Circular No. 43/2003/TT-BTC stipulates the regime for collecting, submitting, and managing the use of fees for issuing consulting and construction bidding licenses for foreign contractors; fees for issuing certificates of practice for construction design projects.

CIRCULAR

Regulations on the collection, submission, and management of usage fees for tendering permits for foreign contractors in consultancy and construction services; and professional practice certificates for construction project design

Pursuant to Decree No. 03/2000/NĐ-CP dated February 3, 2000 of the Government guiding the implementation of certain Articles of the Enterprise Law; Decree No. 24/2000/NĐ-CP dated July 31, 2000 of the Government detailing the implementation of the Law on Foreign Investment in Vietnam;

Pursuant to Decree No. 57/2002/NĐ-CP dated June 3, 2002 of the Government detailing the implementation of the Ordinance on Fees and Charges;

After receiving comments from the Ministry of Construction, the Ministry of Finance hereby stipulates the regulations on the collection, submission, and management of usage fees for tendering permits for foreign contractors in consultancy and construction services; and professional practice certificates for construction project design as follows:

I. OBJECTS OF APPLICATION AND AMOUNT OF FEES:

1. The objects required to pay the fees for tendering permits for foreign contractors in consultancy and construction services; and professional practice certificates for construction project design as prescribed in this Circular include:

a) Foreign contractors who have been granted tendering permits for foreign contractors in consultancy and construction services by competent state management authorities, winning consultancy and construction tenders in Vietnam as stipulated in Decree No. 24/2000/NĐ-CP dated July 31, 2000 of the Government detailing the implementation of the Law on Foreign Investment in Vietnam.

b) Domestic and foreign individuals who have been granted professional practice certificates for construction project design by competent state management authorities (or units authorized by them) as stipulated in Decree No. 03/2000/NĐ-CP dated February 3, 2000 of the Government guiding the implementation of certain Articles of the Enterprise Law.

2. The amount of fees for tendering permits for foreign contractors in consultancy and construction services; and professional practice certificates for construction project design shall be regulated as follows:

a) Fees for tendering permits for foreign contractors in consultancy and construction services: 2,000,000 (two million) Vietnamese dong per permit.

b) Fees for professional practice certificates for construction project design: 200,000 (two hundred thousand) Vietnamese dong per certificate.

3. Fees for tendering permits for foreign contractors in consultancy and construction services; and professional practice certificates for construction project design shall be collected in Vietnamese dong (VND).

II. ORGANIZATION FOR COLLECTION, SUBMISSION, AND MANAGEMENT OF USE OF FEES:

1. Fees for tendering permits for foreign contractors in consultancy and construction services; and professional practice certificates for construction project design are revenue items belonging to the state budget.

2. The fee collection agency (hereinafter referred to as the collecting agency) has the responsibility to:

a) Organize the collection and submission of fees in accordance with the provisions of this Circular. Publicly display or announce the fee rates at the location where fees are collected. When collecting fee payments, issue and provide receipts for the payment of fees to the fee payer in accordance with the current regulations of the Ministry of Finance on the issuance, management, and use of tax stamps.

b) Maintain accounting records to monitor, reflect the collection, submission, and management and use of the fee amounts according to the current state accounting system. Regularly send the collected fee amounts to the temporary holding account for fees and charges at the State Treasury where the collecting agency is located within one day or at most one week, and organize separate accounting for this revenue according to the accounting system for administrative and public service units.

c) Register, declare, collect, and submit fees to the directly managing Tax Authority in accordance with the provisions of Circular No. 63/2002/TT-BTC dated July 24, 2002 of the Ministry of Finance guiding the implementation of laws on fees and charges. Submit fees for tendering permits for foreign contractors in consultancy and construction services; and professional practice certificates for construction project design into the state budget under chapter, type, item, sub-item corresponding to the current state budget classification. Redistribution to budgets at various levels according to current regulations.

d) Implement financial transparency systems in accordance with the law.

3. The fee collection agency for tendering permits for foreign contractors in consultancy and construction services; and professional practice certificates for construction project design may retain 50% (fifty percent) of the total actual collected fees before submitting them to the state budget to cover costs for the collection of fees for tendering permits for foreign contractors in consultancy and construction services; and professional practice certificates for construction project design as follows:

a) Direct expenses serving the collection of fees such as office supplies, office materials, telephone, electricity, water, travel expenses, official duties expenses; printing (buying) application forms, permits, other types of stamps according to current standards and norms.

b) Expenses for regular maintenance and major repairs of assets, machinery, equipment directly serving the work of fee collection.

c) Expenses for purchasing materials, raw materials, and other related expenses directly linked to the collection of fees.

d) Establish a reward fund and welfare fund for staff directly serving the work of fee collection in the unit. The average annual contribution to the two funds for each person shall not exceed three months' salary if the revenue exceeds that of the previous year, and two months' salary if the revenue is lower than or equal to that of the previous year.

The fee collection agency for tendering permits for foreign contractors in consultancy and construction services; and professional practice certificates for construction project design must manage and use the retained funds as specified above for their intended purposes, with legal evidence in accordance with the regulations.

4. The total amount of fees for tendering permits for foreign contractors in consultancy and construction services; and professional practice certificates for construction project design collected during the period, after retaining the amount according to the ratio prescribed in point 3 above, the remaining amount (50%) must be submitted to the state budget.

5. Annually, the revenue collection agency must prepare a budget estimate and final account for the collection and expenditure of service fees to be submitted to the higher-level administrative management agency, the finance agency, the tax agency at the same level, and the State Treasury where transactions take place. If the allocated service fee amount for the year has not been fully spent, it may be carried over to the next year for continued spending according to the prescribed regulations. The settlement of service fees shall be conducted concurrently with the settlement of the state budget. The Tax Agency shall settle the collected revenue according to the receipt, the total revenue, the amount retained, and the amount to be remitted to the state budget.

III. IMPLEMENTATION

1. This Circular takes effect fifteen days from the date of publication in the Official Gazette. All provisions regarding service fees for issuing consulting and construction permits for foreign contractors and service fees for issuing certificates of practice for construction design projects that conflict with this Circular are hereby abolished.

2. Administrative agencies (or units authorized) having jurisdiction over the issuance of consulting and construction permits for foreign contractors and certificates of practice for construction design projects shall collect, remit, and utilize service fees for issuing consulting and construction permits for foreign contractors and service fees for issuing certificates of practice for construction design projects in accordance with the provisions of this Circular.

During implementation, if there are any difficulties, they should be promptly reported to the Ministry of Finance for research and supplementary guidance./.