Decree No. 39/2011/ND-CP amending and supplementing certain articles of Decree No. 185/2004/ND-CP dated November 4, 2004 of the Government on administrative penalties for violations in the field of accounting.

DECREE

Amending and supplementing some articles of Decree No. 185/2004/NĐ-CP dated November 4, 2004 of the Government on administrative penalties for violations in the field of accounting

Administrative penalties for administrative violations in the field of accounting

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THE GOVERNMENT

Pursuant to the Law on Organization of the Government No. 32/2001/QH10 dated December 25, 2001;

Pursuant to the Accounting Law No. 03/2003/QH11 dated June 17, 2003;

Pursuant to the Ordinance on Handling Administrative Violations No. 44/2002/PL-UBTVQH10 dated July 2, 2002 and the Ordinance amending and supplementing some articles of the Ordinance on Handling Administrative Violations No. 04/2008/PL-UBTVQH12 dated April 2, 2008 of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly;

At the proposal of the Minister of Finance,

DECREE:

Article 1. Amending and supplementing some articles of Decree No. 185/2004/NĐ-CP dated November 4, 2004 of the Government on administrative penalties for violations in the field of accounting:

1. Clause 2 of Article 1 is amended and supplemented as follows:

"2. Administrative violations in the field of accounting include:

a) Violations of regulations on accounting vouchers;

b) Violations of regulations on accounting books;

c) Violations of regulations on accounting accounts;

d) Violations of regulations on financial reports, final accounts reports, and publicizing financial reports;

đ) Violations of regulations on accounting inspections;

e) Violations of regulations on preserving and storing accounting documents;

g) Violations of regulations on inventory of assets;

h) Violations of regulations on organizing accounting staff and arranging accounting personnel or hiring accounting personnel;

i) Violations of regulations on practicing accounting;

k) Violations of regulations on applying accounting standards, accounting systems, and other provisions;

l) Violations in organizing training and issuing certificates for chief accountants."

2. Article 5 is amended as follows:

"Article 5Forms of administrative penalties in the field of accounting

1. For each administrative violation in the field of accounting, individuals and organizations must bear one of the following main forms of penalty:

a) Warning;

b) A fine from VND 200,000 to VND 30,000,000.

2. Depending on the nature and severity of the violation, individuals and organizations committing the violation may also be subject to supplementary forms of penalty as provided for in Clause 5 of Article 7, Clause 5 of Article 8, and Clause 2 of Article 15 of this Decree.

3. In addition to the forms of penalty prescribed in Clauses 1 and 2 of this Article, individuals and organizations committing the violation may also be subject to one or more remedial measures as provided for in Clause 6 of Article 7, Clause 6 of Article 8, Clause 3 of Article 9, Clause 3 of Article 10, Clause 3 of Article 14, Clause 3 of Article 15, and Clause 3 of Article 16 of this Decree.

4. When imposing a fine, the specific amount of the fine for a particular administrative violation shall be the midpoint of the fine range specified in Chapter II of this Decree for that violation; if there are mitigating circumstances, the fine amount may be reduced but not below the minimum limit of the fine range; if there are aggravating circumstances, the fine amount may be increased but not above the maximum limit of the fine range."

3. Article 7 is amended and supplemented as follows:

"Article 7Violations of regulations on accounting vouchers

1. A fine from VND 200,000 to VND 2,000,000 for one of the following acts:

a) Preparing accounting vouchers lacking essential contents as prescribed by law on accounting;

b) Erasing, altering accounting vouchers;

c) Signing accounting vouchers not in accordance with the regulations on signatures for each type of accounting voucher.

2. A fine from VND 2,000,000 to VND 10,000,000 for one of the following acts:

a) Preparing accounting vouchers lacking the required number of copies as prescribed for each type of accounting voucher;

b) Signing accounting vouchers without recording all necessary contents within the responsibility of the signer;

c) Signing accounting vouchers without authority or without authorization;

d) Issuing sales invoices but not delivering sales invoices to customers as required.

3. A fine from VND 10,000,000 to VND 30,000,000 for one of the following acts:

a) Forgery or misrepresentation of accounting vouchers;

b) Agreeing or coercing others to forge or misrepresent accounting vouchers;

c) Preparing accounting vouchers where the contents of the different copies do not match when multiple copies must be prepared for a single economic or financial transaction;

d) Not preparing accounting vouchers when economic and financial transactions occur (except for sales without issuing invoices as provided for in Clause 4 of this Article);

đ) Intentionally preparing multiple accounting vouchers for a single economic and financial transaction; e) Destroying or intentionally damaging accounting vouchers.

5. Additional forms of punishment:

a) Confiscation of accounting vouchers for violations stipulated at point a, b Clause 3 of this Article;

b) Revocation of Accounting Practice Certificate permanently for practitioners violating the provisions of Clause 3 of this Article

6. Remedial measures:

a) Compel to prepare accounting vouchers for economic and financial transactions that have occurred for violations stipulated at point d Clause 3 and Clause 4 of this Article;

b) Compel to restore accounting vouchers according to actual conditions and regulations for violations stipulated at points a, b, c Clause 1, points a, b, c Clause 2, and points c, e Clause 3 of this Article;

c) Compel to cancel duplicate accounting vouchers prepared for a single transaction as stipulated at point đ Clause 3 of this Article."

4. Clause 3, Clause 4 of Article 8 are amended as follows:

"3. A fine from VND 5,000,000 to VND 15,000,000 for one of the following acts:

a) Not opening ledgers at the beginning of the accounting year or upon establishment of the accounting unit;

b) Not having accounting vouchers to substantiate the information and figures recorded in ledgers or figures in ledgers not matching accounting vouchers;

c) Information and figures recorded in ledgers of the current year not continuing from the previous year's ledgers or ledgers not being continuous from opening to closing;

d) Not closing ledgers in cases where accounting law requires ledgers to be closed;

đ) Not printing ledgers on paper after closing them on computers for types of ledgers required to be printed, or not having full signatures and stamps as prescribed after printing ledgers.

4. A fine from VND 15,000,000 to VND 30,000,000 for one of the following acts:

a) Opening ledgers outside the official ledger system of the unit;

b) Forgery of ledgers;

c) Agreeing or coercing others to forge ledgers;

d) Intentionally leaving assets of the unit or assets related to the unit out of ledgers;

đ) Prematurely destroying or intentionally damaging accounting books."

5. Clause 1, Clause 2 of Article 9 are amended as follows:

"1. A fine from VND 5,000,000 to VND 10,000,000 for one of the following acts:

a) Recording not in accordance with the content prescribed for accounting accounts;

b) Modifying the content or method of accounting entries of accounts issued by the Ministry of Finance or adding new accounts to the first-level accounting system without approval from the Ministry of Finance.

2. A fine of between 10,000,000 VND and 20,000,000 VND shall be imposed for one of the following acts:

a) Not applying the prescribed accounting account system for the industry and field of operation of the entity;

b) Not implementing the approved accounting system as required by the Ministry of Finance."

6. Article 10 is amended and supplemented as follows:

"Article 10. Violations of regulations on financial statements, final accounts reports, and publicizing financial statements

1. A fine from VND 5,000,000 to VND 15,000,000 for one of the following acts:

a) Not preparing financial reports or preparing incomplete financial reports according to regulations;

b) Preparing and presenting financial reports not in accordance with the prescribed methods; unclearly; inconsistent with regulations;

c) Submitting financial reports and final accounts reports to competent state agencies late by from one month to three months beyond the prescribed deadline;

d) Publicizing financial statements incompletely as required;

đ) Publicizing financial reports late by from one month to three months beyond the prescribed deadline;

2. A fine from VND 15,000,000 to VND 30,000,000 for one of the following acts:

a) Submitting financial reports and final accounts reports to competent state agencies late by more than three months beyond the prescribed deadline;

b) Preparing financial reports not consistent with the figures in the accounting books and accounting vouchers;

c) Falsifying financial reports, misrepresenting figures on financial reports;

d) Agreeing or compelling others to falsify financial reports, misrepresent figures on financial reports;

đ) Intentionally agreeing or compelling others to provide, confirm false accounting information and figures;

e) Publicizing financial reports late by more than three months beyond the prescribed deadline;

g) Publicizing false financial report information and figures;

h) Submitting financial reports to competent state agencies without attaching audit reports where laws require auditing;

3. Remedial measures: Compel to comply with accounting laws for violations stipulated at Clause 1 and Clause 2 of this Article.

4. Supplementary form of penalty: Non-recognition of financial statements for violations stipulated at points b, c, d, đ, g of Clause 2 of this Article."

7. Clause 1 of Article 15 is amended as follows:

"1. A fine from VND 20,000,000 to VND 30,000,000 for one of the following acts:

a) Organizing or individuals practicing accounting without registering for accounting services;

b) The legal representative of an accounting service business enterprise does not have an Accounting Practice Certificate;

c) Enterprises or individuals practicing accounting failing to meet the conditions for operation as required but still providing accounting services;

d) An individual practicing accounting without an Accounting Practice Certificate;

d) Hiring an organization or individual who does not meet the conditions for practicing accounting to perform accounting work, including serving as an Accounting Manager;

e) Accepting to be hired to perform accounting work when being the father, mother, wife, husband, child, brother, sister, or half-sibling of the person responsible for managing and operating the entity, including the Accounting Manager of the accounting unit, or having economic or financial relations with such person, or lacking the necessary professional qualifications, or accepting to be hired to perform accounting work when the accounting unit requests actions contrary to professional ethics or accounting expertise;

g) Renting out or lending the Professional Practice Certificate for Accounting.

8. Clause 2 of Article 16 shall be amended and supplemented as follows:

"2. A fine of from VND 10,000,000 to VND 30,000,000 shall be imposed on the act of allowing another party to use the bank account or Treasury deposit account of the entity to receive money and transfer funds for monetary activities that violate financial management systems, budget regulations, and capital usage policies."

9. Article 16a shall be added after Article 16 as follows:

"Article 16a. Violations in organizing training and issuing certificates for Accounting Managers

1. A fine of VND 5,000,000 to VND 10,000,000 shall be imposed for one of the following acts:

a) Violating the procedures for organizing training courses;

b) Violating the forms of organizing training courses;

2. A fine of between 10,000,000 VND and 20,000,000 VND shall be imposed for one of the following acts:

c) Violating the notification and reporting systems related to training courses.

a) Violating the content, program, and duration of training;

b) Violating the regulations on the use of training materials for Accounting Managers;

3. A fine of between 20,000,000 VND and 30,000,000 VND shall be imposed for one of the following acts:

c) Violating the regulations on retaining records related to training courses.

a) Violating the conditions for organizing training courses;

b) Violating the standards for trainees;

c) Violating the regulations on examinations, assessments, and evaluation of learning outcomes;

d) Violating the regulations on the rights and responsibilities of training institutions;

đ) Violating the regulations on printing and issuing certificates for Accounting Managers."

10. Article 18 shall be amended as follows:

"Article 18. Authority to impose administrative penalties of financial inspectors

a) To issue warnings;

b) Impose a fine up to 500,000 VND;

1. Financial inspectors at all levels while performing their duties have the right:

c) To apply measures to remedy consequences as stipulated in Clause 3 of Article 5 of this Decree;

2. The Director of the Department of Finance has the right:

a) To issue warnings;

b) To impose fines up to VND 30,000,000;

a) To issue warnings;

b) Impose fines up to thirty million dong;

c) To apply additional sanctions and remedial measures as stipulated in Clauses 2 and 3 of Article 5 of this Decree.

3. The Director of the Ministry of Finance has the right:

c) To apply additional sanctions and remedial measures as stipulated in Clauses 2 and 3 of Article 5 of this Decree."

11. Article 19 shall be amended as follows:

a) To issue warnings;

"Article 19. Authority to impose administrative penalties of People's Committees at various levels

1. The Chairman of the People's Committee of communes, wards, towns (collectively referred to as commune level) has the right:

b) To impose fines up to VND 2,000,000;

a) To issue warnings;

b) Impose fines up to thirty million dong;

a) To issue warnings;

c) To apply measures to remedy consequences as stipulated in Clause 3 of Article 5 of this Decree.

a) To issue warnings;

b) Impose fines up to thirty million dong;

c) To apply additional sanctions and remedial measures as stipulated in Clauses 2 and 3 of Article 5 of this Decree.

2. The Chairman of the People's Committee of districts, towns, cities under provinces (collectively referred to as district level) has the right:

3. The Chairman of the People's Committee of provinces, centrally governed cities (collectively referred to as provincial level) has the right:

12. Article 20 shall be amended and supplemented as follows:

"Article 20. Delegation of authority to impose administrative penalties in the field of accounting

1. The authority to impose administrative penalties as stipulated in Clauses 2 and 3 of Article 18 and Article 19 of this Decree may only be delegated to deputy officials. Such delegation must be carried out in writing and clearly specify the scope, content, and duration of the delegation.

2. Deputy officials authorized to handle administrative violations must bear responsibility for their decisions before their superiors and the law. The delegatee may not further delegate authority to any other individual."

13. Clause 2 of Article 23 shall be amended and supplemented as follows:

"2. Procedures for imposing administrative penalties in the field of accounting shall be implemented according to the provisions of the Administrative Violation Handling Ordinance and Chapter IV of Decree No. 128/2008/ND-CP dated December 16, 2008, of the Government detailing certain articles of the Administrative Violation Handling Ordinance 2002 and the Ordinance amending and supplementing the Administrative Violation Handling Ordinance 2008."

14. Article 24 shall be amended and supplemented as follows:

"Article 24. Compulsory enforcement of administrative penalty decisions

The compulsory enforcement of administrative penalty decisions in the field of accounting shall be carried out according to the provisions of Article 66 and Article 66a of the Administrative Violation Handling Ordinance 2002, the Ordinance amending and supplementing the Administrative Violation Handling Ordinance 2008, and Decree No. 37/2005/ND-CP dated March 18, 2005, of the Government detailing the procedures for applying coercive measures to enforce administrative penalty decisions."

15. Article 29a shall be added after Article 29 as follows:

"Article 29a. Issuing models of administrative violation reports and administrative penalty decision forms in the field of accounting

Article 2. Effective Date

1. The model of administrative violation report in the field of accounting is specified in Appendix I attached to this Decree.

2. The model of administrative penalty decision form in the field of accounting is specified in Appendix II attached to this Decree."

Article 3. Implementation Organization

1. This Decree shall take effect from August 1, 2011.

2. All previous regulations on administrative penalties in the field of accounting that conflict with this Decree shall be abolished.