Decision No. 172/2001/QD-TTg On the handling of deferred debt, frozen debt, and tax write-offs and other payments to the state budget for businesses and production and business establishments facing difficulties due to objective reasons.

Pursuant to …;

Regarding the handling of deferred debt, frozen debt, and tax write-offs and other payments to the state budget for enterprises and production and business establishments facing difficulties due to objective reasons

shall pay to the state budget for enterprises,

production and business establishments experiencing difficulties due to objective reasons

________________________

PRIME MINISTER

Pursuant to the Government Organization Law dated September 30, 1992;

Pursuant to the guidance of the Prime Minister in Official Letter No. 5121/VPCP-KTTH dated October 20, 2003 of the Government Office;

Pursuant to Decree No. 50/CP dated August 28, 1996 of the Government on the establishment, restructuring, dissolution, and bankruptcy of state-owned enterprises; and Decree No. 38/CP dated April 28, 1997 of the Government on the establishment, restructuring, dissolution, and bankruptcy of state-owned enterprises;

Pursuant to Decree No. 44/1998/NĐ-CP dated June 29, 1998 of the Government on the conversion of state-owned enterprises into joint-stock companies;

Pursuant to Decree No. 103/1999/NĐ-CP dated September 10, 1999 of the Government on the transfer, sale, lease, and management of state-owned enterprises;

At the proposal of the Minister of Finance and the Director General of the General Department of Customs,

Pursuant to …;:

Article 1. Enterprises and production and business establishments that owe taxes and other payments to the state budget due to objective reasons shall be handled according to the provisions below regarding deferred debt, frozen debt, and tax write-offs and other payments to the state budget:

1. Deferred tax and other payments to the state budget in the following cases:

a) Enterprises that owe taxes and other payments to the state budget but are unable to pay on time due to objective reasons such as changes in tax policy and state budget revenue affecting the results of their business operations; relocation of business premises at the request of competent authorities; damage caused by natural disasters. The maximum period during which enterprises may delay payment of these debts is 12 months from the date of determination of the debt.

b) Enterprises that owe taxes and other payments to the state budget due to not having been provided with capital by the State, shall have their debt deferred until the enterprise receives State-provided capital.

c) Enterprises that still owe taxes and other payments to the state budget from December 31, 1998 or earlier must register a repayment plan with the tax collection agency. The deadline for enterprises to repay all tax debts and other payments to the state budget is no later than December 31, 2002.

Enterprises that have their debt deferred under Clause 1 of this Article must make full tax and other payments to the state budget according to the deferred period.

Enterprises and production and business establishments engaged in import and export that still owe taxes on imported goods must develop a plan to gradually repay the debt, paying off part of the old debt before filing an import declaration and not allowing new import tax arrears.

2. Frozen tax and other payments to the state budget for enterprises that owe taxes and other payments to the state budget but are unable to pay due to losses in business operations and are in a situation requiring dissolution or bankruptcy. When the enterprise dissolves or goes bankrupt, measures and procedures for recovering the debt will be applied according to the laws on dissolution and bankruptcy.

3. Providing investment capital support in the following case:

State-owned enterprises (including those that have been converted to joint-stock companies) with approved investment projects but lacking capital may use taxes and other payments to the state budget up to December 31, 1999 to implement the investment project. If the investment project has been completed and put into operation, the enterprise may be considered for investment capital support from the taxes and other payments to the state budget that the enterprise has used to supplement investment capital.

For taxes and other payments to the state budget from January 1, 2000 onwards that the enterprise has not paid and used for investment, the enterprise must immediately fully repay them to the state budget and will be subject to penalties according to the degree of violation.

4. Write-off of tax and other payments to the state budget for the following cases:

a) State-owned enterprises subject to transfer or sale under Decree No. 103/1999/NĐ-CP dated September 10, 1999 of the Government where the amount owed exceeds the value of the enterprise's assets or the proceeds from selling the enterprise.

b) State-owned enterprises converted to joint-stock companies that still owe taxes and other payments to the state budget, if financial and credit support measures have been applied but the enterprise still faces difficulties and is unable to pay the tax and other payments to the state budget.

c) State-owned enterprises permitted to merge into another state-owned enterprise, if financial and credit support measures have been applied but the receiving enterprise still cannot pay the tax and other payments to the state budget. The maximum amount of tax and other payments to the state budget that can be written off equals the loss of the merged enterprise.

d) State-owned enterprises engaged in business operations that incurred losses and owe taxes and other payments to the state budget prior to 1998 due to changes in policies and mechanisms, damage caused by natural disasters, lack of capital for technological innovation, machinery, and equipment, and difficulties in labor restructuring, if the enterprise does not fall into the category requiring dissolution or bankruptcy and does not qualify for debt write-off under subclauses a, b, and c of Clause 4 of this Article, after applying tax exemptions and reductions according to the law, financial and credit support, and other measures, but the enterprise still incurs losses and is unable to pay the tax and other payments to the state budget. The maximum amount of tax and other payments to the state budget that can be written off equals the loss of the enterprise at the time of debt write-off.

đ) Enterprises engaged in import and export business that are subject to back taxes and fines due to objective reasons such as changes in policy, unclear or incomplete guidance documents affecting the business results of the enterprise. The handling of the write-off of back taxes and fines due to the above reasons will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

e) A household business that owes taxes and other payments to the state budget but where the individual named as the business operator has died and there is no one left in the household to continue operating the business and to recover the debt; a household business that owes taxes and other payments to the state budget but has now moved to another location and it is no longer possible to identify the debtor to recover the debt.

Article 2. Authority to handle tax arrears relief, write-off, and deferral:

1. The Ministry of Finance shall examine and decide on the deferral, write-off, and relief of tax arrears and provide investment capital support for cases specified in Article 1 of this Decision (excluding Clause 4e).

2. The General Department of Customs shall cooperate with the Ministry of Finance to examine and decide on the handling of tax arrears for imported and exported goods according to this Decision.

3. Provincial People's Committees and municipal people's committees under the central government shall examine and decide on the write-off of tax arrears and other payments to the state budget for household businesses within their jurisdiction according to Clause 4e of Article 1 of this Decision.

Article 3. Implementation

1. Subjects who have been granted tax arrears relief pursuant to Directive No. 790/TTg dated October 26, 1996 of the Prime Minister and related implementing guidelines, which still owe the state budget, shall be specifically identified and handled according to the provisions of this Decision. 2. The provisions regarding tax arrears relief, deferral, and write-off at this Decision shall not apply to the following cases:

a) Enterprises and production and business establishments subject to tax arrears relief and other payments to the state budget as stipulated in Article 1 of this Decision but are currently violating laws or have not yet received conclusions from competent authorities.

b) Enterprises that are being considered for handling of tax arrears and other payments to the state budget according to Decisions No. 95/1998/QĐ-TTg dated May 18, 1998 and No. 05/2000/QĐ-TTg dated January 5, 2000 of the Prime Minister on settling accounts receivable and payable are not eligible for tax arrears relief, deferral, and write-off as provided in this Decision.

3. The Ministry of Finance, the General Department of Customs, and provincial and municipal people's committees under the central government shall be responsible for verifying and identifying debtors of tax arrears and other payments to the state budget to handle them according to their authority as prescribed in this Decision.4. No late payment penalties shall be applied to tax arrears and other payments to the state budget during the period of deferral, relief, and write-off.

5. The Minister of Finance, the Director-General of the General Department of Customs, and the Chairpersons of provincial and municipal people's committees under the central government shall be accountable to the Prime Minister for the implementation of this Decision.

The Minister of Finance must compile and report to the Prime Minister the results of tax arrears relief, deferral, and write-off according to this Decision.

5. The Minister of Finance, the General Director of the General Department of Customs, the Chairpersons of the People's Committees of provinces and centrally governed cities are responsible before the Prime Minister for implementing this Decision accurately.

The Minister of Finance shall compile and report to the Prime Minister the results of handling deferred tax payments, tax write-offs, tax cancellations, and other amounts payable to the state budget as stipulated in this Decision.

Article 4. THIS DECISION SHALL TAKE EFFECT 15 DAYS AFTER THE DATE OF SIGNATURE.

The Minister of Finance shall be responsible for guiding the implementation of this Decision.

The Ministers, Heads of ministerial-level agencies, Heads of government agencies, and Chairpersons of provincial People's Committees and municipal People's Committees directly under the Central Government are responsible for enforcing this Decision./.