Joint Circular No. 30-TC/LB Regarding the Transfer of the Alcohol Industry from the Ministry of Finance to the Ministry of Internal Trade

CIRCULAR

Regarding the transfer of the alcohol industry from the Ministry of Finance to the Ministry of Commerce

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Respectfully submitted to: Administrative committees of provinces and cities

Based on Decision No. 261-TTg dated July 6, 1959 of the Prime Minister, the Joint Ministry of Finance and Commerce hereby provides detailed regulations for the transfer as follows:

1. The work of unified management of alcohol business previously handled by local financial alcohol agencies shall be transferred to local commerce alcohol agencies.

2. The work of collecting alcohol taxes previously handled by local financial alcohol agencies shall be transferred to local tax agencies under the Ministry of Finance.

I. PRINCIPLES OF TRANSFER

1. The administrative committees of cities and provinces shall be responsible for overseeing the transfer.

2. The transfer shall be carried out based on:

a) The task of collecting taxes on goods subject to alcohol duties by private individuals for their own consumption shall remain with the tax agency, while the task of withholding taxes on goods subject to alcohol duties by private individuals or production groups purchased by the state shall remain with the alcohol agency. The task of implementing the policy of unified management of alcohol business and organizing alcohol business shall also remain with the alcohol agency.

b) Except for the alcohol tax office at the county level which will be merged into the county finance office, the alcohol agency will continue to operate according to its previous organizational structure from the Central Alcohol Office under the Ministry of Commerce down to city, provincial branch and sub-branch alcohol offices, and stores in cities, towns, and market towns.

3. After the transfer, the branch, sub-branch alcohol offices, and alcohol stores will continue to operate with their previous responsibilities (excluding the part of collecting taxes on alcohol produced and consumed by private individuals, which has been transferred to the tax agency) until further notice from the Ministry of Commerce.

II. SPECIFIC CONTENT OF THE TRANSFER

1. For areas where both state-run business and private alcohol taxation exist:

a) The sub-branch alcohol office will transfer the tax portion to the Provincial Finance Department or the Sub-branch Tax Office (if the Sub-branch Tax Office is outside the Provincial Finance Department). The content of the transfer includes:

- The task of collecting taxes including granting permission to produce, managing tax collection from producers, combating tax evasion, handling cases of tax violations related to alcohol, accounting for collected taxes, and statistics on tax sources. The issue of pre-tax valuation is now transferred from the Central Alcohol Office to the Central Tax Office.

- The scope of tax collection includes self-produced and self-consumed areas: village name, number of households producing, quantity produced, and taxable value.

- The situation of tax collection for the first six months of the year and the plan for tax collection for the last six months of the year.

- The situation of production facilities, the situation of illegal activities, and handling of violation cases.

- All relevant files, documents, and accounting records related to the tax portion.

- In terms of organization, the alcohol tax office at the county level will be merged into the county finance office. Alcohol staff will continue to collect alcohol taxes in counties where both state-run alcohol business and private alcohol taxation exist. One staff member will be transferred to the alcohol store to handle anti-smuggling and market management tasks.

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- Staff managing the sub-branch alcohol office will not be transferred to the Provincial Finance Department or the Sub-branch Tax Office. If needed, they can be supplemented to the business department, accounting department, or store. If there is excess staff, the Ministry of Commerce will decide later.

- Assets such as furniture, desks, typewriters, bicycles, etc., and bonus funds will not be transferred. The premises of the alcohol tax office at the county level, after dissolution, will be handed over to the alcohol agency for management if there is state-run alcohol business.

- After the transfer, the tax agency and the alcohol agency need to cooperate closely on the principle that taxes serve monopoly in the following tasks: defining state-owned alcohol zones, defining unified purchase zones, transferring businesses for producers, making tax collection plans and business plans, combating illegal alcohol, and handling violation cases.

b) Regarding the task of unified management of business operations, the sub-branch will prepare a comprehensive report on all tasks including:

- Responsibilities (excluding the part of collecting taxes on self-produced and self-consumed alcohol, which has been transferred to the tax agency). Note that the alcohol agency will continue to manage and combat smuggling in the state-owned market (state-owned alcohol zone and unified purchase zone).

- Organization and staffing of the sub-branch and store.

- Capital and assets of the sub-branch and store.

- Relevant business-related documents, files, and accounting records (note to close accounting books on July 31).

- Issues requiring continued resolution for the provincial or city administrative committee to use as a basis for assessing the situation and formulating solutions to outstanding issues and assigning tasks to new organizations.

2. For areas where business operations have been fully unified, such as Hanoi, Haiphong, Phutho, Kienan, and Ha Nam, the previous responsibilities and organizational structures will be maintained, and a review will be conducted as described above in point b.

III. PROCEDURE AND TIMEFRAME FOR TRANSFER

The transfer will be carried out under the direction of the provincial administrative committee. The transfer record will be made in seven copies, signed by the administrative committee of the city or province, the branch or sub-branch alcohol office, and the Provincial Finance Department or Sub-branch Tax Office.

1 copy to be kept by the administrative committee

1 copy to be kept by the sub-branch alcohol office

1 copy to be kept by the Provincial Finance Department or Sub-branch Tax Office

1 copy to be sent to the Ministry of Finance (Office)

1 copy to be kept by the Ministry of Commerce (Central Alcohol Office)

1 copy to be kept by the Branch of the National Bank.

Transfer time: By July 31, 1959, the transfer will be completed so that starting August 1, the alcohol agency will operate under the Ministry of Commerce. From August 1, the salaries of staff, regardless of whether they are administrative or business staff, will be covered by the business fund.