Circular No. 32/2023/TT-BTC guides the use of regular budget expenditure funds, including funding from organizations and individuals, for planning, reviewing, deciding, or approving the announcement and adjustment of plans.

CIRCULAR
Guidelines for the use of regular budget expenditure funds, including funding from organizations and individuals, to establish, review, decide, or approve the announcement, adjustment of planning

Pursuant to the State Budget Law dated June 25, 2015;

Pursuant to the Planning Law dated November 24, 2017;

Based on the Law on Enactment of Legislative Acts dated June 22, 2015;

Pursuant to Resolution No. 61/2022/QH15 dated June 16, 2022 of the National Assembly on further strengthening the effectiveness and efficiency of policy and legal implementation regarding planning and some solutions to remove difficulties, obstacles, accelerate the progress of establishment and improve the quality of planning during the period of 2021-2030 (hereinafter referred to as Resolution No. 61/2022/QH15);

Pursuant to Decree No. 163/2016/NĐ-CP dated December 21, 2016, issued by the Government, detailing the implementation of certain provisions of the State Budget Law;

Pursuant to Decree No. 14/2023/NĐ-CP dated April 20, 2023, issued by the Government, stipulating the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Finance;

Implementing Resolution No. 108/NQ-CP dated August 26, 2022 of the Government implementing Resolution No. 61/2022/QH15 dated June 16, 2022 of the National Assembly on further strengthening the effectiveness and efficiency of policy and legal implementation regarding planning and some solutions to remove difficulties, obstacles, accelerate the progress of establishment and improve the quality of planning during the period of 2021-2030;

At the proposal of the Director of the Department of Administrative and Public Financial Affairs; the Minister of Finance issues this Circular guiding the use of regular budget expenditure funds, including funding from organizations and individuals to establish, review, decide, or approve the announcement, adjustment of planning.

PART I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope of Regulation and Applicability

Thông tư này quy định chi tiết khoản 4 Điều 38 Luật Thủy sản số 18/2017/QH14 đã được sửa đổi, bổ sung tại điểm c khoản 21 Điều 14 Luật số 146/2025/QH15.

a) This Circular stipulates the management and use of regular budget expenditure funds (including funding from organizations and individuals) to establish, review, decide, or approve the announcement, adjustment of planning as provided for in point d, Clause 1, Article 2 of Resolution No. 61/2022/QH15 dated June 16, 2022 on further strengthening the effectiveness and efficiency of policy and legal implementation regarding planning and some solutions to remove difficulties, obstacles, accelerate the progress of establishment and improve the quality of planning during the period of 2021-2030, which have not been allocated capital to implement until the time when Resolution No. 61/2022/QH15 comes into effect, including: Planning tasks and planning projects under the national planning system and technical specialized planning tasks and projects.

b) The management and use of the following sources of funds are not within the scope of regulation of this Circular:

- Planning tasks and planning projects funded by public investment implemented according to the provisions of the Law on Public Investment.

- Assistance where the donor or the authorized representative of the donor has agreed on different content and levels of expenditure shall be implemented according to the agreement document and relevant laws.

Thông tư này áp dụng đối với tổ chức, cá nhân có liên quan đến hoạt động kinh doanh đối tượng thủy sản nuôi chủ lực trên lãnh thổ Việt Nam.

This Circular applies to agencies, organizations, and individuals managing and using regular budget expenditure funds to perform planning establishment, review, decision-making, approval, announcement, or adjustment tasks; other organizations and individuals related to the management, use, and settlement of regular budget expenditure funds for performing such tasks.

Article 2. Sources of Funds

1. Regular budget expenditure funds at the appropriate budget level in accordance with the provisions of the State Budget Law, including:

a) Funds for implementing planning tasks and projects of Ministries and central agencies guaranteed by the central budget.

b) Funds for implementing planning tasks and projects of localities guaranteed by the local budget.

2. Funding from organizations and individuals for regular state budget expenditure to establish, review, decide, or approve, announce, adjust planning as stipulated in point a, Clause 1, Article 1 of this Circular.

Article 3. Principles of Implementation

1. Planning tasks and projects in compliance with the Planning Law, Resolution No. 61/2022/QH15, and related legal regulations must be newly approved by competent authorities to meet the conditions for allocation of funds and implementation.

2. Agencies and organizations assigned to implement planning projects and tasks as stipulated in Article 7 of the Planning Law, when carrying out tasks, are responsible for managing, using, and settling funds in accordance with their purpose, regulations, subject to inspection and supervision by competent authorities, and comply with current regulations on budget transparency.

3. Procurement of machinery, equipment, and services directly serving planning activities shall be carried out in accordance with the legal provisions on bidding and state budget. In cases where services in planning activities fall under the list of products and public services using state budget, the use of funds shall be carried out in accordance with the legal provisions on assigning tasks, placing orders, or bidding for the provision of public goods and services and price regulations.

4. Regarding the sponsorship of organizations and individuals for regular expenditure tasks to establish, review, decide, or approve, announce, adjust planning:

a) In case of sponsorship in cash: The sponsored funds are supplemented into the regular state budget expenditure budget according to the legal provisions on the state budget to implement planning tasks and projects according to the budget approved by the competent authority. For amounts of funds where the sponsor or the authorized representative of the sponsor has agreed on different content and levels of expenditure, they shall be implemented according to the agreement document and relevant legal provisions.

b) In case of sponsorship in assets or materials: The receipt, accounting, management, and use shall be carried out in accordance with the Law on Management and Use of Public Assets and related laws.

Chapter II

SPECIFIC PROVISIONS

Article 4. Content and economic-technical norms for planning activities

a) The content and economic-technical norms for establishing, reviewing, deciding or approving, announcing, adjusting national system master plans shall be implemented according to Circular No. 08/2019/TT-BKHĐT dated May 17, 2019 of the Ministry of Planning and Investment guiding economic-technical norms for planning activities.

b) The content and economic-technical norms serving the establishment, review, decision or approval, announcement, adjustment of technical and specialized sector planning as set out in Appendix 2 of the Planning Law shall be carried out in accordance with relevant laws, specifically:

- Circular No. 09/2020/TT-BTNMT dated September 17, 2020 of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment promulgating economic-technical norms for establishing integrated river basin planning and inter-provincial water resources planning;

- Circular No. 11/2020/TT-BNNPTNT dated October 27, 2020 of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development promulgating technical regulations and economic-technical norms for water resource planning and basic investigation of water resources;

- Circular No. 33/2021/TT-BGTVT dated December 15, 2021 of the Ministry of Transport guiding economic-technical norms for technical and specialized sector planning in the transport sector;

- Circular No. 09/2022/TT-BKHCN dated July 28, 2022 of the Ministry of Science and Technology promulgating economic-technical norms for establishing, reviewing, announcing, and adjusting atomic energy development and application planning;

- Circular No. 04/2023/TT-BVHTTDL dated April 4, 2023 of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism stipulating economic-technical norms for outdoor advertising planning establishment and adjustment;

- Other regulatory legal documents issued by central ministries and agencies within their authority guiding economic-technical norms for planning activities.

Article 5. On prices in planning activities

Implementation shall be in accordance with the provisions of Circular No. 113/2018/TT-BTC dated November 15, 2018 of the Ministry of Finance on prices in planning activities.

Article 6. Certain specific expenditure levels

The use of regular state budget funds, including funding from organizations and individuals, for tasks of planning establishment, review, decision or approval, announcement, and adjustment shall be carried out according to current financial expenditure regimes prescribed by competent state authorities. This circular provides additional guidance on certain specific expenditure levels as follows:

a) Travel expenses, conference costs: Implemented according to the provisions of Circular No. 40/2017/TT-BTC dated April 28, 2017 of the Ministry of Finance on travel expense regimes and conference cost regimes;

b) Training, seminar, capacity building expenses: Implemented according to the provisions of Circular No. 36/2018/TT-BTC dated March 30, 2018 of the Ministry of Finance guiding the preparation of budgets, management, use, and settlement of training and capacity building funds for officials, civil servants, and public employees, and Circular No. 06/2023/TT-BTC dated January 31, 2023 of the Ministry of Finance amending and supplementing some articles of Circular No. 36/2018/TT-BTC;

c) Survey, research, statistics expenses: Implemented according to the provisions of Circular No. 109/2016/TT-BTC dated June 30, 2016 of the Ministry of Finance on the preparation of budgets, management, use, and settlement of funds for statistical surveys and national comprehensive statistical surveys, and Circular No. 37/2022/TT-BTC dated June 22, 2022 of the Ministry of Finance amending and supplementing Clause 9, Article 3 and Model No. 01 attached to Circular No. 109/2016/TT-BTC;

d) Scientific research expenses serving planning activities: Implemented according to the provisions of Circular No. 03/2023/TT-BTC dated January 10, 2023 of the Ministry of Finance on the preparation of budgets, management, use, and settlement of state budget funds for scientific and technological tasks;

e) Inspection, supervision, and evaluation expenses: Implemented according to the provisions of Circular No. 06/2007/TT-BTC dated January 26, 2007 of the Ministry of Finance guiding the preparation of budgets, management, and use of funds to ensure inspection work on policy implementation, strategy, planning, and plans, and Circular No. 40/2017/TT-BTC dated April 28, 2017 of the Ministry of Finance on travel expense regimes and conference cost regimes;

g) Domestic expert hiring expenses: Implemented according to the provisions of Circular No. 02/2015/TT-BLDTBXH dated January 12, 2015 of the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs stipulating domestic consultant salaries as the basis for tender package budget estimates for consulting services under time-based contracts using state funds;

h) Information technology application expenses: Implemented according to the legal provisions on managing investment in information technology applications using state budget funds and related legal provisions; economic-technical norms in the information and communication field;

i) Other contents, activities, and expenditure norms according to current relevant legal provisions.

Article 7. Budget Preparation

The preparation of the three-year state financial plan and annual budget for regular expenditures to implement tasks and planning projects shall be carried out in accordance with the State Budget Law, the Planning Law, and related guiding documents. This Circular specifically guides the following contents:

1. Preparing budgets

a) For planning tasks and planning projects implemented by ministries and central agencies:

Each year, based on the Prime Minister's Directive on building the socio-economic development plan and the state budget estimate; the Circular guiding the preparation of the annual state budget estimate and the three-year state financial plan issued by the Ministry of Finance; the decision approving the task by the competent authority; the volume of planning tasks and planning projects to be implemented in the planned year; economic and technical norms for planning and current financial expenditure regulations, units prepare detailed budget estimates according to planning tasks and planning projects to report to ministries and central agencies for consolidation into the annual budget estimate to be submitted to the Ministry of Finance for review and consolidation, then reported to the Government for submission to the National Assembly for consideration and approval.

b) For planning tasks and planning projects implemented by localities:

Each year, based on the Prime Minister's Directive on building the socio-economic development plan and the state budget estimate; the Circular guiding the preparation of the annual state budget estimate and the three-year state financial plan issued by the Ministry of Finance; guidance from the provincial People's Committee or the competent authority on preparing the local budget estimate; the decision approving the task by the competent authority; the volume of planning tasks and planning projects to be implemented in the planned year; economic and technical norms for planning and current financial expenditure regulations, units prepare detailed budget estimates according to planning tasks and planning projects to report to the relevant local management agency for consolidation into the annual budget estimate to be submitted to the finance agency for consolidation into the budget expenditure estimate, then reported to the People's Committee for submission to the People's Council at the same level for consideration and approval.

Article 8. Allocation, Management, and Utilization of Funds

The allocation, management, utilization, and settlement of funds shall be carried out in accordance with the State Budget Law 2015, Decree No. 163/2016/NĐ-CP dated December 21, 2016 of the Government detailing the implementation of certain provisions of the State Budget Law, and related guiding documents of the Ministry of Finance, including:

a) For planning tasks and planning projects implemented by ministries and central agencies:

Based on the budget estimate assigned by the competent authority, ministries and central agencies develop budget allocation plans for budget-using units; detail according to planning tasks and planning projects, consolidate into the overall budget allocation plan of the ministry or central agency, and submit to the Ministry of Finance for inspection as prescribed. After receiving the Ministry of Finance's agreement, ministries and central agencies allocate the budget to implementing units; simultaneously send it to the Ministry of Finance, the State Treasury, and the State Treasury where transactions take place for coordination.

b) For planning tasks and planning projects implemented by localities:

Based on the budget estimate assigned by the competent authority, the superior management agency at the locality level (primary budget unit) develops budget allocation plans for budget-using units; detail according to planning tasks and planning projects, consolidate into the overall budget allocation plan of the agency, and submit to the finance agency at the same level for inspection as prescribed. After receiving the finance agency's agreement, the superior management agency allocates the budget to implementing units; simultaneously send it to the finance agency at the same level, the State Treasury where transactions take place for coordination.

Article 9. Settlement of Budget Expenditure

a) Regarding annual budget settlement:

Implement in accordance with the provisions of Circular No. 137/2017/TT-BTC dated December 25, 2017 of the Ministry of Finance on examination, notification, and consolidation of annual settlement.

b) Regarding settlement of completed tasks and projects

For planning tasks and planning projects approved by competent authorities with a duration of implementation exceeding 12 months, in addition to annual settlement, units must also settle the completed tasks and projects.

Article 10. Control of Expenditure and Payment through the State Treasury

The control of expenditure and advance payment for settlement shall be carried out in accordance with the provisions of Decree No. 11/2020/NĐ-CP dated January 20, 2020 of the Government on administrative procedures under the domain of the State Treasury and Circular No. 62/2020/TT-BTC dated June 22, 2020 of the Ministry of Finance guiding the control and payment of regular expenditures from the state budget through the State Treasury.

Chapter III

IMPLEMENTATION

Article 11. Effective Date

1. This Circular takes effect from July 14, 2023.

2. In cases where the legal normative documents cited in this Circular are amended, supplemented, or replaced by other legal normative documents, they shall be applied according to the provisions of the amended, supplemented, or replacing documents.

3. During the implementation process, if there are difficulties or obstacles, please reflect them to the Ministry of Finance for consideration and resolution./.