Directive No. 33/2008/CT-TTg On Strict Implementation of Fiscal Policies and Handling of Audit and Inspection Recommendations

DIRECTIVE

Regarding the strict implementation of fiscal policies and the conclusions and recommendations of auditing and inspection agencies

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Since the Law on State Budget, various Tax Laws, the Law on State Audit, the Law on Inspection, the Law on Thrift and Combating Wastefulness, and the Law on Preventing and Combating Corruption have been enacted, many efforts have been made in organizing and implementing these laws, achieving significant results in financial and budgetary management, contributing to promoting economic and social development, maintaining social order and security, enhancing the effectiveness of state management over finance and budget. Many violations in financial and budgetary management have been discovered and addressed; many unsuitable mechanisms and policies regarding revenue and expenditure management have been revised and supplemented. However, the audit and inspection results show that violations of revenue and expenditure management systems and policies still occur in many ministries, sectors, localities, and units; the implementation of audit and inspection conclusions and recommendations about violations is not strict, timely, and does not clearly identify the responsibility of organizations and individuals; the work of summarizing and reporting the results of handling is limited, not regular, and does not ensure timeliness,... affecting the effectiveness of financial and budgetary management and the results of economic and social tasks.

In order to implement well the National Assembly's Resolution on the annual state budget estimate and settlement; strengthen financial discipline; promote the efficient and effective management and use of state financial resources; strictly implement annual state budget revenue and expenditure policies and the conclusions and recommendations of auditing and inspection agencies; the Prime Minister requests the Ministers, Heads of ministerial-level agencies, Heads of government-affiliated agencies, and other central agencies, Chairpersons of provincial and municipal People's Committees under the Central Government to direct, guide, and inspect subordinate agencies and units to organize the implementation of the following contents effectively:

1. On the management of state budget revenue:

a. The preparation of the state budget revenue estimate must comply with the provisions of tax laws, collection regulations, ensuring positivity, stability, and comprehensiveness of all sources of state budget revenue, consistent with economic growth potential and encouraging production and business development of enterprises and economic organizations. During the implementation of the state budget revenue estimate, it is necessary to ensure timely, full, and accurate collection of all revenues into the state budget according to regulations. Promptly process, remit, and fully and timely reflect in the state budget according to prescribed regulations temporary collections, temporary holdings, loans, and aid; taxes declared and reported but delayed in payment; hidden and illegal taxes identified and recommended by audits and inspections; strictly prohibit keeping revenues outside the state budget contrary to regulations;

b. The Ministry of Finance shall cooperate with central agencies and localities to strengthen anti-commercial fraud, anti-revenue loss, and strict control over state budget revenue sources. Inspect and audit compliance with tax laws; inspect organizations and individuals who engage in business without registration to bring them under tax management; intensify measures to prevent and handle illegal purchase, sale, and use of invoices as stipulated by the Law on Tax Administration; inspect and severely deal with businesses registered for business but not operating; organize and evaluate tax debt classification; focus on urging immediate collection of tax debts into the state budget, preventing prolonged tax arrears.

2. On the management of state budget expenditure:

a. The establishment and decision-making of state budget expenditure estimates by ministries, central agencies, and localities must be based on state budget expenditure policies, standards, and quotas and economic and social development tasks; investment project decisions must be consistent with capital balancing capabilities; priority should be given to allocating funds for key projects, urgent projects, counterpart funds for projects using loans and aid, social welfare policies. Implement allocation and assignment of budgets accurately within the stipulated time, content, objects, and fields; ensure scientific, technological, education and training, environmental protection, national target program budget allocations in accordance with Party and National Assembly Resolutions and the government's assigned budget; address delays and incorrect allocations and assignments;

Localities, in addition to fulfilling the above requirements, when building and deciding on budgets, must allocate reserves in accordance with the provisions of the Law on State Budget and not lower than the level assigned by the Government to ensure sufficient resources for unexpected tasks arising outside the budget (disaster recovery, epidemic response, etc.); do not mobilize capital for new projects or non-critical projects as stipulated in Clause 3, Article 8 of the Law on State Budget. Proactively allocate sufficient funds to repay debts on schedule.

Financial agencies must enhance and improve the quality of their review work on the allocation of state budget estimates by agencies and units; promptly detect and firmly handle any violations in the allocation of state budget estimates. For violations in the decision-making and allocation of sub-budget estimates, higher-level financial agencies require lower-level competent authorities to promptly rectify the violations; lower-level agencies bear the responsibility to strictly implement the requirements of higher-level financial agencies to ensure that sub-budget estimates align with the higher-level allocated budget estimates in accordance with prescribed regulations.

b. Rectify the situation where basic construction investment exceeds the budget estimate allocated, decide on basic construction investment projects that exceed the budget balance capacity, allocate capital plans not closely aligned with implementation progress, reduce arrears in basic construction volume. Review the list of investment projects and works using state budget funds, postpone commencement of projects not included in approved planning and plans, lacking required procedures; works and projects that are not truly urgent and do not yield economic and social benefits. Proactively reallocate investment capital from postponed projects to focus on effective and critically urgent projects. Concentrate on resolving difficulties, especially land clearance and compensation work to accelerate project implementation progress; address errors in project acceptance and supervision work; do not allocate capital plans to projects and works without implementation capability; ensure completion and settlement of projects within the prescribed time limit.

c. Implement regular expenditure savings according to the Government's and Prime Minister's regulations. Do not supplement funds outside the budget estimate, except for urgent tasks, national defense and security tasks, disaster prevention and control, disease prevention, and social welfare.

d. Strictly prohibit the establishment of extrabudgetary funds and the use of the budget for lending or advance payments for matters and contents contrary to established regulations. Do not use reserves to fund other tasks outside disaster prevention and mitigation, fire aftermaths, important national defense and security tasks, and urgent tasks arising outside the budget estimate as stipulated by the State Budget Law. Use the increased state budget revenue in accordance with the provisions of the State Budget Law and the Government's regulations. Localities shall not support, advance, or lend to central units within their jurisdiction or enterprises contrary to established regulations.

đ. Closely monitor advance capital usage and pre-advance next year's budget estimates; organize recovery of pre-advanced amounts according to the committed schedule. Closely monitor the transfer of sources to the following year, allocate transferred funds for necessary, urgent tasks, and tasks with established regulations allowing such transfers; minimize transfers due to delayed project implementation and must have specific measures to immediately address this situation; agencies and units must strictly comply with the transfer period.

e. Strengthen inspection, supervision, auditing, and oversight of state budget spending to ensure compliance with regulations, standards, quotas, and to guarantee state benefits (subsidies, price supports, health insurance for the poor, and other social welfare policies...) reach the people.

g. Seriously review, draw lessons, and clearly define the responsibility of organizations and individuals for financial management and state asset management violations such as: misallocating budget expenditures, purchasing beyond standards and quotas, making expenditures without proper procedures and authority, violating regulations... Thoroughly address financial management and state asset management violations as recommended by audit and inspection agencies and fully remit improperly spent funds into the state budget according to the State Budget Law's provisions.

3. Regarding the fiscal budget mechanism:

a. Promptly review, amend, supplement, issue, or submit to competent authorities for issuance in accordance with legal regulations for financial management mechanisms and policies no longer suitable for current practices. Repeal mechanisms and policies issued beyond authority or contrary to higher-level regulations.

b. Continue reviewing and abolishing fees and charges issued without proper authority, not listed in the detailed fee and charge list attached to Decree No. 24/2006/NĐ-CP dated March 6, 2006 amending and supplementing certain articles of Decree No. 57/2002/NĐ-CP dated June 3, 2002 of the Government detailing the implementation of the Fee and Charge Ordinance. Abolish people's contributions collected contrary to regulations; for contributions for infrastructure construction and socially charitable purposes, voluntary principles must be followed, no contribution targets should be assigned to lower levels, while increasing supervision, transparency, and public disclosure in the collection, management, and use of voluntary contributions.

4. Regarding state budget settlement work:

Improve the quality of state budget settlement work, implement examination, evaluation, reporting, and settlement of state budgets of subordinate budget units and lower-level budgets according to established regulations and deadlines.

5. Regarding urging, inspecting, handling, and reporting:

a. Ministries, ministerial-level agencies, government agencies, central-level agencies, and provincial and municipal People's Committees under the Central Government are responsible for compiling and reporting results of handling audit and inspection recommendations and implementing this Directive's contents to the Ministry of Finance no later than with the annual state budget settlement report. Specifically, the part of the report on handling audit and inspection recommendations related to basic construction investment must also be sent to the Ministry of Planning and Investment for consolidation and reporting to the Government. The report must clearly state resolved financial and budget management issues, unresolved issues, and the timeframe and measures to resolve them in the future. Ministries, ministerial-level agencies, government agencies, central-level agencies, and provincial and municipal People's Committees under the Central Government are responsible for sending reports on the implementation of audit and inspection recommendations to relevant agencies as stipulated by law.

The Minister, Head of an agency at the level of a ministry, Head of a government agency, and other central agencies, Chairpersons of People's Committees of provinces and centrally governed cities shall be responsible before the Prime Minister for delays in implementing the recommendations of the auditing and inspection bodies regarding violations in state budget revenue and expenditure management under their assigned responsibilities.

b. Ministries, agencies at the level of a ministry, government agencies, and other central agencies responsible for managing sectors and fields shall annually compile and evaluate the results of implementing the state budget estimates decided by the National Assembly, linked to economic and social tasks within each sector and field managed by the ministries or agencies at the level of a ministry, and submit them together with the annual state budget settlement report to the Ministry of Finance for consolidation and reporting to the Government and the National Assembly along with the annual state budget settlement report.

c. The Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Planning and Investment shall urge and inspect ministries, agencies at the level of a ministry, government agencies, and other central agencies, and People's Committees of provinces and centrally governed cities in the implementation of this Directive; they shall periodically report annually to the Government together with the annual state budget settlement report. For ministries, central agencies, and local agencies that fail to comply with the reporting system stipulated in this Directive or have slow progress in addressing violations, the Ministry of Finance shall temporarily suspend funding according to the State Budget Law and consolidate and report to the Prime Minister.

d. Ministers, Heads of agencies at the level of a ministry, Heads of government agencies, and other central agencies, Chairpersons of People's Committees at all levels, and Heads of units shall strictly enforce disciplinary measures against organizations and individuals who commit violations or allow such violations to occur in accordance with established regulations. Ministries, agencies at the level of a ministry, government agencies, and other central agencies, and provinces and centrally governed cities shall periodically at year-end compile the results of disciplinary actions taken against organizations and individuals, and submit them to the Ministry of Home Affairs for monitoring and consolidating the implementation of disciplinary actions, and report annually to the Prime Minister.

6. Implementation organization.

Ministers, Heads of agencies at the level of a ministry, Heads of government agencies, and other central agencies, Chairpersons of People's Committees of provinces and centrally governed cities shall be responsible for organizing and directing the strict implementation of this Directive.