Circular No. 16/2020/TT-BTC on reporting regimes within the scope of management under the Ministry of Finance

CIRCULAR

Regulations on Reporting within the Scope of State Management of the Ministry of Finance

Pursuant to Decree No. 87/2017/NĐ-CP dated July 26, 2017 of the Government stipulating the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Finance;

Pursuant to Decree No. 09/2019/NĐ-CP dated January 24, 2019 of the Government stipulating the reporting regime of administrative state agencies;

At the proposal of the Department of Planning and Finance under the Ministry of Finance;

The Minister of Finance issues this Circular stipulating the reporting regime within the scope of state management of the Ministry of Finance.

PART I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope of Regulation

1. This Circular stipulates general principles for implementing regular, ad hoc, and special topic reporting regimes within the scope of state management of the Ministry of Finance; the application of information technology in the implementation of reporting.

2. This Circular does not regulate:

a) Statistical reporting regimes of the Ministry of Finance as prescribed by laws on statistics;

b) Confidential reporting regimes as prescribed by laws on state secrets;

c) Reporting regimes within the finance sector.

Article 2. Applicability

Units under the Ministry of Finance, administrative state agencies, organizations, and individuals related to the implementation of reporting regimes within the scope regulated by this Circular.

3. Ad hoc reports are reports providing information on unusual issues arising in the fields of inspection, citizen reception, complaint resolution, denunciation handling, and anti-corruption, anti-extortion, conducted upon request from higher authorities or the Inspectorate General.

1. Regular report is a report issued to meet information requirements, summarization, carried out according to a defined cycle and repeated multiple times.

2. Special topic report is a report issued to meet specialized information requirements about a specific subject and implemented within a certain period.

3. Ad hoc report is a report issued to meet information requirements about unusual issues.

Article 4. Requirements for reports

1. Ensuring common requirements for issuing reporting regimes as stipulated in Article 8 of Decree No. 09/2019/NĐ-CP dated January 24, 2019 of the Government on the reporting regime of administrative state agencies (hereinafter referred to as Decree No. 09/2019/NĐ-CP).

2. The signing of reports must be in accordance with authority, suitable to the functions and tasks of the agency implementing the report.

PART II

REGULATIONS ON THE ISSUANCE OF REPORTING REGIMES

Article 5. Principles for Issuing Reporting Regimes

1. Complying with the principles stipulated in Article 5 of Decree No. 09/2019/NĐ-CP.

2. Ensuring requirements for administrative reform, necessary for management activities, not overlapping with other reporting regimes, minimizing frequency and content requirements of reports to save time, costs, and human resources in implementing reporting regimes.

3. For each regular reporting regime, in each month, agencies, organizations, and individuals only need to implement one of the following reports: monthly, quarterly, semi-annual, nine-monthly, or annual report. It is not allowed to require agencies, organizations, and individuals to send the same report multiple times to different units under the Ministry of Finance.

Article 6. Content of Reporting Regimes

1. Regular reporting regimes within the scope of management of the Ministry of Finance must include at least the components specified in Clauses 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 of Article 7 of Decree No. 09/2019/NĐ-CP, except where otherwise provided in legislative documents of the National Assembly, Standing Committee of the National Assembly, Government, Prime Minister, and must specify the receiving unit within the organizational structure of the Ministry of Finance.

2. Ad hoc reporting regimes within the scope of management of the Ministry of Finance must include at least the components specified in Clauses 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 of Article 7 of Decree No. 09/2019/NĐ-CP, except where otherwise provided in legislative documents of the National Assembly, Standing Committee of the National Assembly, Government, Prime Minister, and must specify the receiving unit within the organizational structure of the Ministry of Finance.

3. Special topic reporting regimes within the scope of management of the Ministry of Finance must include at least the components specified in Clauses 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 9 of Article 7 of Decree No. 09/2019/NĐ-CP, except where otherwise provided in legislative documents of the National Assembly, Standing Committee of the National Assembly, Government, Prime Minister, and must specify the receiving unit within the organizational structure of the Ministry of Finance.

Article 7. Time for finalizing report data

1. Monthly periodic reports: From the 15th day of the month prior to the reporting period to the 14th day of the month within the reporting period.

2. Quarterly periodic reports: From the 15th day of the month prior to the reporting period to the 14th day of the last month of the quarter within the reporting period.

3. Six-month periodic reports: The time for finalizing six-month data in the first half of the year is from December 15 of the previous year to June 14 of the reporting period. The time for finalizing six-month data in the second half of the year is from June 15 to December 14 of the reporting period.

4. Annual periodic reports: From the 15th day of December of the previous year to the 14th day of December of the reporting period.

5. For other periodic reports: The time for finalizing report data is specified in the document issued by the competent state agency establishing the reporting system, but must comply with the provisions of Articles 5, 6, 7, 8, and 11 of Decree No. 09/2019/NĐ-CP.

Article 8. Reporting Time

1. Periodic reports: The deadline is set below to ensure that agencies, organizations, and individuals have sufficient time to compile information from the date of finalizing report data according to Article 6, while ensuring the Ministry of Finance has sufficient time to compile information and timely submit periodic reports to the Government and Prime Minister no later than the 25th day of the last month of the reporting period, except where otherwise provided by law.

a) For monthly periodic reports: No later than the 18th day of the reporting month.

b) For quarterly periodic reports: No later than the 18th day of the last month of the quarter within the reporting period.

c) For six-monthly periodic reports: No later than the 18th day of the last month of the reporting period.

d) For annual periodic reports: No later than the 18th day of December of the reporting period.

d) For other periodic reports: Based on actual circumstances and work requirements, reports should be submitted at appropriate times to ensure effectiveness and meet the requirements of the reported content.

2. Special topic reports: As per the request for reporting.

3. Ad hoc reports: As per the request for reporting or based on actual circumstances and work requirements, proactively submitting reports.

4. In case the last day of the reporting deadline coincides with a public holiday, Tet holiday, or weekend, the submission date of the report will be the next working day following the holiday or weekend.

Article 9. Forms of Reports, Methods of Sending and Receiving Reports

1. Reporting forms

a) Electronic report (Electronic report) refers to reports bearing the digital signature of the authorized person, uploaded by units under the Ministry of Finance and competent administrative state agencies onto the Ministry of Finance's Reporting Information System, aimed at facilitating information sharing and seamless integration with the Government's Reporting Information System.

b) In cases where digital signatures are not used or due to work requirements or technical issues, unexpected events, or force majeure, paper reports signed and stamped by the authorized person according to regulations may be used.

2. Methods of submission and receipt of reports

a) Electronic document reports shall be sent to the receiving entity through email systems or specialized reporting information software.

b) Paper reports are sent to the receiving entity through direct delivery or postal service, fax; they can also be simultaneously sent electronically via email systems or on CDs.

Article 10. Application of Information Technology in Implementing the Reporting System

1. Units under the Ministry of Finance are responsible for applying information technology in implementing the reporting system, building a Reporting Information System to facilitate electronic reporting, creating favorable conditions for the compilation and sharing of report information, and saving time and costs for reporting entities.

2. The legal validity of electronic reports and the use of digital signatures shall be implemented in accordance with current laws on the application of information technology in the activities of state agencies.

Article 11. Reporting Information System

1. The Ministry of Finance's Reporting Information System is built to meet the general requirements stipulated in Article 17 of Decree No. 09/2019/NĐ-CP.

2. The Ministry of Finance's Reporting Information System is established based on the periodic reporting regime within its administrative management scope as prescribed in this Circular; it ensures functions such as creating indicators and reports according to templates on the system; ensuring the allocation of indicators and report templates from the Ministry of Finance to other ministries, agencies, localities, organizations, and individuals; compiling report data; integrating, sharing, and providing report data; allowing ministries, agencies, local units, and organizations and individuals to use it to update and share reports as required and serve reporting to relevant authorities and persons with authority.

Chapter III

IMPLEMENTATION

Article 12. Responsibilities of units under the Ministry of Finance

1. Units responsible for drafting normative legal documents stipulating regular reporting systems must comply with the provisions of the Law on Enacting Normative Legal Documents. At the same time, they shall seek the opinions of the Ministry of Finance's Office regarding the regular reporting system in draft documents and obtain the opinions of the Department of Information Technology and Financial Statistics on contents related to the electronicization of the reporting system.

2. Within ten working days from the date on which the Circular or other document issued by the Ministry of Finance to the Government or the Prime Minister takes effect, the unit responsible for drafting shall have the responsibility to submit to the Minister of Finance (after soliciting the opinions of the Ministry's Office) a decision to announce the regular reporting system.

The content of the decision to announce is specified in the Appendix attached to this Circular, including: Name of report, entities required to submit reports, agencies receiving reports, frequency of submission, and documents stipulating the reporting system.

3. Units under the Ministry of Finance are responsible for providing complete and accurate data to serve the Ministry of Finance's Reporting Information System.

4. The Ministry of Finance's Reporting Information System serves as the point of connection with the Government's Reporting Information System within the National Reporting Information System.

Article 13. Responsibilities of the Department of Information Technology and Financial Statistics

1. It is the focal point for organizing the construction and operation of the Ministry of Finance's Reporting Information System according to the guidance of the Government Office and the Ministry of Information and Communications; guiding and organizing training for entities required to submit reports.

2. Determining the level of information security assurance and implementing security measures for the information system at that level for the Ministry of Finance's Reporting Information Systems. Establishing monitoring systems, preventing attacks, preventing data loss, and preventing viruses to ensure the safety and security of the system.

Article 14. Responsibilities of the Ministry's Office

1. Advising the Ministry's leadership on managing, storing, and sharing reporting information in areas under the Ministry of Finance's jurisdiction and issuing such information.

2. Monitoring, inspecting, and urging the implementation of reporting systems to support the Ministry's leadership in directing and managing.

3. Participating in reviewing draft normative legal documents of the Ministry of Finance that stipulate regular reporting systems to ensure compliance with the provisions of this Circular; controlling the content of the announcement of regular reporting systems before units submit them to the Ministry's leadership.

4. Serving as the focal point for consolidating, evaluating, and reporting to the Ministry's leadership on the implementation of regular reporting systems within the Ministry's authority; reviewing to propose amendments and supplements to the regulations on regular reporting systems to meet management requirements.

5. Guiding, monitoring, urging, and inspecting the implementation of this Circular.

Article 15. Implementation Organization

1. This Circular takes effect from May 29, 2020.

2. The Director of the Ministry's Office, Heads of units under the Ministry of Finance, relevant agencies, organizations, and individuals are responsible for implementing this Circular.

3. During the implementation process, if there are any difficulties, agencies, organizations, and individuals are requested to promptly reflect these issues to the Ministry of Finance for appropriate amendments and supplements.