government amending and supplementing certain articles of Decree No. 120/2016/ND-CP dated August 23, 2016 of the Government detailing and guiding the implementation of certain articles of the Law on Fees and Charges; Law on Tax Administration; Decree No. 126/2020/ND-CP dated October 19, 2020 of the Government detailing certain articles of the Law on Tax Administration; Decree No. 91/2022/ND-CP dated October 30, 2022 of the Government amending and supplementing certain articles of Decree No. 126/2020/ND-CP dated October 19, 2020 of the Government detailing certain articles of the Law on Tax Administration; Decree No. 11/2020/ND-CP dated January 20, 2020 of the Government stipulating administrative procedures within the State Treasury sector; Decree No. 123/2020/ND-CP dated October 19, 2020 of the Government stipulating invoices and vouchers, and Circular No. 78/2021/TT-BTC dated September 17, 2021 of the Minister of Finance guiding the implementation of certain articles of the Law on Tax Administration dated June 13, 2019, and Decree No. 123/2020/ND-CP dated October 19, 2020 of the Government stipulating invoices and vouchers.

4. In cases where the legal normative documents mentioned in this Circular are amended, supplemented, or replaced, they shall be implemented according to the amended, supplemented, or replacing documents.

5. During the course of implementation, if there are any difficulties, organizations and individuals are requested to promptly report to the Ministry of Finance for research and supplementary guidance.