Circular No. 30/2015/TT-BTC guiding the preparation of budgets, payment, and settlement of business support funds under Decree No. 210/2013/NĐ-CP dated December 19, 2013 of the Government on policies encouraging businesses to invest in agriculture and rural areas.

CIRCULAR

Guidelines for preparing budgets, making payments, and finalizing accounts for business support funds

pursuant to Decree No. 210/2013/ND-CP dated December 19, 2013 of the Government on policies encouraging businesses to invest in agriculture and rural areas

Businesses investing in agriculture and rural areas

______________________

Pursuant to the Law on Land 2013;

Pursuant to Decree No. 215/2013/NĐ-CP dated December 23, 2013, promulgated by the Government stipulating the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Finance;

Pursuant to Decree No. 210/2013/ND-CP dated December 19, 2013 of the Government on policies encouraging businesses to invest in agriculture and rural areas;

Pursuant to Decree No. 46/2014/ND-CP dated May 15, 2014 of the Government on land rent and water surface rent.

At the proposal of the Director of the Enterprise Finance Department,

The Minister of Finance issues this Circular guiding the preparation of budgets, making payments, and finalizing accounts for business support funds according to Decree No. 210/2013/ND-CP dated December 19, 2013 of the Government on policies encouraging businesses to invest in agriculture and rural areas:

PART I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope of Regulation

This Circular guides the preparation of budgets, making payments, and finalizing accounts for business support funds according to Decree No. 210/2013/ND-CP dated December 19, 2013 of the Government on policies encouraging businesses to invest in agriculture and rural areas (hereinafter referred to as Decree No. 210/2013/ND-CP).

Article 2. Applicability

1. Investors who are Enterprises established and registered for operation under the Law on Enterprises shall be entitled to incentives and investment support as prescribed in Decree No. 210/2013/ND-CP.

2. Relevant agencies, organizations, and individuals involved in implementing policies to encourage businesses to invest in agriculture and rural areas.

Article 3. Principles for paying state budget funds to support enterprises

1. Investors shall be paid support funds from the state budget when they have complete documentation as stipulated and bear responsibility for the accuracy and honesty of the contents provided in their documentation. Support funds within the annual state budget allocation shall be disbursed.

2. The state budget will provide post-investment support when project components or tender packages are completed, with 70% of the support amount being temporarily advanced and paid out; after the entire project is completed and accepted, the remaining 30% will be paid out.

3. In cases where a project has only one component eligible for support, the state budget will make a single payment upon completion of the investment.

4. For training and market development support, up to 70% of the support amount can be temporarily advanced immediately after the enterprise signs a contract and transfers funds to the executing party; the remaining 30% will be paid out or the advance payment recovered (if applicable) upon acceptance.

5. If an investor's project qualifies for multiple levels of investment incentives and support under different legal documents at the same time, the investor may choose to apply the most favorable level.

Chapter II

SPECIFIC PROVISIONS

Section 1

LAND INCENTIVES

Article 4. Exemption and reduction of land and water surface rents

1. Investors with projects investing in agriculture and rural areas shall be exempted or reduced from land and water surface rents according to specific cases as stipulated in Articles 6 and 8 of Decree No. 210/2013/ND-CP of the Government.

2. Provisions on land incentives, procedures, and authorities for deciding exemptions and reductions of land and water surface rents shall be implemented in accordance with Circular No. 77/2014/TT-BTC dated June 16, 2014 of the Ministry of Finance guiding certain provisions of Decree No. 46/2014/ND-CP dated May 15, 2014 of the Government on land and water surface rents.

3. Exemptions and reductions of land and water surface rents shall be directly applied to the entities renting land from the state based on the rent payable.

4. Investors shall only benefit from exemptions and reductions of land and water surface rents after completing the necessary procedures for such exemptions and reductions as prescribed.

5. In cases where investors are both eligible for exemption and reduction of land and water surface rents, after benefiting from the exemption, they may continue to enjoy the reduction for subsequent rental periods (if any); if there are multiple levels of reduction, the highest level shall apply.

6. In cases where the entity renting land from the state pays the full rent for the entire period and is fully exempted from land rent but wishes to pay land use fees during the rental period, they shall fulfill their financial obligations regarding land and have rights and responsibilities as if they were not exempted from land rent.

7. In cases where the competent authority permits the change of land use purpose for implementing investment projects in agriculture and rural areas and requires the conversion to land lease as stipulated in the Land Law 2013, the amount of land rent exempted or reduced shall be similar to that prescribed in Article 6 of Decree No. 210/2013/ND-CP.

8. Entities eligible for exemption and reduction of land rent as stipulated in Article 6 of Decree No. 61/2010/ND-CP and Article 6 of Decree No. 210/2013/ND-CP, which have yet to complete the procedures for exemption and reduction of land rent, shall continue to enjoy the benefits of exemption and reduction for the remaining period of eligibility.

9. The area of land for building collective housing for workers, greenery planting land, and land for public welfare services, as determined to be exempt from land rent according to Clause 5 of Article 6 of Decree No. 210/2013/ND-CP, is the area approved by the provincial People's Committee for each project. When leasing housing to workers, the investor shall not include the exempted land rent cost in the rental price.

10. Investors with projects meeting the conditions stipulated in Article 3 of Decree No. 210/2013/ND-CP, which were initiated before the effective date of this Decree and had not yet benefited from land and water surface rent incentives under Decree No. 61/2010/ND-CP, shall have their land and water surface rent incentives handled as follows:

a) In cases where the investor has been granted land and water surface leases by the state, and the tax authority has calculated and notified the collection of land and water surface rents, and the investor has paid the rents into the state budget according to the land incentive regulations prior to the effective date of Decree No. 210/2013/ND-CP, such regulations shall continue to be followed.

b) In the case where the Investor is leased land or water surface by the State but as of the effective date of Decree No. 210/2013/ND-CP has not been calculated and notified by the tax authority to pay for the lease of land or water surface, the Investor shall enjoy the remaining period of land investment incentives as prescribed in Chapter II of Decree No. 210/2013/ND-CP and shall be determined according to the guidance provided in this Circular.

c) In the case where the Investor is leased land or water surface annually to implement a project and enjoys higher exemptions or reductions on the lease of land or water surface compared to the provisions of Decree No. 210/2013/ND-CP, they shall continue to enjoy such incentives for the remaining period; if the level of incentives is lower than that stipulated in Decree No. 210/2013/ND-CP, they shall enjoy the incentives as prescribed in this Decree for the remaining period of incentives. The State will not refund any amounts paid by the Investor for implementing the project prior to that time.

Article 5. Payment of state budget support for land and water surface rental fees for households and individuals

1. Investors with particularly preferential investment projects in agriculture shall be supported by the state budget for land and water surface rental fees according to the provisions of Clause 1, Article 7 of Decree No. 210/2013/ND-CP.

a) Level of state budget support: Investors with particularly preferential investment projects in agriculture leasing land or water surface from households or individuals to implement investment projects shall be supported by the state budget with 20% of the rental fee for land or water surface for the first five years from the completion of basic construction.

b) Rental price of land or water surface for calculating support: The price of land for payment of support from the state budget is the lowest price of the corresponding type of land in the land price table established by the People's Committee of the province or centrally administered city at the time of signing the land lease contract.

2. Documents for requesting support for land and water surface rental fees include:

a) Letter requesting support for land and water surface rental fees (Annex No. 01);

b) Decision on preferential and support investment for enterprises investing in agriculture and rural areas approved by the provincial People's Committee (Copy);

c) Land or water surface lease contract between the investor and households or individuals to implement the mentioned investment project - certified by the People's Committee of the commune where the lease contract was signed (Certified copy);

d) Certificate of enterprise registration consistent with the approved project (Copy);

đ) Completion certificate of the quantity of construction works for basic investment completed and put into use (Original);

Section 2

SUPPORT FOR TRAINING OF HUMAN RESOURCES, MARKET DEVELOPMENT AND APPLICATION OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

Article 6. Payment of expenses for supporting training of human resources

1. Investors with projects investing in agriculture and rural areas shall be supported by the state budget for expenses on training human resources according to the provisions of point a, Clause 1 and Clause 2, Article 9 of Decree No. 210/2013/ND-CP of the Government.

2. Documents for requesting advance payment include:

a) Letter requesting advance payment for preferential and support investment (Annex No. 01);

b) Decision on preferential and support investment for enterprises investing in agriculture and rural areas approved by the provincial People's Committee (Copy);

c) Training contract between the enterprise and the training institution (Certified copy);

d) Payment voucher (Copy of payment voucher for part or full value of the training contract);

3. Documents for payment of support expenses include:

a) Letter requesting support for training human resources expenses (Annex No. 01);

b) Enterprise registration certificate (Copy);

c) Decision on preferential and support investment for enterprises investing in agriculture and rural areas approved by the provincial People's Committee (Copy);

d) Contract signed with the training institution; Contract termination record; Bank transfer receipt. In cases of on-the-job training, a specific list of names, addresses, ID card numbers, and signatures of workers being trained must be included (Copy);

đ) For cases where investors recruit long-term employees who have not undergone vocational training and are living in special-use forests for training and using them to protect special-use forests, enterprises shall be directly supported with 3 million VND per person for three months of training. Payment documents for support expenses shall comply with points a, b, c, and d of this Article and certified copies of employment contracts and permanent residence certificates matching the address of the special-use forest.

Article 7. Payment of expenses for market development support

1. Investors with projects invested in agriculture and rural areas shall be supported with expenses for market development in accordance with point b, Clause 1 and Clause 2, Article 9 of Decree No. 210/2013/ND-CP of the Government and must comply with the provisions at point 2.21, Clause 2, Article 6 of Circular No. 78/2014/TT-BTC dated June 18, 2014 of the Ministry of Finance guiding the implementation of Decree No. 218/2013/NĐ-CP dated December 26, 2013 of the Government on the Corporate Income Tax Law and its guidance.

2. Documents for requesting advance payment include:

a) Letter requesting advance payment for preferential and support investment (Annex No. 01);

b) Decision on preferential and support investment for enterprises investing in agriculture and rural areas approved by the provincial People's Committee (Copy);

c) Service development market contract between enterprises and service providers (Certified copy);

d) Payment vouchers (Certified copy of payment vouchers for part or full value of the service development market contract);

3. Documents for payment of support expenses include:

a) Letter requesting support for advertising costs for enterprises and products on mass media; expenses for participating in domestic exhibitions; market information access fees and service fees from state trade promotion agencies (Annex No. 01);

b) Enterprise registration certificate (Copy);

c) Decision on investment incentives and support for enterprises investing in agriculture and rural areas approved by the People's Committee of the province (Certified copy);

d) Contract signed between enterprises and service providers for market development services (including advertising, exhibition participation, market information access, and trade promotion services); Acceptance certificate and contract termination record (Certified copies of vouchers, invoices, and transfer receipts from investors to service providers for market development);

Article 8. Payment of expenses for science and technology application support

1. Payment of expenses for science and technology application support shall be carried out according to specific regulations of the National Science and Technology Development Fund, the National Innovation Fund, and the Science and Technology Development Funds of ministries, sectors, and localities. Depending on the nature and scale of the project, enterprises shall register and proceed with procedures to request support and can only have one of the aforementioned funds implement the payment.

2. Management agencies of the National Science and Technology Development Fund, the National Innovation Fund, and the Science and Technology Development Funds of ministries, sectors, and localities shall carry out payment procedures, while the Department of Finance shall guide and supervise these support payments.

3. For projects under the responsibility of the Science and Technology Development Funds of ministries and localities that have not yet been established, the local budget shall ensure funding and payment. Projects may temporarily advance up to 70% of the support expenses, and the remaining amount will be paid upon completion of the project.

3.1. The application for temporary advance includes:

a) Letter requesting support for science and technology application (Annex No. 01);

b) Decision on preferential and support investment for enterprises investing in agriculture and rural areas approved by the provincial People's Committee (Copy);

c) Contract signed between enterprises and scientific research and technology units (Certified copy);

d) Payment vouchers (Certified copy of payment vouchers for part or full value of the contract with scientific research units);

3.2. The settlement documents include:

a) Letter requesting support for science and technology application (Annex No. 01);

b) Enterprise registration certificate (Copy);

c) Decision on investment incentives and support for enterprises investing in agriculture and rural areas approved by the People's Committee of the province (Certified copy);

d) Contract signed between enterprises and scientific research and technology units; Acceptance certificate and contract termination record (Certified copies of vouchers, invoices, and transfer receipts from investors to service providers for scientific research and technology services);

Section 3

FINANCIAL SUPPORT FOR BUSINESS FACILITY CONSTRUCTION ITEMS AND OTHER SUPPORT

Article 9. Payment for construction project support

1. Investors with projects invested in agriculture and rural areas that fall under the category eligible to receive budgetary support from the State as stipulated in Articles 10 to 16 of Decree No. 210/2013/ND-CP and have been assigned capital plans by the provincial People's Committee.

2. Documents for advance payment of support funds:

a) The enterprise's letter requesting advance payment (Annex 01);

b) Decision on preferential and support investment for enterprises investing in agriculture and rural areas approved by the provincial People's Committee (Copy);

c) The completion acceptance record of construction items and contracts according to regulations (Original).

3. Documents for payment of support funds:

a) The enterprise's letter requesting support (Annex 01);

b) The investment incentive decision approved by the provincial People's Committee for enterprises investing in agriculture and rural areas (Copy);

c) The completion acceptance record of the project according to regulations (Original).

Article 10. Payment for transportation cost support

1. Investors with projects invested in agriculture and rural areas that fall under the category eligible to receive transportation cost support for products as stipulated in Point b Clause 1 Article 15 and Point c Clause 1 Article 16 of Decree No. 210/2013/ND-CP.

After completing the factory, at least 70% of the total support fund will be paid; transportation costs for products as stipulated in Point c Clause 1 Article 16 of Decree No. 210/2013/ND-CP will be paid once after the factory is completed.

Transportation costs for products as stipulated in Point b Clause 1 Article 15 of Decree No. 210/2013/ND-CP will be paid in three installments.

2. Documents for payment of the first installment of support funds:

a) The enterprise's letter requesting advance payment (Annex 01);

b) The investment incentive decision approved by the provincial People's Committee for enterprises investing in agriculture and rural areas (Copy);

c) The product transportation contract (Original);

d) The completion acceptance record of the factory according to regulations (Original).

3. Documents for payment of the second installment of support funds:

a) The enterprise's letter requesting payment (Annex 01);

b) The completion acceptance record of the volume of transportation up to the second payment date (Original).

4. Documents for payment of the third installment of support funds:

a) The enterprise's letter requesting payment (Annex 01);

c) The transportation contract (Copy);

d) The settlement record of the product transportation contract (Copy).

Section 4

ESTABLISHING THE BUDGET FOR STATE SUPPORT FUNDS

Article 11. Budget for Support Funds

1. Annually, when preparing the budget revenue and expenditure plan. Based on the development policies and socio-economic plans on the local area, production, business, and investment plans of enterprises, enterprises with state-funded support projects shall prepare plans and submit them to the Provincial Department of Planning and Investment, while also submitting to the Provincial Department of Finance. The Provincial Department of Planning and Investment shall take the lead and coordinate with the Provincial Department of Finance to compile the support fund plans of enterprises and report to the provincial People's Committee, or the municipal People's Committee directly under the central government.

2. The provincial People's Committee, or the municipal People's Committee directly under the central government, shall compile and submit the local plans to the Ministry of Planning and Investment and the Ministry of Finance for consolidation and review before reporting to the competent authority for decision-making.

3. The content of the budget proposal requested by the provincial People's Committee, or the municipal People's Committee directly under the central government, includes the name of the enterprise, the name of the project, the implementation period of the project, the amount of support requested, detailing the sources of integrated program and project funds, central government budget funds, local government budget funds, and providing a detailed budget estimate and consolidated budget estimate according to Annex 02 attached.

4. Allocation of the budget: Based on the budget funds approved by the National Assembly and the Prime Minister's Decision allocating the budget, the Ministry of Planning and Investment shall notify the support fund amounts to the localities.

Article 12. Sources of funding

1. The sources of funding for investment development expenses from the State budget to support enterprises investing in agriculture and rural areas according to Decree No. 210/2013/ND-CP include the central budget's targeted support funds for local budgets; funding guaranteed by local budgets; and integrated capital from programs and projects.

2. The funding for supporting the application of science and technology as stipulated at point c, Clause 1, Article 9 of Decree No. 210/2013/ND-CP shall be supported from the National Science and Technology Development Fund, the National Technology Innovation Fund, and the Science and Technology Development Funds of ministries, provinces, and centrally governed cities.

In cases where the Science and Technology Development Funds of ministries, provinces, and centrally governed cities have not yet been established, the local budget shall ensure the funding.

Section 5

PAYMENT AND SETTLEMENT OF SUPPORT FUNDS

Article 13. Payment of support funds

1. Enterprises with investment projects eligible for support under Decree No. 210/2013/ND-CP shall submit one (01) set of documents directly (or via postal service) to the Department of Finance. Within fifteen working days from the date of receipt of complete and valid documents (as evidenced by the receipt stamp), the Department of Finance shall review the documents and coordinate with the State Treasury to disburse the support funds to the beneficiaries.

2. The Department of Finance, based on the approved budget estimate, shall control the documentation and vouchers for each expenditure item, ensuring compliance with the conditions for budget payment and disbursement; issue orders to deposit funds with the State Treasury for disbursement to enterprises.

Article 14. Settlement of support funds

1. The settlement of support funds shall be carried out in accordance with the provisions of the State Budget Law and related guiding documents.

2. Any remaining funds (if any) must be returned to the State budget; if there is a need to use them, a report must be submitted to the Ministry of Finance for consideration and handling in accordance with regulations.

Chapter III

IMPLEMENTATION

Article 15. Implementation Organization

1. The People's Committee of the province shall be responsible for directing the Department of Finance and relevant specialized agencies to supervise the implementation of projects within the province, inspect the management and use of support funds in accordance with the law.

In cases where improper support payments are discovered, a record shall be made, a decision to recover the funds shall be issued, and appropriate measures shall be taken in accordance with current regulations.

2. Annually, the People's Committee of the province shall report on the implementation of support funds under Decree No. 210/2013/ND-CP to the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Planning and Investment, and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development for consolidation and reporting to the Government no later than March 31.

Article 16. Effective Date

1. This Circular takes effect from April 27, 2015, and replaces Circular No. 84/2011/TT-BTC dated June 16, 2011, issued by the Ministry of Finance guiding certain financial policies encouraging enterprises to invest in agriculture and rural areas under Decree No. 61/2010/ND-CP dated June 4, 2010, of the Government on policies encouraging enterprises to invest in agriculture and rural areas.

2. During the implementation process, if difficulties arise, the relevant ministries, sectors, provincial People's Committees, centrally governed city People's Committees, and enterprises are advised to report to the Ministry of Finance for study and appropriate amendments and supplements./.