Circular No. 48/2010/TT-BTC guiding the collection, payment, and management of fees for issuing international travel agency licenses, establishing branch and representative office licenses for foreign tourism enterprises in Vietnam, tour guide cards, and tour guide certificate.

 CIRCULAR

Guidelines on the collection, submission, management, and utilization of fees for issuing international travel agency licenses, branch establishment permits, representative office permits for foreign tourism enterprises in Vietnam, tour guide cards, and tour guide certificate issuance.

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Pursuant to the Tourism Law;

Pursuant to the Decree on Fees and Charges;

Pursuant to Decree No. 92/2007/NĐ-CP dated June 1, 2007 of the Government guiding the implementation of certain provisions of the Tourism Law;

Pursuant to Decrees No. 57/2002/NĐ-CP dated June 3, 2002 and No. 24/2006/NĐ-CP dated March 6, 2006 of the Government detailing the implementation of the Ordinance on Fees and Charges;

Pursuant to Decree No. 118/2008/NĐ-CP dated November 27, 2008 of the Government stipulating the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Finance;

After receiving comments from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism at Circular No. 117/BVHTTDL-KHTC dated January 12, 2010.

 The Ministry of Finance hereby stipulates the collection, submission, management, and utilization of fees for issuing international travel agency licenses, branch establishment permits, representative office permits for foreign tourism enterprises in Vietnam, tour guide cards, and tour guide certificates as follows:

Article 1: Collection Amounts and Recipients

1. Organizations and individuals who obtain from state management agencies in charge of tourism an international travel agency license, branch establishment permit, representative office permit for foreign tourism enterprises in Vietnam, tour guide card, and tour guide certificate in accordance with the Tourism Law and Decree No. 92/2007/NĐ-CP dated June 1, 2007 of the Government guiding the implementation of certain provisions of the Tourism Law shall pay the fees prescribed in this Circular.

2. The collection amounts for fees for issuing international travel agency licenses, branch establishment permits, representative office permits for foreign tourism enterprises in Vietnam, tour guide cards, and tour guide certificates are as follows:

a) Issuing an international travel agency license:

+ New issue: VND 2,000,000 per license.

+ Renewal or reissue: VND 1,500,000 per license.

b) Issuing a branch establishment permit or representative office permit for foreign tourism enterprises in Vietnam:

+ New issue: VND 3,000,000 per permit.

+ Renewal, reissue, or extension: VND 1,500,000 per permit.

c) Issuing new, renewal, or reissue of tour guide cards in accordance with Article 72 of the Tourism Law:

+ International tour guides: VND 650,000 per card.

+ Domestic tour guides: VND 400,000 per card.

d) Issuing new, renewal, or reissue of tour guide certificates: VND 200,000 per certificate.

3. The fees for issuing international travel agency licenses, branch establishment permits, representative office permits for foreign tourism enterprises in Vietnam, tour guide cards, and tour guide certificates shall be collected in Vietnamese dong.

Article 2: Organization of Collection, Submission, and Management Utilization

1. The General Department of Tourism, Departments of Culture, Sports and Tourism, and other competent state management agencies in charge of tourism as stipulated in the Tourism Law and Decree No. 92/2007/NĐ-CP dated June 1, 2007 of the Government shall organize the collection of fees for issuing international travel agency licenses, branch establishment permits, representative office permits for foreign tourism enterprises in Vietnam, tour guide cards, and tour guide certificates.

The fee collection agencies shall have the following responsibilities:

a) Publicly display at the place where fees are collected: the recipients of the fees, the amount of fees for issuing international travel agency licenses and tour guide cards in accordance with the provisions of this Circular. When collecting money, they must issue a receipt for the fee payment to the payer in accordance with the regulations.

b) Open a temporary account for holding the collected fees for issuing international travel agency licenses, branch establishment permits, representative office permits for foreign tourism enterprises in Vietnam, tour guide cards, and tour guide certificates at the State Treasury where their main office is located. They must prepare a list daily or at least once a week and transfer all collected fees to the account opened at the State Treasury, and manage them strictly in accordance with the current financial regulations.

c) Register, declare, and pay fees to the Tax Authority where their main office is located, implement payments, settle receipts for fee collections, and settle the collection and submission of fees to the directly managing Tax Authority in accordance with the laws on fees and charges.

2. The fee collection agencies for issuing international travel agency licenses, branch establishment permits, representative office permits for foreign tourism enterprises in Vietnam, tour guide cards, and tour guide certificates may retain a portion of the collected fees to cover expenses related to the collection of fees at the following percentages of the total actual collected fees:

- Fees for issuing international travel agency licenses, branch establishment permits, representative office permits for foreign tourism enterprises in Vietnam; international tour guide cards, domestic tour guide cards: retain 60% for the General Department of Tourism, 30% for the Departments of Culture, Sports and Tourism, and submit 10% to the state budget.

- Fees for issuing tour guide certificates: retain 90% for the Departments of Culture, Sports and Tourism and submit 10% to the state budget.

3. The retained portion of the collected fees at the percentage specified in Clause 2 of this Article shall be used for specific expenditure items as follows:

a) Payment to individuals directly performing work, services, and fee collection: salaries, wages, allowances, contributions according to regulations based on salary (health insurance, social insurance, and trade union fees), excluding salary costs for officials and civil servants already receiving salaries from the state budget in accordance with the prescribed regulations.

b) Direct expenses serving the collection of fees such as office supplies, office materials, communication, electricity, water, travel expenses (travel costs, accommodation rental fees, lodging costs) in accordance with current standards and norms.

c) Regular maintenance and major repair costs for assets, machinery, and equipment directly serving the collection of fees for issuing international travel agency licenses, branch establishment permits, representative office permits for foreign tourism enterprises in Vietnam, tour guide cards, and tour guide certificates.

d) Purchasing materials, raw materials, and other expenses directly related to issuing international travel agency business licenses, establishing branch offices and representative offices of foreign tourism enterprises in Vietnam, issuing tour guide cards, and issuing tour guide interpreter certificates.

đ) Rewarding and providing welfare benefits for staff directly involved in collecting fees for issuing international travel agency business licenses, establishing branch offices and representative offices of foreign tourism enterprises in Vietnam, issuing tour guide cards, and issuing tour guide interpreter certificates within the unit according to the principle of an average of up to three months' salary if this year's revenue exceeds last year's, and up to two months' salary if this year's revenue is lower than or equal to last year's.

e) Establishing management software, setting up network systems, renting servers, and maintaining network systems.

g) Training on travel agency operations, tour guiding, and tour guide interpreting.

The entire amount of fees collected as stipulated above must be used for their intended purposes with valid documentation in accordance with prescribed regulations.

4. The total amount of fees collected for issuing international travel agency business licenses, establishing branch offices and representative offices of foreign tourism enterprises in Vietnam, issuing tour guide cards, and issuing tour guide interpreter certificates (including cash, checks, or bank transfers), after deducting the retained portion at the ratio specified in Clause 2 of this Article, the remaining amount must be deposited into the state budget according to the corresponding chapter, type, item, sub-item of the State Budget Classification currently in effect..

Article 3. Implementation Organization

1. This Circular takes effect from May 27, 2010, and replaces Circular No. 107/2002/TT-BTC dated December 2, 2002, issued by the Ministry of Finance, guiding the collection, payment, and management of the use of fees for issuing international travel agency business licenses and tour guide cards.

2. Other contents related to the collection, payment, management, use, and public disclosure of fees not guided by this Circular shall be implemented in accordance with the guidance provided in Circular No. 63/2002/TT-BTC dated July 24, 2002, and Circular No. 45/2006/TT-BTC dated May 25, 2006, amending and supplementing Circular No. 63/2002/TT-BTC dated July 24, 2002, of the Ministry of Finance guiding the implementation of laws on fees and charges; Circular No. 60/2007/TT-BTC dated June 14, 2007, and Circular No. 157/2009/TT-BTC dated August 6, 2009, amending and supplementing Circular No. 60/2007/TT-BTC dated June 14, 2007, of the Ministry of Finance guiding the implementation of certain provisions of the Law on Tax Administration and guiding the implementation of Decree No. 85/2007/NĐ-CP dated May 25, 2007, of the Government detailing the implementation of certain provisions of the Law on Tax Administration.

3. For valid applications submitted before the date this Circular takes effect and which are granted international travel agency business licenses or tour guide cards after this Circular takes effect, the collection and payment of fees for issuing international travel agency business licenses and tour guide cards shall be carried out in accordance with Circular No. 107/2002/TT-BTC dated December 2, 2002.

4. During the implementation process, if there are any difficulties, organizations, individuals, or relevant agencies are requested to report to the Ministry of Finance for study and adjustment as appropriate./.