Circular No. 48-TC/TCT guiding the implementation of Decision No. 276-CT dated July 28, 1992 of the Chairman of the Council of Ministers on the unified management of various fees and charges.

NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OFFICE

CIRCULAR

DIRECTIVE NO. 48-TC/TCT OF SEPTEMBER 28, 1992 GUIDING DECREE NO. 276-CT OF JULY 28, 1992 ISSUED BY THE CHAIRMAN OF THE STATE COUNCIL OF MINISTERS ON UNIFIED MANAGEMENT OF FEES AND CHARGES. IMPLEMENTATION OF DECREE NO. 276-CT OF JULY 28, 1992 ISSUED BY THE CHAIRMAN OF THE STATE COUNCIL OF MINISTERS ON UNIFIED MANAGEMENT OF FEES AND CHARGES, THE MINISTRY OF FINANCE GUIDES AS FOLLOWS:

REGARDING REGISTRATION FOR COLLECTING FEES AND CHARGES

I-   Pursuant to Article 1 of Decree No. 276-CT, all state agencies, including ministries, sectors, People's Committees at all levels, and other organizations (excluding production and business units) that collect fees and charges must register with the tax authority at the same level. The registration process shall be carried out according to the following provisions:

1- From October 1, 1992, and no later than November 30, 1992, all state agencies and other organizations collecting various types of fees and charges must register with the tax authority.

- Central and provincial-level state agencies and those directly under the central government shall register with the Provincial Tax Office where the fee-collecting agency or organization is located.

- State agencies at the ward, commune, district, and equivalent levels shall register with the District Tax Office where the fee-collecting agency or organization is located.

The declaration form attached to this Circular (Form No. 1) shall be made in two copies: one copy retained by the tax authority and one copy retained by the fee-collecting agency or organization for proof that the registration procedure has been completed.

2- Whenever there is a change in any of the declared items, the fee-collecting agency or organization must report back to the tax authority to adjust and record in the tax authority's tracking ledger.

3- When ceasing to collect fees and charges, the fee-collecting agency or organization must notify the tax authority at least five days before the cessation begins and must settle all outstanding receipts and remit the collected fees and charges to the state budget.

4- Starting from July 28, 1992, any new fee or charge collection (including adjustments in collection rates) by any agency or organization must be agreed upon by the corresponding level tax authority.

5- The tax authority needs to establish a department to receive registration files from fee-collecting agencies and organizations.

After receiving the files, the tax authority must carry out:

- Review the contents of the declarations, compare them with accompanying documents, and if any inaccuracies or ambiguities are found, request the declarant to supplement and correct them promptly.

- Record in the "Register of Fee and Charge Collecting Agencies and Organizations" to closely monitor and manage the fee and charge collectors.

- Categorize fees and charges to implement appropriate management measures.

- Coordinate with the supervising sector to guide fee-collecting agencies and organizations to maintain accounting records, use invoices and receipts, set fee and charge rates, and provide guidance on payment procedures, thereby facilitating their compliance with the Council of Ministers' Decree.

- Regularly inspect the collection and payment of fees and charges, promptly identify and address any violations.

II- MANAGEMENT REGIME FOR FEES AND CHARGES

In accordance with Clause 3 of Decree No. 276-CT, the Ministry of Finance will coordinate with relevant agencies to guide the management regime (collection, distribution, use, and submission to the state budget) for each type of fee and charge. Establish policies for rewards and the proportion of funds allocated to cover costs associated with fee and charge collection. Until specific regulations are issued for each type of fee and charge, the Ministry of Finance temporarily stipulates as follows:

1- Accounting for collections, collection receipts.

a) Fee and charge-collecting agencies and organizations must maintain separate accounting books to track fee and charge collections and related expenses in accordance with the Accounting and Statistics Ordinance.

Accounting books must be registered with the tax authority and stamped before use.

b) Collection receipts:

The Ministry of Finance will issue a separate Circular to guide the issuance, management, and use of fee and charge collection receipts.

- For now, agencies and organizations currently using self-issued collection receipts may continue to use them until December 31, 1992, but they must inventory the existing stock, register with the tax authority, and be subject to tax authority management.

- Agencies and organizations receiving collection receipts from financial authorities must settle accounts for received and used receipts and the collected fees and charges with the issuing authority. They must also inventory and declare the remaining receipts to the tax authority specified in Point 1, Section 1 of this Circular by November 30, 1992, and may continue to use them until then.

- To avoid waste, departments of finance must immediately conduct an inventory and transfer remaining collection receipts to the Provincial Tax Office for management and guide finance offices and district tax offices to follow suit. The handover and receipt of receipts must be completed by December 31, 1992.

- Agencies and organizations that have received receipts from the tax authority should continue to receive them from the tax authority.

Individuals and organizations being charged fees and charges have the right to refuse payment if the collecting agency or organization does not use collection receipts issued by the General Tax Department or if the receipts have not been registered with the tax authority. At the same time, they should inform the tax authority so that appropriate action can be taken.

2- Procedures for submitting fees and charges to the state budget.

a) Fee and charge-collecting agencies and organizations must submit collected funds to the state budget through the treasury system. Depending on the nature of the fees and charges, collection amounts, and other factors, the fee-collecting agency or organization agrees with the tax authority on a specific schedule for submission: every 5 days, 10 days, 15 days, or monthly.

b) Monthly, no later than the 5th day of the following month, fee and charge-collecting agencies and organizations must prepare a unified declaration form (Form No. 2) to send to the tax authority for tracking and submission of the previous month's outstanding fees and charges to the state budget.

c) By the end of the year, no later than January 30 of the following year, fee and charge-collecting agencies and organizations must finalize the amount collected and the amount to be submitted with the tax authority.

d) Collected fees and charges shall be deposited into Item 35 "Collection of Various Fees and Charges" in the current budget classification, according to chapter, category, subcategory, and subclass.

d) Revenue from fees and charges shall be deposited into item 35 "Collection of various types of fees and charges" according to the relevant chapter, type, clause, and category in the current budget classification.

In cases where fees and charges are collected in foreign currency, they shall be deposited into the centralized foreign currency account of the state budget at the Central Foreign Trade Bank or at the branch of the foreign trade bank in the locality where the fees and charges are collected.

e) The amount of fees and charges to be deposited into the state budget is the total amount of fees and charges minus (-) necessary expenses for the collection work and bonuses.

- Necessary expenses for the collection of fees and charges include those expenses allowed under regulations for the collecting agencies and organizations, which only include printing costs (buying) of books, documents, forms, declaration sheets, salaries and allowances of staff directly involved in the collection...

- For agencies and organizations whose fee and charge collection is linked to their state management functions (regular tasks) and other agencies and organizations whose collection expenses have been provided for in the budget according to the approved estimate, separate deductions for these expenses shall not be made.

In cases where there is a large need for expenses that arise outside the regular expenses of the unit and the budget cannot meet such needs, support from the revenue of fees and charges must be obtained with the agreement of the tax authority at the same level regarding the amount to be retained by the agency or organization to ensure sufficient coverage of direct expenses serving the collection of fees and charges.

g) Bonus rate:

Agencies and organizations collecting fees and charges may allocate a percentage (%) of the total revenue to reward staff directly involved in the collection, as well as individuals and organizations cooperating and providing financial support for the collection work. The maximum annual bonus for individuals shall not exceed six months' basic salary according to the current regulations.

For now, for types of fees and charges for which the Ministry of Finance has specified or joint Ministries of Finance and sectors have specified the retention ratio, continue to apply according to those provisions. For other types of fees and charges for which the Ministry of Finance has not yet specified the retention ratio, temporarily within 1992, up to a maximum of 10% of the revenue including foreign currency converted into Vietnamese dong can be allocated as timely bonuses for staff who have achieved results in the collection task but not exceeding six months' basic salary as mentioned above. The actual bonus level will be determined specifically by the Ministry of Finance in coordination with relevant ministries and sectors based on the formal settlement of revenues and expenditures for 1992.

3- For amounts collected from January 1, 1992, and retained according to the regulations of ministries and sectors that have not yet been deposited into the state budget or fully utilized, they must be deposited into the state budget in accordance with point 2d, Section II as stated above.

4- Fees and charges that the Ministry of Finance had previously left to sectors for self-collection and self-expenditure without depositing into the state budget (traffic fees, bridge and ferry tolls...) must now be deposited into the state budget according to the provisions set out in point 2 above, starting from January 1, 1993. Specifically, traffic fees should be deposited into item 31 of the budget according to the corresponding chapter, type, section, and category in the budget schedule; the Ministry of Finance will plan to reallocate funds to the Ministry of Transport and Posts and Telecommunications according to approved plans.

III- IMPLEMENTATION

Pursuant to Article 2 of Decision No. 276-CT, ministries, sectors, and localities must urgently coordinate with financial authorities and tax authorities at the same level to review each type of fee and charge currently in use, propose amendments and supplements, and report to the Ministry of Finance for consolidation and submission to the Government for prompt issuance of a unified system of fee and charge collection nationwide.

Pending the general system, temporary implementation of existing regulations on fee and charge collection issued by ministries, sectors, and localities that remain appropriate shall continue, but compliance with registration procedures, collection and payment procedures, accounting records, and usage of collection receipts according to Sections I and II of this Circular must be adhered to.

Tax authorities at all levels are responsible for inspecting and urging agencies and organizations collecting fees and charges to comply with prescribed regulations; simultaneously, they must cooperate with provincial sectors to organize inspections and reviews of the types of fees and charges being collected. Inspection contents include:

- On what basis do agencies and organizations collecting fees and charges operate?

- Is the authority to issue decisions on the collection of fees and charges consistent with their functions and responsibilities?

- The subjects paying fees and charges;

- Collection rates;

- Accounting records tracking collections and collection receipts;

- Allocation and use of collected fees and charges;

- Are agencies and organizations collecting fees and charges implementing the guidance of their supervising ministries and sectors correctly?

The inspection period runs from January 1, 1992, to the date of inspection.

Upon discovering unreasonable fee and charge revenues during inspections, timely reports must be made to the Ministry of Finance and supervising agencies to recommend adjustments, supplements, or cessation of enforcement.

By the end of January 1993, tax bureaus must compile inspection situations and results and submit reports to the General Tax Department. The General Tax Department will consolidate the reports and submit them to the Ministry of Finance for presentation to the Government.

During implementation, if difficulties or obstacles arise, they must be promptly reported to the Ministry of Finance for additional guidance.