Joint Circular No. 144/2010/TTLT-BTC-BTP guiding the regime for the collection, payment, management, and use of civil enforcement fees

JOINT CIRCULAR

Guidelines on the system for collecting, submitting, managing, and using civil enforcement fees

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Pursuant to Decree No. 57/2002/ND-CP dated June 3, 2002 of the Government detailing the implementation of the Ordinance on Fees and Charges; Decree No. 24/2006/ND-CP dated March 6, 2006 of the Government amending and supplementing certain articles of Decree No. 57/2002/ND-CP dated June 3, 2002 detailing the implementation of the Ordinance on Fees and Charges;

Pursuant to Decree No. 58/2009/ND-CP dated July 13, 2009 of the Government detailing and guiding the implementation of certain provisions of the Civil Enforcement Law;

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. 93/2008/NĐ-CP dated August 22, 2008 of the Government stipulating the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Justice;

The Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Justice issue guidelines on the system for collecting, submitting, managing, and using civil enforcement fees as follows:

Article 1. Scope of Regulation and Applicability

Article 1. This Circular stipulates the collection, submission, management, and use of civil enforcement fees.

Article 2. When the person entitled to enforcement receives money or assets according to the judgment or decision of the court, they must pay the civil enforcement fee, including cases where the person entitled to enforcement did not file the application for enforcement. In cases where the parties voluntarily enforce the judgment among themselves without requesting the enforcement agency to organize enforcement, there is no need to pay the civil enforcement fee.

Article 3. The person entitled to enforcement shall not be required to pay the civil enforcement fee for amounts of money or assets received under the circumstances specified in Article 34 of Decree No. 58/2009/ND-CP dated July 13, 2009.

Article 2. Level of civil enforcement fees

Clause 1. The level of civil enforcement fees shall be implemented in accordance with the provisions of Clause 1, Article 33 of Decree No. 58/2009/ND-CP dated July 13, 2009 of the Government. In cases where the person entitled to enforcement does not have an application for enforcement but still receives money or assets, they must still pay the civil enforcement fee according to the prescribed level, but the maximum amount shall not exceed VND 200 million per case.

Clause 2. For cases involving the division of joint property, inheritance; division of property in divorce; cases where both parties have rights and obligations regarding the assets subject to enforcement (only one party needs to file an application for enforcement), the person receiving the asset must pay the civil enforcement fee corresponding to the value of the asset actually received, calculated based on the total amount of civil enforcement fees payable by all parties.

Example 1: There are three people inheriting a property worth VND 1 billion. The first person receives 20% of the property's value. The second person receives 30% of the property's value. The third person receives 50% of the property's value. The amount of civil enforcement fees payable by each person according to the above regulations is determined as follows:

- Total civil enforcement fees payable: 3% x VND 1 billion = VND 30 million.

- Amount of civil enforcement fees payable by each person:

+ The first person must pay: 20% x VND 30 million = VND 6 million.

+ The second person must pay: 30% x VND 30 million = VND 9 million.

+ The third person must pay: 50% x VND 30 million = VND 15 million.

Example 2: The court rules on the divorce between Mr. A and Mrs. B, dividing the property during the divorce, Mrs. B receives a house worth VND 500 million and must pay Mr. A VND 200 million. In this case, the amount of civil enforcement fees payable by each party is calculated based on the actual value of the assets received by each person, specifically as follows:

The amount of civil enforcement fees Mr. A must pay is: 3% x VND 200 million = VND 6 million;

The amount of civil enforcement fees Mrs. B must pay is: 3% x (VND 500 million - VND 200 million) = VND 9 million.

Clause 3. For cases where the person entitled to enforcement has filed an application for enforcement but later the parties voluntarily enforce the judgment, the following shall apply:

Point a. If the person entitled to enforcement does not withdraw the application for enforcement to allow the parties to voluntarily enforce the judgment, the enforcement agency has not issued a compulsory enforcement decision, and has not collected money or assets to pay the parties, then no civil enforcement fee will be collected.

Point b. If the person entitled to enforcement does not withdraw the application for enforcement to allow the parties to voluntarily enforce the judgment and a compulsory enforcement decision has been issued, the agency collecting the fee will still collect the civil enforcement fee according to the provisions of this Circular.

Clause 4. For cases where the person entitled to enforcement withdraws the application for enforcement, the following shall apply:

Point a. If the parties have a written agreement or the person entitled to enforcement has a written request to the civil enforcement agency not to continue the enforcement process as provided in point c, Clause 1, Article 50 of the Civil Enforcement Law and the person entitled to enforcement renounces the receipt of money or assets already collected or withdraws the application for enforcement before a compulsory enforcement decision is issued, the agency collecting the fee will not collect the civil enforcement fee;

Point b. If the parties do not have a written agreement or the person entitled to enforcement does not have a written request to the civil enforcement agency not to continue the enforcement process as provided in point c, Clause 1, Article 50 of the Civil Enforcement Law and the withdrawal of the application occurs after a compulsory enforcement decision is issued, the person entitled to enforcement must pay one-third of the civil enforcement fee that would have been payable if the application had not been withdrawn;

Point c. If the parties do not have a written agreement or the person entitled to enforcement does not have a written request to the civil enforcement agency not to continue the enforcement process as provided in point c, Clause 1, Article 50 of the Civil Enforcement Law and the withdrawal of the application occurs after the enforcement agency has completed the compulsory enforcement process and has collected money or assets to pay or return to the person entitled to enforcement, the agency collecting the fee will still collect the civil enforcement fee according to the provisions of this Circular.

Clause 5. For cases according to the judgment or decision of the Court, the person entitled to enforcement is entitled to enforcement or only requests enforcement of the amount of money or assets valued at two times the minimum wage or less, there is no need to pay the civil enforcement fee.

In cases where the person entitled to enforcement requests enforcement in multiple installments with a total amount of money or assets valued over two times the minimum wage, the civil enforcement fee is calculated based on the total amount of money or the value of the assets received. In such cases, the civil enforcement fee is paid in multiple installments, each installment corresponding to the amount of money or the value of the assets enforced, similar to the calculation method specified in Clause 2, Article 2 of this Circular.

Article 3. Collection, submission, and payment of enforcement fees

1. The enforcement agency responsible for executing the case shall be the fee collection agency (hereinafter referred to as the fee collection agency). The head of the enforcement agency issues a decision on collecting enforcement fees. For cases requiring multiple collections of enforcement fees, the head of the enforcement agency issues a separate decision for each collection.

When collecting fees, the fee collection agency must issue and provide a receipt for the fee payer according to current laws.

In the event of a mistake regarding the amount of enforcement fees to be paid, the enforcement fees will be recalculated according to regulations. If the enforcement fees already paid are less than the recalculated amount, the person entitled to enforcement must pay the difference. Conversely, if the enforcement fees already paid exceed the recalculated amount, the excess will be refunded to the person entitled to enforcement.

The fee collection agency is responsible for collecting any additional enforcement fees that the person entitled to enforcement has not paid, or processing a refund for any overpaid enforcement fees. If the person entitled to enforcement refuses to voluntarily pay the outstanding enforcement fees, the enforcement agency may apply coercive measures to collect the additional enforcement fees.

2. When submitting a request for enforcement, the person entitled to enforcement does not need to pay enforcement fees at the time of filing the request. The fee collection agency can only collect enforcement fees when paying money or transferring assets to the person entitled to enforcement, specifically as follows:

a) In the case of cash payments: When making the payment, the fee collection agency deducts the enforcement fees owed by the person entitled to enforcement from the amount actually received by the person subject to enforcement.

b) In the case of asset transfers: Within no more than 15 (fifteen) working days before the date of asset transfer, the fee collection agency is responsible for issuing a notice to collect the enforcement fees owed by the person entitled to enforcement, following the guidelines set out in this Circular.

c) In the case where the enforcement agency has executed money or assets but must pay them to the person entitled to enforcement in multiple installments as prescribed by law, the enforcement fees payable for each installment shall be calculated according to the provisions of Clause 1, Article 2 of this Circular, but the total enforcement fees for all installments shall not exceed 200 million VND per enforcement request or one case if the person entitled to enforcement does not have an enforcement request but receives money or assets.

4. If the court's decision does not declare the value of the asset or declares it but it is no longer appropriate (changed by more than 20%) compared to the market price at the time of fee collection, the fee collection agency shall organize the valuation of the asset to determine the enforcement fees owed by the person entitled to enforcement. The valuation costs shall be covered from the enforcement fees retained by the enforcement agency.

5. If the asset is transferred to the person entitled to enforcement without payment of enforcement fees, the fee collection agency may seize, freeze the transferred asset, and set a deadline of no more than 15 (fifteen) days from the date of asset transfer for the person entitled to enforcement to pay the enforcement fees. If the person entitled to enforcement fails to pay the enforcement fees within this period, the fee collection agency may apply coercive measures, including selling the transferred asset through auction to recover the enforcement fees. The valuation and auction costs shall be borne by the person entitled to enforcement.

The valuation, revaluation, and sale of assets through auction to recover enforcement fees shall be carried out in accordance with the laws on asset valuation and auction for enforcement.

6. In cases of entrusted enforcement related to the collection of enforcement fees, the entrusting enforcement agency must include the content of collecting enforcement fees in the entrustment, clearly stating the amount of enforcement fees already paid and the amount still due (if any).

The entrusted agency must base its actions on the amount of enforcement fees previously paid by the person entitled to enforcement to continue collecting enforcement fees and manage and use the collected fees according to the provisions and guidelines set out in this Circular.

Article 4. Management and use of enforcement fees for civil judgments

1. Enforcement fees are revenue under the state budget, managed and used in accordance with the laws on the state budget and the guidance provided in this Circular.

2. The agency directly collecting the fees may use 45% (forty-five percent) of the collected fee amount for the following expenditures:

a) Payment of remuneration, wages, allowances, and contributions according to current regulations for individuals participating in enforcement activities (excluding salary costs for officials and civil servants already receiving salaries from the state budget according to prescribed regulations);

b) Direct expenses serving enforcement and fee collection such as office supplies, office materials, telephone, electricity, water, travel expenses, official duties expenses according to current standards and norms;

c) Purchase, regular maintenance, major repairs of assets, fixed assets, machinery, and equipment serving enforcement and fee collection;

d) Purchase of materials, raw materials, conference expenses for summarizing, reviewing, training, directing business operations, and other expenses directly related to enforcement and fee collection;

đ) Rewards and welfare for enforcement agency staff and fee collectors based on an average of up to three months' actual salary if enforcement exceeds annual targets set by competent authorities, and up to two months' actual salary if enforcement falls short of or meets annual targets set by competent authorities.

3. The fee collection agency shall open a "temporary holding account" for fees at the State Treasury where the fees are collected for monitoring and managing enforcement fees. Depending on the situation of fee collection (the amount of fees collected, the distance between the fee collection location and the State Treasury...), the fee collection agency must deposit the collected enforcement fees into the temporary holding account on a daily or weekly basis and must organize separate accounting for this revenue according to the accounting system for administrative and public service units.

4. The fee collection agency has the responsibility to pay 20% (twenty percent) of the collected fee amount into the account of the Civil Execution General Department under the Ministry of Justice (or the Civil Execution Department under the Ministry of National Defense for fee collection agencies that are military region enforcement agencies and equivalent) at the State Treasury simultaneously with the payment of collected fees into the temporary holding account so that the Civil Execution General Department under the Ministry of Justice (or the Civil Execution Department under the Ministry of National Defense) can allocate funds to fee collection agencies in areas where collected fees do not ensure sufficient operating funds according to the expenditure items specified in Clause 2 of this Article.

The agency responsible for allocating enforcement fees may incur management and allocation expenses for enforcement fees (such as office supplies, accounting books, tracking, consolidating data on fee distribution, communication, inspection, reporting... directly related to the management and allocation of enforcement fees); rewards and welfare for officials and civil servants based on an average of up to three months' actual salary; however, the total annual expenditure shall not exceed 7% (seven percent) of the total enforcement fees submitted by units.

5. Annually, the fee collection agency must settle accounts based on actual figures. After settlement in accordance with regulations, unspent enforcement fees in the year may be carried over to the next year for continued spending according to prescribed regulations.

6. The fee collection agency is responsible for declaring, paying, and settling the remaining amount of fees (35%) into the state budget according to chapters, types, sections, sub-sections, and sub-subsections of the current state budget classification.

Article 5. Exemption and reduction of enforcement fees for civil judgments

The person entitled to enforcement shall be exempted or reduced from enforcement fees as follows:

1. A reduction of 80% of enforcement fees for the person entitled to enforcement who has economic difficulties. Persons with economic difficulties eligible for fee reduction are those meeting the poverty standard as prescribed by current laws.

2. Exemption from enforcement fees for the subjects specified in Article 2 of the Ordinance on Preferential Treatment for Those Contributing to the Revolution in 2006 and related guiding documents.

3. Exemption from enforcement fees for the person entitled to enforcement who falls under the category of being alone, disabled, or suffering from prolonged illness as prescribed by current laws.

4. Exemption from enforcement fees in cases where the Court determines there is no stamp duty amount and does not collect stamp duty when adjudicating (such as cases involving claims for rented property, claims for accommodation provided without charge, etc.).

5. To be exempted or reduced from enforcement fees, the party must submit a request for exemption or reduction of enforcement fees according to Form 1 attached hereto (accompanied by relevant documents if available), confirmed by one of the following authorities or units: People's Committee of communes, wards, towns, or organizations where the person resides, works, or lives, or confirmed by hospitals or health care agencies at district level or higher (for cases of prolonged illness). The request for exemption or reduction of enforcement fees (accompanied by relevant documents if available) shall be submitted to the fee collection agency. The head of the fee collection agency receiving the application shall examine and issue a decision on exemption or reduction of enforcement fees in accordance with this Circular.

6. In cases where the applicant is not exempted or reduced from enforcement fees, the fee collection agency must notify the party and specify the reasons for not being exempted or reduced from enforcement fees. The time for examining the exemption or reduction of enforcement fees shall not exceed 15 (fifteen) working days from the date of receipt of the application for exemption or reduction of enforcement fees.

Article 6. Implementation Organization

1. This Circular takes effect from November 6, 2010. This Circular replaces Joint Circular No. 68/2008/TTLT-BTC-BTP dated July 21, 2008, guiding the system of collection, payment, management, and use of enforcement fees.

2. Other contents related to the collection, payment, management, use, and public disclosure of the fee and stamp duty system not guided by this Circular shall be implemented in accordance with Circular No. 63/2002/TT-BTC dated July 24, 2002, issued by the Ministry of Finance guiding the implementation of laws on fees and stamp duties; Circular No. 45/2006/TT-BTC dated May 25, 2006, issued by the Ministry of Finance amending and supplementing Circular No. 63/2002/TT-BTC dated July 24, 2002; Circular No. 60/2007/TT-BTC dated June 14, 2007, issued by the Ministry of Finance guiding the implementation of certain provisions of the Law on Tax Administration and guiding the implementation of Decree No. 85/2007/NĐ-CP dated May 25, 2007, of the Government detailing certain provisions of the Law on Tax Administration; and Circular No. 157/2009/TT-BTC dated August 6, 2009, amending and supplementing Circular No. 60/2007/TT-BTC dated June 14, 2007.

3. During the implementation process, if there are any difficulties, please promptly report them to the Ministry of Finance for research and resolution./.