JOINT CIRCULAR No. 41-TT/LB On Closing the Books on Revenue and Expenditure of the State Budget at the End of 1975

JOINT CIRCULAR
||| Regarding the closure of the state budget revenue ledger for the year 1975
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At Circular No. 16-TT/LB dated December 12, 1973 (*) , the Ministry of Finance and the State Bank of Vietnam had systematized all regulations regarding the annual closure of state budget revenue and expenditure ledgers. The joint ministry sends along with this a copy of the aforementioned circular for relevant sectors and levels to study, apply, and strictly comply with, aiming to complete the plan well and settle state budget expenditures in 1975. Based on the characteristics of this year and lessons learned from the work of closing the state budget revenue and expenditure ledgers in recent years, the joint ministry strengthens its efforts and stipulates additional points as follows:

1. For the two provinces of Quang Tri and Thua Thien-Hue in 1975, the work of closing the annual state budget revenue and expenditure ledgers must fully implement all provisions in Circular No. 16-TT/LB mentioned above. Financial and State Bank agencies in these two provinces have the responsibility to disseminate and guide relevant budgetary units, enterprises, and forest farms within their province (including those under central budget) to strictly comply, particularly paying attention to ensuring that all accounts due to the state budget are settled, debts are repaid, loans are recovered, advances, and cash balances are collected before the bank's ledger closure time. Subsequently, financial and State Bank provincial agencies will carry out post-closure tasks (such as telegrams, reports, reconciliation of accounting documents...) in accordance with current regulations.

For provinces and cities from Quang Ngai southward, the main task of the end-of-year ledger closure is to promote cooperation between agencies, enterprises, and the state budget, determining the amount of revenue, expenditure, and remaining balance of local and central budgets up to December 31, 1975, and the amounts transferred between local and central budgets, serving as the basis for switching accounting books on January 1, 1976, and providing a foundation for unified state budget management starting from 1976.

2. For areas being dissolved and provinces/cities being merged into new ones, the work of settling, closing state budget revenues and expenditures at relevant State Bank agencies in the involved provinces/cities must ensure the principle that when dissolving or merging, all agencies, units, and activities must be settled in the entire current budget ledger, including all funds and assets received. Any agency, unit, or enterprise receiving a budget from any level must settle with the respective budgetary authority. Following this, each agency, unit, or enterprise must prepare a report detailing state budget revenues collected and expenditures made from the beginning of the year until the dissolution or merger date, following the format prescribed in the existing accounting system.

3. Matters that need to be done well include:

a) Actively collect and recover capital and operating expenses to prevent "excessive spending," "running expenses," and thoroughly economize on the state budget:

In addition to some units that have achieved good results in collecting state budget revenues and actively returning excess funds, there are still phenomena such as:

- Not fully utilizing receivables due to the state budget;

- Not paying attention to settling temporary accounts;

- Still many cases of rushing to spend "remaining funds" or "spending to avoid deadlines" before the end of the year;

- Not declaring surplus deposits in banks according to the correct provisions of Circular No. 16-TT/LB issued by the Ministry of Finance and the State Bank on December 12, 1973, and even some units have not declared at all;

- Relaxing the recovery of state budget funds from all accounts originating from state budget funds.

This year, first-level management units, provincial and city finance bureaus and State Bank branches need to effectively disseminate the objectives and significance of the end-of-year state budget expenditure ledger closure and especially the contents of the tasks to be carried out according to Circular No. 16-TT/LB to strictly adjust; They must focus on the task of collecting all of 1975 to complete the 1975 state budget plan.

b) Declare the remaining balances of deposit accounts:

For finance bureaus: Part II, Section 3, Point d of Joint Circular No. 16-TT/LB has been determined by finance bureaus to prepare a declaration of the balance of account 733, clearly divided into two parts:

- Part of deposits related to operating expenses and capital of the finance itself;

- Part of deposits related to accounts of ministries or central agencies delegated to local management.

Last year, many finance bureaus did not prepare declarations, did not report to the Ministry of Finance, but local State Bank agencies still allowed them to transfer to the next year for use despite the lack of approval from the Ministry of Finance.

By the end of 1975 and onwards, finance bureaus need to declare the remaining balances of deposit accounts for ministries or central agencies delegated to local management, with detailed analysis and specific proposals for transferring to the next year or returning to the state budget for each account, so that the Ministry of Finance has similar data for management. Local State Bank agencies may only transfer to the next year and use these funds when they have specific approval from the Ministry of Finance (Budget Management Department). All cases without approval from the Ministry of Finance (Budget Management Department) shall not be allowed to use even if the finance bureaus have prepared statistics.

For State Bank agencies: State Bank provincial and city agencies need to closely cooperate with finance agencies to properly recover funds and operating expenses for various levels of the budget or transfer remaining balances to the next year for spending units after obtaining approval from the Ministry or finance bureaus, avoiding automatic transfers to the next year without financial agency approval; serious handling should be done as prescribed in basic regulations, where units intentionally refuse to comply with regulations.

The State Bank at all levels needs to rectify the work of implementing the provisions of the joint Circular of the Ministry of Finance and the State Bank, paying particular attention to disseminating information to units that frequently engage in declaration transactions, ensuring appropriate compliance and obtaining full review opinions from financial authorities so that the State Bank has a basis for handling matters correctly according to regulations.

ofData parameters, verification of existence of funds, and connection to local budgets :

Joint Circular No. 47 dated September 24, 1975 of the Ministry of Finance and the State Bank stipulates the determination of the existence and year-end surplus. The year-end balance at the bank must be equal to the sum of the previous year's revenue portion carried forward, plus the pre-classification of accounts for the next year, and the reduction and temporary recovery accounts reflected during the adjustment period... This balance must necessarily be equal to the year-end surplus. Financial Departments and local State Bank agencies must pay special attention to data, monitor sufficient financial figures, and allocate excess funds from 1975 during the adjustment period to ensure accurate existence and surplus. If there are discrepancies, both parties must identify the causes and agree on the correct method of adjustment according to reality and regulations, without creating different discrepancy statuses year after year.

Upon receiving this information, it is requested that central sectors, provincial and municipal administrative committees organize a thorough study, grasp the requirements of the tasks to be performed, and simultaneously conduct dangerous inspections, draw lessons from the closure of budget revenue and expenditure accounts at the end of 1974, to propose supplementary plans and guidance for implementation units, ensuring a successful conclusion to the 1975 budget.

(*) published in the Official Gazette 1973, No. 20, page 332.