Circular No. 38/1999/TT-BTC guides the financial management mechanism for the Honor Repayment Fund.

 

CIRCULAR

Guidelines for the financial management mechanism of the "Gratitude Repayment Fund"

Implementing Article 6 of the Regulations on the establishment and management of the "Gratitude Repayment Fund" issued together with Decree No. 91/1998/NĐ-CP dated November 9, 1998 of the Government.

After receiving opinions from relevant ministries and sectors, the Ministry of Finance provides guidelines for the financial management of the "Gratitude Repayment Fund" as follows:

I- AMOUNTS FOR RAISING SUPPORT TO BUILD THE "GRATITUDE REPAYMENT FUND":

In principle, contributors to the "Gratitude Repayment Fund" should contribute according to their goodwill and highest sense of responsibility. However, to align with practical circumstances, each level's Steering Committee for Building the "Gratitude Repayment Fund" should set a minimum amount for raising support annually and assign responsibilities to units and organizations to effectively participate.

II- LEVELS OF COLLECTION AND ORGANIZATION OF COLLECTION FOR THE "GRATITUDE REPAYMENT FUND"

1. Levels of collection for the "Gratitude Repayment Fund".

1.1 At the commune level, collect from the following subjects:

- Commune-level officials.

- Workers in households under the commune's management.

1.2 At the district level, collect from workers in the following entities:

- Administrative and public service agencies at the district level.

- Party agencies, political-social organizations, and social-professional organizations directly managed by the district.

- Military and police agencies at the district level.

- Enterprises directly managed by the district.

1.3 At the provincial level, collect from workers in the following entities:

- Administrative and public service agencies at the provincial level.

- Party agencies, political-social organizations, and social-professional organizations directly managed by the province.

- Military and police agencies at the provincial level.

- Enterprises directly managed by the province.

1.4 At the central level, collect from workers in the following entities:

- Ministries, ministerial-level agencies, and government agencies;

- Agencies directly under the Central Party, political-social organizations, and social-professional organizations.

- Units under military branches, corps, armies, regions, academies, schools, and units under the Ministry of National Defense.

- Units under the Ministry of Public Security.

- Units of all economic components, economic organizations, of political-social organizations, social-professional organizations, and armed forces units managed by central agencies.

- Special-class enterprises as defined in Decision No. 185/TTg dated March 28, 1996 of the Prime Minister.

- Vietnamese people working and studying abroad.

- Enterprises directly managed by the central government.

1.5 The "Gratitude Repayment Fund" at all levels, in addition to the amounts raised above, may also collect the following:

- Directly assigned donations and sponsorships.

- Interest from fund deposits (if any) and other sources of income.

2. Organization of collection for building the "Gratitude Repayment Fund":

- Annually, the Steering Committee for Building the "Gratitude Repayment Fund" at each level shall notify the subjects to be mobilized for support, the minimum amount to be mobilized, and the account number for collecting support funds to each subordinate unit under its management and assign the responsibility to each unit employing workers to collect during the annual July 27 campaign.

- Organizations and grassroots units tasked with mobilizing support for the "Gratitude Repayment Fund" shall inform the policy of mobilizing support through trade unions, women's associations, People's Committees, and the Communist Youth Union to each worker and organize effective collections.

- Funds collected for supporting the "Gratitude Repayment Fund" must be deposited into the Fund's account at the Treasury immediately after the mobilization campaign ends, strictly prohibiting the retention of such funds for purposes other than those specified in Part III of this Circular. Units and individuals who perform well in mobilizing and building the "Gratitude Repayment Fund" will be commended for outstanding achievements by the Mobilization Steering Committee.

- Vietnamese people working and studying abroad who are subjects for mobilizing support for the "Gratitude Repayment Fund" shall be collected by the Vietnamese Embassy in the respective country and remitted to the central "Gratitude Repayment Fund" account.

III- CONTENTS OF EXPENDITURE FROM THE "GRATITUDE REPAYMENT FUND"

The "Gratitude Repayment Fund" is primarily used for the material and spiritual care of revolutionary war veterans, with expenditure contents as follows:

1. Supporting construction and repair of housing for revolutionary war veterans who have not been supported by the State for housing and whose families face many difficulties.

2. Repairing cemeteries outside the investment construction plan of the State budget; constructing and repairing monuments commemorating martyrs; supporting parents, spouses, or children of martyrs to visit martyrs' graves when their families face many difficulties.

3. Visiting and providing assistance for illness, medical examination and treatment, and funeral expenses when families encounter difficulties.

4. Supporting living and educational expenses when encountering difficulties.

5. Supporting lower-level "Gratitude Repayment Funds" when there are many beneficiaries of preferential policies for revolutionary war veterans but the fund's revenue is low. This expenditure applies to funds at the district level and above and is implemented according to the principle that the fund at a certain level supports within its jurisdictional area. Specifically, the central "Gratitude Repayment Fund" allocates an appropriate proportion to support provinces with a large number of beneficiaries, poor provinces, remote and extremely difficult areas, and revolutionary bases.

6. Expenditure for propaganda work, commendation with certificates (without attached money), and expenditure for directing and mobilizing the construction of the "Gratitude Repayment Fund".

7. Management costs of the Fund including: accounting books, receipts, documents, office supplies serving the management of the Fund; meeting costs; travel expenses for members of the Steering Committee who are not entitled to state budget salaries when dispatched by the Steering Committee; paying salaries to contracted staff (if any) of the Steering Committee's support team... The expenditure level follows the current state budget expenditure regulations.

Expenditures as stipulated in Points 6 and 7 above shall not exceed 5% of the total annual income of the "Gratitude Repayment Fund" at each level.

The use of the "Gratitude Repayment" Fund for each specific expenditure item and amount at Points 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 of this Section shall be decided by the Steering Committee for establishing the Fund at each level based on the annual budget estimates.

IV- IMPLEMENTATION:

1- The steering committees at all levels responsible for mobilizing and establishing the "Gratitude Repayment" Fund have the following tasks:

- Directing the mobilization of financial support from organizations and individuals both within and outside the country to participate in building the Fund.

- Approving the direction of activities and endorsing the annual budget estimates for revenue and expenditure of the "Gratitude Repayment" Fund.

- Organizing the collection and disbursement of the "Gratitude Repayment" Fund in accordance with Part II and Part III of this Circular.

- Inspecting the operation of the "Gratitude Repayment" Fund under their management and inspecting the revenue and expenditure of lower-level "Gratitude Repayment" Funds in compliance with the regulations on establishing and managing the Fund.

- Preparing annual budget estimates for revenue and expenditure of the "Gratitude Repayment" Fund and submitting them to the higher-level steering committee, People's Council, and financial authorities at the same level. At the central level, the steering committee submits the budget estimates to the Prime Minister and the Ministry of Finance.

- Reviewing and approving the final accounts report of the "Gratitude Repayment" Fund for lower-level steering committees.

- Organizing accounting and preparing the final accounts report of the Fund according to the accounting system for administrative and public service units.

- Proposing rewards for units and individuals with outstanding achievements and recommending measures to address violations.

- Publicizing the revenue and expenditure situation of the "Gratitude Repayment" Fund annually.

2- Accounts and seals for the "Gratitude Repayment" Fund operations:

- The steering committees at all levels responsible for mobilizing and establishing the "Gratitude Repayment" Fund may open accounts at the State Treasury system to monitor the revenue and expenditure of the "Gratitude Repayment" Fund. The head of the Fund steering committee is the account holder and is responsible for the operation of the Fund.

- The steering committees at the provincial, district, and commune levels responsible for mobilizing and establishing the "Gratitude Repayment" Fund may use the seal of the People's Council at the same level; at the central level, the steering committee may use the seal of the Ministry of Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs for the Fund's operations.

3- The "Gratitude Repayment" Fund implements the accounting system for administrative and public service units (Decision No. 999/TC-QĐ-CĐKT dated November 2, 1996 of the Minister of Finance); the Fund is subject to supervision and inspection by the financial authority at the same level.

4- The Ministry of Finance collaborates with the Ministry of Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs in inspecting the revenue, expenditure, and management of the "Gratitude Repayment" Fund nationwide; participating in discussions with the steering committee regarding the level of support funds for regions with few sources of income but many beneficiaries and difficult economic conditions.

5- Organizations and individuals assigned the task of establishing and managing the "Gratitude Repayment" Fund who violate regulations on managing revenue, expenditure, and assets of the Fund will be held accountable according to current laws of the State depending on the nature and degree of violation.

V- IMPLEMENTATION PROVISIONS

- This Circular takes effect fifteen days after signing.

- Any difficulties encountered during implementation should be reported to the Ministry of Finance for appropriate supplementation and amendment./.