Consolidated Document number 48/VBHN-BTC Circular detailing and guiding the implementation of certain provisions of Decree No. 163/2016/NĐ-CP dated December 21, 2016 of the Government detailing the implementation of certain provisions of the State Budget Law.

MINISTRY OF FINANCE --------	SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF VIET NAM Independence - Freedom - Happiness ---------------
Number: 48/CONSOLIDATED DOCUMENT - MINISTRY OF FINANCE	Hanoi, December 22, 2020

 

CIRCULAR[1]

DETAILING AND GUIDING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF CERTAIN ARTICLES OF DECREE NO. 163/2016/ND-CP OF THE GOVERNMENT DATED DECEMBER 21, 2016 ON DETAILING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF CERTAIN PROVISIONS OF THE STATE BUDGET LAW

Circular No. 342/2016/TT-BTC dated December 30, 2016 of the Ministry of Finance detailing and guiding the implementation of certain articles of Decree No. 163/2016/ND-CP dated December 21, 2016 of the Government detailing the implementation of certain provisions of the State Budget Law, which took effect from February 13, 2017, was amended and supplemented by:

Circular No. 81/2020/TT-BTC dated September 15, 2020 of the Ministry of Finance amending and supplementing certain articles of Circular No. 110/2018/TT-BTC dated November 15, 2018 of the Ministry of Finance guiding the repurchase and swap of government debt instruments, government-guaranteed bonds, and local government bonds in the domestic market and Circular No. 342/2016/TT-BTC dated December 30, 2016 of the Ministry of Finance detailing and guiding the implementation of certain articles of Decree No. 163/2016/ND-CP dated December 21, 2016 of the Government detailing the implementation of certain provisions of the State Budget Law, which took effect from November 1, 2020.

Pursuant to the State Budget Law dated June 25, 2015;

Based on Decree No. 163/2016/NĐ-CP dated December 21, 2016 of the Government detailing the implementation of certain provisions of the State Budget Law;

Pursuant to Decree No. 215/2013/NĐ-CP dated December 23, 2013, promulgated by the Government stipulating the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Finance;

Pursuant to the proposal of the Director of the State Budget Department;

The Minister of Finance promulgates this Circular detailing and guiding the implementation of certain articles of Decree No. 163/2016/ND-CP dated December 21, 2016 of the Government detailing the implementation of certain provisions of the State Budget Law.[2]

PART I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope of Regulation

1. This Circular details and guides the implementation of certain articles of Decree No. 163/2016/ND-CP dated December 21, 2016 of the Government detailing the implementation of certain provisions of the State Budget Law (hereinafter referred to as Decree No. 163/2016/ND-CP of the Government).

2. Contents regarding the organization of revenue collection and accounting for state budget revenues; procedures, formalities, accounting, and control of state budget expenditures; allocation, payment of construction investment capital; management mechanism of borrowed funds and aid; management and use of the state budget for agencies of the Communist Party of Vietnam; management of village-level budgets; publicizing the state budget, the Ministry of Finance shall guide or coordinate with relevant agencies to issue separate guidance documents.

Article 2. Applicability

1. State administrative agencies, political organizations, and political-social organizations;

2. Political-social-professional organizations, social organizations, social-professional organizations supported by the state budget according to tasks assigned by the State;

3. Publicly-owned service units;

4. Other organizations and individuals related to the state budget.

Chapter II

LEVELS OF MANAGEMENT OF THE STATE BUDGET

Article 3. Sources of central government budget revenue

1. Central government budget revenues that are fully retained (including late payment penalties as stipulated by the Tax Administration Law), including:

a) Value-added tax collected from imported goods;

b) Export tax, import tax;

c) Special consumption tax on imported goods, including special consumption tax on imported goods sold domestically by import businesses;

d) Environmental protection tax on imported goods;

đ) Mineral resources tax, corporate income tax, value-added tax, dividends paid to the host country, various fees, rental payments for water surfaces, other taxes, fees, and revenues from exploration and exploitation of oil and gas;

e) Non-reimbursable grants from governments of other countries, international organizations, other organizations, and individuals abroad to the Government of Vietnam;

g) Fees from services provided by central state agencies, excluding amounts authorized to be deducted for cost reimbursement; fees from services provided by centrally-affiliated publicly-owned service units and centrally-affiliated state-owned enterprises, after deducting the portion retained to cover costs as prescribed by law;

The deducted and retained amounts for cost reimbursement do not fall within the scope of state budget revenue and are managed and utilized in accordance with the law;

h) Fees collected by central state agencies, excluding business registration fees under point g and real estate transfer tax under point h Clause 1 Article 5 of this Circular;

i) Proceeds from administrative fines, penalties, and other confiscations as prescribed by law decided by central state agencies to implement such penalties and confiscations;

k) Revenue from the sale of state assets, including proceeds from the transfer of land use rights attached to assets on land, changes in land use purposes by state agencies, political organizations, political-social organizations, publicly-owned service units, limited liability companies wholly owned by the state before undergoing shareholding reform, restructuring, and other units and organizations under central management;

l) Revenue from state-owned assets established by central agencies, units, and organizations after deducting costs as prescribed by law;

m) Recovered capital of the central government's budget invested in economic organizations (including principal and interest); dividends and profits distributed at joint-stock companies and limited liability companies with two or more shareholders having state capital represented by ministries, ministerial-level agencies, government agencies, and other central-level agencies; remaining post-tax profits of state-owned enterprises after setting aside reserves as prescribed by law, represented by ministries, ministerial-level agencies, government agencies, and other central-level agencies;

n) Revenue from the right to exploit mineral resources and water resources, part of which is retained by the central government as prescribed by law;

o) Revenue from the use of sea areas under the jurisdiction of the central government;

p) Excess revenue over expenditure of the State Bank of Vietnam;

q) Revenue from the central financial reserve fund;

r) Surplus revenue of the central budget;

s) Revenue transferred from previous years to the central budget;

t) Other revenues as prescribed by law, including revenues from lower-level budgets transferred upwards.

2. The revenue items to be shared between the central budget and local budgets (including late payment penalties as prescribed by the Law on Tax Administration) include:

a) Value-added tax, including value-added tax of subcontractors arising from service activities serving oil and gas exploration and exploitation operations; except for the value-added tax prescribed in points a and đ of Clause 1 of this Article;

b) Corporate income tax, including corporate income tax of subcontractors arising from service activities serving oil and gas exploration and exploitation operations (including capital gains tax in oil and gas activities); except for the corporate income tax prescribed in point đ of Clause 1 of this Article;

c) Personal income tax;

d) Special consumption tax, except for the special consumption tax prescribed in point c of Clause 1 of this Article;

đ) Environmental protection tax, except for the environmental protection tax prescribed in point d of Clause 1 of this Article.

For environmental protection tax collected from domestically produced gasoline and diesel, the amount of revenue generated shall be determined based on the volume sold by the main enterprises to the market and the proportion of domestic production volume to total imported volumes. Annually, the Ministry of Finance will determine this ratio.

Article 4. Expenditure Responsibilities of the Central Budget

1. Development investment expenditures:

a) Investment in basic construction for programs and projects of ministries, agencies at the level of ministries, government agencies, and other central agencies in the fields specified in Clause 3 of this Article;

b) Investment and capital support for enterprises providing public goods and services ordered by the state; economic organizations; financial institutions of the central government; state investment in enterprises as prescribed by law;

c) Other development investment expenditures as prescribed by law.

2. National reserve expenditure.

3. Recurrent expenditure of ministries, agencies at the level of ministries, government agencies, and other central agencies directly managed in the following areas:

a) Defense, as separately provided by the Government and implementing guidelines;

b) Security and social order, as separately provided by the Government and implementing guidelines;

c) Education and training affairs, including higher education, college, secondary vocational education activities; activities of boarding schools for ethnic minorities and other forms of education, training, and development;

d) Science and technology affairs, including basic research, application, and deployment tasks in natural sciences, engineering, social sciences, humanities, and other scientific fields;

đ) Health affairs, population, and family, including preventive health care, medical examination, and treatment; funding and supporting contributions to health insurance for groups covered by the state budget according to the Law on Health Insurance; food safety; population and family; other health activities;

e) Cultural information affairs, including preservation, museums, libraries, restoration of historical sites, historical archives, literary and artistic creation activities, and other cultural and information activities;

g) Broadcasting, television, and news agency affairs;

h) Physical culture and sports affairs, including training and coaching of national team coaches and athletes; national and international competitions; management of sports facilities and other physical culture and sports activities;

i) Environmental protection affairs, including investigation, prevention, and control of environmental pollution; remediation and environmental protection; response to climate change; ensuring clean water and environmental sanitation, and other environmental protection activities;

Economic activities, including:

Transportation affairs, including management, maintenance, repair, operation assurance, and traffic safety on roads, railways, inland waterways, maritime, aviation, and other transportation activities;

Agriculture, forestry, salt industry, fisheries, water conservancy, and rural development affairs, including agricultural, forestry, salt industry, fisheries, and water conservancy development activities; new rural construction and other rural development activities;

Natural resources affairs, including land surveying, resource management, geological and mineral surveys, meteorology and hydrology; measurement and mapping; administrative boundary demarcation, border marker installation, and other resource management activities;

Planning; investment promotion, trade, tourism; expenditure for the import, storage, protection, and insurance of national reserve goods carried out by the state;

Other economic activities, including search and rescue, labor safety and hygiene;

Activities of state agencies, political organizations, and political-social organizations; support for activities of occupational-political social organizations, social organizations, and occupational-social organizations as prescribed by law, including:

Activities of the National Assembly, Office of the President, ministries, agencies at the level of ministries, government agencies, and other central agencies; the People's Court system, the People's Procuracy, State Audit Agency; activities of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam; activities of the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front; the General Confederation of Labor of Vietnam; the Central Committee of the Vietnam Veterans Association; the Central Committee of the Vietnam Women's Union; the Central Committee of the Vietnam Farmers' Union; the Central Committee of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union;

Support for occupational-political social organizations, social organizations, and occupational-social organizations under central management as prescribed in Article 10 of Decree No. 163/2016/NĐ-CP of the Government;

Social security expenditure, including ensuring implementation of benefits for retirees, those with work-related disabilities, and those receiving social insurance and other allowances guaranteed by the central budget; policies and activities for caring for persons who have contributed to the revolution; social assistance policies and activities; supporting the social insurance fund according to the Government's regulations; expenditures for preventing social evils and other social activities guaranteed by the central budget as prescribed by law;

Other recurrent expenditures as prescribed by law.

4. Payment of interest, fees, and other incidental costs arising from government loans.

5. Expenditure on aid.

6. Expenditure on lending as prescribed by law.

7. Expenditure to supplement the central financial reserve fund.

8. Expenditure to transfer central budget sources to the following year.

9. Expenditure to balance the budget and targeted supplementation for local budgets.

Article 5. Revenue Sources of Local Budgets

1. Local budget revenues that enjoy 100% (including late payment penalties as stipulated by the Law on Tax Administration), including:

a) Mineral resource tax, excluding mineral resource tax collected from oil and gas exploration and extraction activities;

b) Agricultural land use tax;

c) Non-agricultural land use tax;

d) Land use fee;

đ) Land rental fee, water surface rental fee, excluding land rental and water surface rental fees from oil and gas exploration and extraction activities;

e) Rental and sale proceeds from state-owned housing;

g) Business registration fee;

h) Stamp duty;

i) Proceeds from lottery activities, including electronic lottery activities;

k) Recovery of capital invested by the local budget in economic organizations as prescribed; dividends and profits distributed at joint-stock companies and limited liability companies with two or more members having state capital represented by provincial People's Committees; remaining post-tax profits after setting aside funds as prescribed for state-owned enterprises represented by provincial People's Committees;

l) Proceeds from selling state assets, including proceeds from transferring land use rights attached to property on land, changing land use purposes by state agencies, political organizations, political-social organizations, public service units, wholly state-owned companies, and enterprises with local budget participation before privatization, restructuring, and other units and organizations under local management;

m) Non-reimbursable aid from international organizations, other organizations, and individuals abroad directly to localities;

n) Fees from local state agency service activities, excluding amounts authorized to be deducted for operational expenses; fees from service activities conducted by local public service units and state-owned enterprises, after deducting the portion set aside to cover costs as prescribed by law;

The deducted and retained amounts for cost reimbursement do not fall within the scope of state budget revenue and are managed and utilized in accordance with the law;

o) Fees collected by local state agencies;

p) Proceeds from administrative fines, penalties, and other confiscations as prescribed by law decided by local state agencies to impose penalties and confiscations;

q) Proceeds from state-owned assets established by local agencies, units, and organizations after deducting costs as prescribed by law;

r) Proceeds from local budget shares of mineral exploitation rights and water resources exploitation rights as prescribed by law;

s) Marine area use fees for marine areas within local jurisdiction;

Proceeds from public welfare land funds and other public asset income;

u) Contributions from organizations and individuals as prescribed by law;

v) Proceeds from the local financial reserve fund;

x) Local budget surplus proceeds;

Other revenue sources as prescribed by law, including protection and development of rice-growing land fees; compensation payments to the state for damages caused in land management and use; lower-level budget contributions.

2. Revenue shares between the central budget and local budgets as a percentage (%) as prescribed in Clause 2, Article 3 of this Circular.

3. Supplementary revenue to balance the budget and targeted supplementation from the central budget.

4. Revenue transferred from the previous year's local budget.

Article 6. Local budget expenditure tasks

1. Development investment expenditures:

a) Investment in basic construction for programs and projects managed by local authorities in fields as specified in Clause 2 of this Article;

b) Investment and capital support for enterprises providing public goods and services ordered by the state, economic organizations, and local financial organizations in accordance with the law; state investment in enterprises in accordance with the law;

c) Other development investment expenditures as prescribed by law.

2. Recurrent expenditures of agencies and units directly under local management in the following areas:

a) Educational and vocational training affairs, including primary education, secondary education, literacy activities, kindergartens, preschools, boarding schools for ethnic minorities, and other educational activities; higher education, college, technical secondary education, vocational education, and other forms of training and development;

b) Scientific research, including scientific research and technology application tasks, and other scientific and technological affairs;

c) Defense, security, and social order and safety tasks guaranteed by the local budget in accordance with specific regulations of the Government and guiding documents;

d) Health affairs, population, and family, including preventive health care, medical examination, and treatment; funding and supporting insurance premiums for insured groups funded or supported by the state budget according to the Law on Health Insurance; food safety; population and family; other health activities;

đ) Cultural information affairs, including cultural heritage preservation, museum, library, restoration of historical relics, historical archives, literary and artistic creation activities, and other cultural and information activities;

e) Broadcasting and television affairs;

g) Physical culture and sports affairs, including coaching and training of provincial-level team coaches and athletes; county and provincial-level competitions; management of sports competition facilities and other physical culture and sports activities;

h) Environmental protection affairs, including environmental pollution investigation, prevention, and control activities; environmental remediation and protection; climate change response; clean water supply and environmental sanitation, and other environmental protection activities;

i) Economic activities:

Transportation affairs, including road and inland waterway traffic management, maintenance, repair, operation assurance, and safety activities, and other transportation activities;

Agriculture, forestry, salt industry, fisheries, water conservancy, and rural development affairs, including agricultural, forestry, salt industry, fisheries, and water conservancy development activities; new rural construction and other rural development activities;

Natural resource affairs, including land and natural resource surveying, management; measurement and mapping, administrative boundary measurement; land registry archiving, and other natural resource management activities;

Planning; investment promotion, trade, and tourism;

Urban construction affairs: maintenance and upkeep of street lighting systems, sidewalks, water supply and drainage systems, parks, and other urban construction activities;

Other economic activities, including search and rescue, labor safety and hygiene;

k) Activities of state agencies, political organizations, and political-social organizations; support for activities of occupational-political-social organizations, social organizations, and occupational-social organizations in accordance with the law, including:

State agency activities, Communist Party of Vietnam agency activities; Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee, Vietnam Veterans Association, Vietnam Women's Union, Vietnam Farmers' Union, Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union at the local level activities;

Support for occupational-political-social organizations, social organizations, and occupational-social organizations at the local level as stipulated in Article 10 of Decree No. 163/2016/NĐ-CP of the Government;

l) Social security expenses, including social welfare camps, social relief, famine relief, social evil prevention, and other social security policies; implementation of social policies for groups guaranteed by the locality according to the law;

m) Other recurrent expenses as prescribed by law, including payments to upper-level budgets;

3. Interest, fee, and other incidental expense payments from funds borrowed by the provincial government;

4. Supplementing the local financial reserve fund;

5. Transfer of budget sources to the next fiscal year;

6. Supplementing the budget balance, targeted supplements to lower-level budgets.

Article 7. Principles for分级财政收入和各级预算支出任务

1. The division of revenue sources between local budget levels shall be carried out in accordance with Article 39 of the State Budget Law, Clause 17 of Decree No. 163/2016/NĐ-CP of the Government, and the following requirements:

a) Linked to the responsibilities and management capabilities of each level, minimizing supplementation from higher-level budgets to lower-level budgets; encouraging all levels to strengthen revenue management and prevent revenue loss. Revenue sources closely tied to the management role of a particular level of government shall be allocated to that level's budget;

b) Limiting the allocation of revenue sources with small scales to multiple levels of budget;

c) Ensuring that the percentage ratio of revenue distribution for the budget of the current level and lower-level budgets does not exceed the percentage ratio stipulated by the higher level for each distributed revenue item;

2. The division of expenditure tasks between local budget levels must ensure the principles set forth in Article 39 of the State Budget Law and Clause 17 of Decree No. 163/2016/NĐ-CP of the Government;

3. During the stable budget period:

a) Not changing the percentage ratio of revenue distribution among budget levels;

b) Annually, based on the balancing capacity of the higher-level budget, the competent authority decides to increase the supplementary balance transfer from the higher-level budget to the lower-level budget compared to the first year of the stable budget period;

c) Localities may use the annual increased revenue that their local budget receives according to the allocation to increase spending to fulfill economic and social development tasks, ensuring national defense and security. For the increased revenue exceeding the budget estimate as stipulated in Clause 2, Article 59 of the State Budget Law;

In special cases where new projects generate additional revenue during the stable budget period, causing significant increases in local budget revenue, the increased revenue must be submitted to the higher-level budget. The People's Committee at the provincial level shall submit to the People's Council at the same level to decide on submitting this increased revenue to the higher-level budget and implementing targeted supplementary transfers to the lower-level budget according to Point d, Clause 3, Article 40 of the State Budget Law to support infrastructure investment in the locality according to the project approved by the competent authority;

d) The People's Committees at various levels, based on the allocated revenue sources and expenditure tasks, the percentage ratio of revenue distribution, the supplementary balance transfer from the higher-level budget, revenue collection systems, standards, and budget expenditure quotas, and specific requirements for economic and social development in the locality, shall submit to the People's Council at the same level to decide on the budget revenue and expenditure plan and proactively manage and operate the budget revenue and expenditure plan decided by the People's Council;

Article 8. Determination of the Percentage Ratio of Distributed Revenue Allocation Between Levels of Budget in the First Year of the Stable Budget Period

1. The determination of the percentage ratio of revenue distribution between the central budget and the budget of each province and centrally-administered city is as follows:

a) The percentage ratio of revenue distribution between the central budget and the local budget is determined separately for each province and centrally-administered city and applied uniformly to all distributed revenue items within the territory;

b) The formula for determining the percentage ratio of revenue distribution between the central budget and the local budget is as follows:

The total expenditure of the local budget is determined based on the principles, criteria, and standard allocation of the state budget according to the resolution of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly (including development investment expenditure and regular expenditure) for the first year of the stable budget period (hereinafter referred to as A);

The total amount of local budget revenue enjoying 100% is determined based on the revenue-raising capacity, excluding lottery revenue, land use fee revenue, supplementary revenue from the higher-level budget, surplus revenue, voluntary contribution revenue, aid revenue, and revenue transferred from the previous year's budget (hereinafter referred to as B);

The total amount of revenue distributed between the central budget and the local budget is determined based on the revenue-raising capacity (hereinafter referred to as C);

If A - B < C, then the percentage ratio is calculated using the formula:

If A - B ≥ C then the percentage ratio is determined as 100%, and any difference will be supplemented by the central budget to balance the local budget. The determination of the supplementary balance transfer for each locality is specified in Clause 1, Article 9 of this Circular.

2. Determination of the Percentage Ratio of Revenue Distribution Between Local Government Budget Levels:

a) The revenue items distributed between local government budget levels include:

Revenue items related to taxes, fees, and other local budget revenues enjoying 100% as stipulated in Clause 1, Article 5 of this Circular;

Revenue items distributed between the central budget and the local budget, with the portion enjoyed by the local budget as stipulated in Clause 2, Article 5 of this Circular;

b) The People's Council at the provincial level decides the percentage ratio of revenue distribution between the provincial budget and the budget of each district, county, town, city under the province, city under the centrally-administered city, and the budget of each commune, ward, town. The decision on the percentage ratio of revenue distribution between the provincial budget and the budget of each district, county, town, city under the province, city under the centrally-administered city, and the budget of each commune, ward, town can be applied to specific revenue items.

Article 9. Determining Additional Amounts from Higher-Level Budget to Lower-Level Budget

1. The balancing additional amount from higher-level budget to lower-level budget:

a) The balancing additional amount from the central budget to each local budget for the first year of the stable budget period shall be determined according to the formula:

Balancing additional amount = A - (B + C)

Where A, B, C are determined according to the provisions set out in point b, Clause 1, Article 8 of this Circular; C includes revenue items shared between the central budget and local budgets, with the local budget share expanded to 100%.

b) The balancing additional amount from higher-level budget to lower-level budget at the local level shall be determined based on the principle of determining the difference between expenditure and revenue of lower-level budgets, including revenue items enjoyed at 100% and the share received according to a percentage (%) from revenue items shared among local government levels;

c) During the stable budget period, based on the balancing capacity of the higher-level budget, the competent authority decides to increase the balancing additional amount from the higher-level budget to the lower-level budget compared to the first year of the stable budget period.

2. Targeted additional amounts from higher-level budget to lower-level budget shall be determined according to principles, criteria, budget allocation standards, and budget expenditure standards and norms; the balancing capacity of the higher-level budget and the balancing capacity of each lower-level local budget, to support the lower-level budget in the following cases:

a) Implementing new policies and systems issued by higher levels that were not included in the budget estimate of the first year of the stable budget period; specific support levels are determined based on the balancing capacity of related budget levels;

b) Implementing national target programs and other target programs, projects of higher levels assigned to lower levels; specific support levels according to the approved budget estimates;

c) Supporting expenditures to address natural disasters, catastrophes, and widespread epidemics exceeding the balancing capacity of the lower-level budget, after the lower-level budget has utilized the contingency reserve and local financial reserve fund as prescribed but still cannot meet the needs;

d) Supporting the implementation of significant objectives, works, and projects important for the socio-economic development requirements of the locality, within planning and approved by the competent authority in accordance with the laws on investment management and construction. Support levels are specifically determined for each program and project. The total annual additional capital investment development funding from the central budget to the local budget under this provision shall not exceed 30% of the total basic construction investment spending of the central budget;

đ) Targeted additional amounts from higher-level budget to lower-level budget shall be determined annually. The use of targeted supplementary funds must comply with the specified objectives. In case the lower-level budget uses the funds incorrectly or does not exhaust them, it must repay the higher-level budget.

Chapter III

PREPARATION OF THE ANNUAL STATE BUDGET ESTIMATE

Article 10. Guidelines for preparing budget estimates and announcing the budget check figures

1. Based on the Prime Minister's regulations on developing economic and social development plans and the state budget estimate for the following year, the Ministry of Planning and Investment and the Ministry of Finance shall provide guidelines for preparing economic and social development plans, public investment plans, state budget estimates, and announcing the budget check figures for revenue and expenditure of the state budget for the following year.

The time for providing guidelines for preparing state budget estimates and announcing the budget check figures for revenue and expenditure of the state budget for the following year shall be carried out according to the provisions of Clause 1, Clause 2, and Clause 3 of Article 22 of Decree No. 163/2016/NĐ-CP of the Government.

2. Ministries, ministerial-level agencies, government agencies, other central agencies, and People's Committees of provinces and centrally-administered cities shall provide guidelines for preparing budget estimates and announcing the budget check figures for revenue and expenditure of the state budget for the following year to subordinate units and lower-level People's Committees to ensure consistency with the check figures in terms of total amounts and detailed fields of revenue and expenditure of the competent authority as stipulated in Clause 4 of Article 22 of Decree No. 163/2016/NĐ-CP of the Government.

Article 11. Preparing state budget revenue and expenditure estimates

1. The preparation of state budget estimates must ensure principles of state budget balance, bases, and requirements as prescribed by the State Budget Law, Decree No. 163/2016/NĐ-CP of the Government, and guiding documents specified in Article 10 of this Circular.

2. Preparing state budget revenue and expenditure estimates at budgetary units and organizations supported by the budget:

a) Budgetary units, project sponsors, and organizations supported by the budget shall prepare state budget revenue and expenditure estimates in accordance with Clause 1, Clause 2, Clause 3, and Clause 4 of Article 23 of Decree No. 163/2016/NĐ-CP of the Government;

b) Before July 20 each year, level I budgetary units at the central level shall prepare estimates of revenue and expenditure directly managed and used; review and consolidate estimates prepared by subordinate units; submit detailed reports on state budget estimates, including detailed development investment expenditures and regular expenditures by field, national reserve expenditures, and foreign aid (if any), and detailed estimates by each budgetary unit to the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Planning and Investment, and the agency managing national target programs and sectoral programs (for the portion of program estimates under national target programs and sectoral programs);

Based on the characteristics of the unit and the time limit for submitting budget estimates as stipulated herein, level I budgetary units at the central level shall specify the time for preparing and submitting reports to subordinate budgetary units accordingly;

c) Level I budgetary units at local levels shall prepare estimates of revenue and expenditure directly managed and used; review and consolidate estimates prepared by subordinate units; submit detailed reports on state budget estimates, including detailed development investment expenditures and regular expenditures by field, and detailed estimates by each budgetary unit to the finance agency, planning and investment agency at the same level;

The time for submitting reports by level I budgetary units at local levels shall be determined by the provincial People's Committee to ensure sufficient time for consolidating and submitting local state budget estimates to the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Planning and Investment, and the agency managing national target programs and sectoral programs as stipulated in Subpoint d of Clause 6 of this Article;

3. Tax Departments and Customs Departments shall prepare state budget revenue estimates in accordance with Article 24 of Decree No. 163/2016/NĐ-CP of the Government;

4. Agencies and units entrusted with the task of collecting fees and charges must prepare estimates of each type of fee and charge, detailing the total amount collected, the amount remitted to the state budget, the amount deducted, and the amount retained in accordance with the law, and detail each type of fee and charge and the budget expenditure of the agency or unit by field, and submit to the superior management agency for consolidation, and submit to level I budgetary units for consolidation into the state budget revenue and expenditure estimates as stipulated in Subpoint b and Subpoint c of Clause 2 of this Article;

5. Preparing estimates for national target programs and sectoral programs:

a) Based on the budget check figures for program expenditures announced by the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the program management agency shall guide the objectives and tasks of the program for the budget year for ministries, ministerial-level agencies, government agencies, other central agencies, and People's Committees of provinces and centrally-administered cities;

b) Ministries, ministerial-level agencies, government agencies, other central agencies, and People's Committees of provinces and centrally-administered cities shall prepare detailed estimates of program expenditures (including detailed development investment expenditures and regular expenditures by task and project) and submit them to the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Planning and Investment, and the program management agency before July 20 each year;

c) On the basis of the proposal of the national target program and sectoral program management agency, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Planning and Investment shall officially announce the capital and funding levels for each program for the budget year;

d) The national target program and sectoral program management agency shall develop allocation plans for capital and funding for each ministry, ministerial-level agency, government agency, other central agency, and locality (including detailed development investment expenditures and regular expenditures by task and project) and submit them to the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Planning and Investment before August 15 each year;

6. Localities, when preparing local state budget estimates, in addition to implementing the guidelines set forth in Clauses 1, 2, 3, 4, and Clause 5 of this Article, shall also implement the following:

a) For the first year of the budget stabilization period:

BASED ON THE RESOLUTION OF THE STANDING COMMITTEE OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY REGARDING PRINCIPLES, CRITERIA AND ALLOCATION RATES FOR THE STATE BUDGET (INCLUDING DEVELOPMENT INVESTMENT EXPENSES AND REGULAR EXPENSES), THE PROVINCE PEOPLE'S COMMITTEE SHALL BUILD AND SUBMIT TO THE SAME LEVEL PEOPLE'S COUNCIL FOR DECISION THE PRINCIPLES, CRITERIA AND ALLOCATION RATES FOR THE LOCAL BUDGET TO SERVE AS A BASIS FOR ORGANIZATIONS, UNITS AND LOWER LEVEL BUDGETS TO PREPARE THE BUDGET EXPENDITURE ESTIMATE, DIRECT THE DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE TO CHAIR AND COORDINATE WITH RELATED ORGANIZATIONS TO PREPARE THE ESTIMATE OF STATE BUDGET REVENUE IN THE AREA, THE ESTIMATE OF LOCAL BUDGET REVENUE AND EXPENDITURE, DETERMINE THE AMOUNT TO BALANCE THE LOCAL BUDGET OR THE PERCENTAGE (%) OF LOCAL BUDGET REVENUES FROM THE DIVIDED REVENUES BETWEEN THE CENTRAL BUDGET AND THE LOCAL BUDGET; DETERMINE THE SURPLUS REVENUE, DEFICIT EXPENDITURE OF THE LOCAL BUDGET, THE AMOUNT OF PRINCIPAL REPAYMENT AND SOURCES OF PRINCIPAL REPAYMENT (IF ANY); TOTAL BORROWING LEVEL INCLUDING BORROWING FOR PRINCIPAL REPAYMENT AND BORROWING TO OFFSET THE DEFICIT OF THE LOCAL BUDGET (IF ANY), REPORT TO THE PROVINCE PEOPLE'S COMMITTEE TO REPORT TO THE AUTHORITIES AS PROVIDED FOR IN POINT d CLAUSE THIS.

THE FINANCIAL AUTHORITY CHAIRS AND COORDINATES WITH THE PLANNING AND INVESTMENT AUTHORITY, THE TAX AUTHORITY AND RELATED AUTHORITIES TO ORGANIZE DISCUSSIONS ON THE BUDGET ESTIMATE WITH THE DIRECTLY SUBORDINATE PROVINCE PEOPLE'S COMMITTEE TO DETERMINE THE BUDGET ESTIMATE FOR THE FIRST YEAR OF THE BUDGET STABILIZATION PERIOD;

b) FOR YEARS DURING THE BUDGET STABILIZATION PERIOD: BASED ON THE PERCENTAGE (%) OF DIVIDED REVENUES BETWEEN THE CENTRAL BUDGET AND THE LOCAL BUDGET, THE AMOUNT TO BALANCE THE LOCAL BUDGET FROM THE CENTRAL BUDGET AND THE BUDGET ESTIMATES OF ORGANIZATIONS, UNITS AND LOWER LEVEL BUDGETS, THE DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE CHAIRS AND COORDINATES WITH RELATED AUTHORITIES TO PREPARE THE ESTIMATE OF STATE BUDGET REVENUE IN THE AREA, THE ESTIMATE OF LOCAL BUDGET REVENUE AND EXPENDITURE IN DETAIL INCLUDING DEVELOPMENT INVESTMENT EXPENSES AND REGULAR EXPENSES BY EACH SPENDING CATEGORY, INTEREST PAYMENTS, SUPPLEMENTARY FUNDS FOR FINANCIAL RESERVE AND BUDGET RESERVES; SURPLUS REVENUE, DEFICIT EXPENDITURE OF THE LOCAL BUDGET, THE AMOUNT OF PRINCIPAL REPAYMENT AND SOURCES OF PRINCIPAL REPAYMENT (IF ANY); TOTAL BORROWING LEVEL INCLUDING BORROWING FOR PRINCIPAL REPAYMENT AND BORROWING TO OFFSET THE DEFICIT OF THE LOCAL BUDGET (IF ANY), REPORT TO THE PROVINCE PEOPLE'S COMMITTEE TO REPORT TO THE AUTHORITIES AS PROVIDED FOR IN POINT d CLAUSE THIS.

THE SUPERIOR FINANCIAL AUTHORITY SHALL ONLY ORGANIZE DISCUSSIONS ON THE BUDGET ESTIMATE WITH THE DIRECTLY SUBORDINATE PROVINCE PEOPLE'S COMMITTEE UPON REQUEST OF THE DIRECTLY SUBORDINATE PROVINCE PEOPLE'S COMMITTEE;

c) ANNUALLY, BASED ON THE LOCAL BUDGET BALANCE CAPABILITY, THE LIMIT OF DEBT BORROWING ACCORDING TO REGULATIONS AND THE CAPITAL REQUIREMENT FOR DEVELOPMENT INVESTMENT, THE PROVINCE PEOPLE'S COMMITTEE SHALL PREPARE THE ESTIMATE OF THE LOCAL BUDGET DEFICIT AND THE LOAN AND DEBT REPAYMENT PLAN OF THE PROVINCE BUDGET, INCLUDING THE FOLLOWING CONTENTS:

ESTIMATE OF THE LOCAL BUDGET DEFICIT; PROJECTED TOTAL LOAN AMOUNT FOR THE YEAR (INCLUDING LOANS TO OFFSET THE DEFICIT AND LOANS FOR PRINCIPAL REPAYMENT) IN DETAIL BY SOURCE OF LOAN (LOANS FROM ISSUING LOCAL GOVERNMENT BONDS, LOANS FROM THE GOVERNMENT LOANING TO THE LOCALITY TO RELOAN ACCORDING TO THE DISBURSEMENT COMMITMENT, LOANS FROM OTHER DOMESTIC SOURCES), LOAN COSTS (INTEREST RATE, FEES AND OTHER RELATED COSTS); TASKS OF DEBT REPAYMENT DUE TO OCCUR IN THE BUDGET ESTIMATE YEAR (INCLUDING PRINCIPAL REPAYMENT, INTEREST DEBT, FEES AND OTHER RELATED COSTS); PROJECTED SOURCES OF DEBT REPAYMENT; BALANCE OF THE PROVINCE BUDGET IN THE CURRENT YEAR, THE BUDGET ESTIMATE YEAR AND THE ABILITY TO REPAY DEBTS OF THE FOLLOWING YEARS; LOCAL DEBT CAPITAL BORROWING BALANCE AS OF DECEMBER 31 OF THE PREVIOUS YEAR AND THE BUDGET ESTIMATE YEAR NOT TO EXCEED THE DEBT BORROWING BALANCE LIMIT AS PROVIDED FOR IN CLAUSE 6 ARTICLE 7 OF THE STATE BUDGET LAW AND CLAUSE 6 ARTICLE 4 OF DECREE NO. 163/2016/NĐ-CP OF THE GOVERNMENT; OTHER DOCUMENTS TO CLEARLY EXPLAIN THE LOAN PLAN;

THE INVESTMENT PROJECT PROPOSED TO USE FROM THE LOAN CAPITAL MUST BE INCLUDED IN THE LIST OF THE MID-TERM PUBLIC INVESTMENT PLAN APPROVED BY THE PROVINCE PEOPLE'S COUNCIL (FOR YEARS IN THE MID-TERM PUBLIC INVESTMENT PLAN) OR IS EXPECTED TO BE INCLUDED IN THE MID-TERM INVESTMENT PLAN TO BE SUBMITTED TO THE AUTHORIZED BODY FOR APPROVAL (FOR THE FIRST YEAR OF THE MID-TERM PUBLIC INVESTMENT PLAN) AND ENSURE THE INVESTMENT PROCEDURE AS PROVIDED FOR;

THE PROVINCE PEOPLE'S COMMITTEE SHALL COMPILE AND PREPARE THE LOCAL BUDGET ESTIMATE TO REPORT TO THE STANDING COMMITTEE OF THE SAME LEVEL PEOPLE'S COUNCIL FOR REVIEW AND COMMENT. AFTER RECEIVING THE COMMENTS OF THE STANDING COMMITTEE OF THE PROVINCE PEOPLE'S COUNCIL, THE PROVINCE PEOPLE'S COMMITTEE SHALL SEND THE LOCAL BUDGET ESTIMATE REPORT TO THE MINISTRY OF FINANCE, THE MINISTRY OF PLANNING AND INVESTMENT, MANAGEMENT AUTHORITIES OF NATIONAL TARGET PROGRAMMES, NATIONAL TARGET PROGRAMMES BEFORE JULY 20TH EVERY YEAR;

đ) THE PROVINCE PEOPLE'S COMMITTEE SHALL SPECIFY THE PREPARATION OF THE BUDGET ESTIMATE AT ALL LEVELS IN THE LOCALITY EVERY YEAR IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE REQUIREMENTS, CONTENTS AND TIME LIMITS FOR THE PREPARATION OF THE LOCAL BUDGET ESTIMATE;

7. PREPARATION OF FINANCIAL PLANS FOR NON-BUDGET STATE FINANCIAL FUNDS:

a) THE AUTHORITY DIRECTLY MANAGING THE NON-BUDGET STATE FINANCIAL FUNDS SHALL PREPARE THE FINANCIAL INCOME AND EXPENDITURE PLANS FOR THE FUNDS AND THE NEED FOR CAPITAL CONTRIBUTION SUPPORT FROM THE STATE BUDGET (IF ANY) IN ACCORDANCE WITH CLAUSE 3, 4 AND CLAUSE 5 OF ARTICLE 12 OF DECREE NO. 163/2016/NĐ-CP OF THE GOVERNMENT, AND SUBMIT TO THE SUPERIOR AUTHORITY FOR COMBINED COMPILEMENT WITH THE BUDGET ESTIMATE OF THE SUPERIOR AUTHORITY FOR THE SAME YEAR;

b) THE PRIMARY BUDGET AUTHORITY SHALL COMPILE THE NEED FOR CAPITAL CONTRIBUTION SUPPORT FROM THE BUDGET (IF ANY) INTO THE STATE BUDGET ESTIMATE AND PREPARE A SEPARATE REPORT ON THE FINANCIAL INCOME AND EXPENDITURE PLAN FOR NON-BUDGET STATE FINANCIAL FUNDS UNDER ITS MANAGEMENT, AND SUBMIT TO THE SAME LEVEL FINANCIAL AUTHORITY;

c) THE VIETNAM SOCIAL INSURANCE AUTHORITY SHALL PREPARE THE FINANCIAL INCOME AND EXPENDITURE PLAN FOR THE SOCIAL INSURANCE FUND, HEALTH INSURANCE FUND, UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE FUND AND THE NEED FOR SUPPORT FROM THE STATE BUDGET IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE LAWS ON SOCIAL INSURANCE, HEALTH INSURANCE AND UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE;

8. THE MINISTRY OF PLANNING AND INVESTMENT SHALL COMPILE AND PREPARE THE DETAILED ALLOCATION PLAN FOR THE DEVELOPMENT INVESTMENT EXPENSES OF THE CENTRAL BUDGET (INCLUDING THE BUDGET ESTIMATE FOR DEVELOPMENT INVESTMENT EXPENSES OF EACH NATIONAL TARGET PROGRAMME, NATIONAL TARGET PROGRAMME) AND SUBMIT TO THE MINISTRY OF FINANCE BEFORE AUGUST 31ST EVERY YEAR;

9. THE MINISTRY OF FINANCE SHALL COMPILE AND PREPARE THE STATE BUDGET ESTIMATE AND THE ALLOCATION PLAN FOR THE CENTRAL BUDGET TO SUBMIT TO THE AUTHORIZED BODY FOR DECISION IN ACCORDANCE WITH CLAUSE 8 AND CLAUSE 9 OF ARTICLE 22 AND ARTICLE 26 OF DECREE NO. 163/2016/NĐ-CP OF THE GOVERNMENT.

10. The preparation of the state budget estimate shall be carried out in accordance with the provisions of Article 27 of Decree No. 163/2016/NĐ-CP of the Government.

Article 12. Forms for preparing the state budget estimate

1. Tax agencies and customs agencies shall prepare revenue estimates according to Form No. 01 to Form No. 04 in Appendix 1 issued together with this Circular.

2. State agencies, budgetary units, and budgetary entities shall prepare revenue and expenditure estimates according to Form No. 05 to Form No. 18 in Appendix 1 issued together with this Circular.

3. Management agencies of national target programs shall prepare expenditure estimates for implementing national target programs according to Form No. 11.2 in Appendix 1 issued together with this Circular.

4. Social insurance agencies shall prepare revenue and expenditure estimates according to Form No. 19 to Form No. 22 in Appendix 1 issued together with this Circular.

5. State agencies, budgetary units, budgetary entities, and social insurance agencies shall prepare development expenditure estimates according to Form No. 23 to Form No. 27 in Appendix 1 issued together with this Circular.

6. People's Committees and local financial agencies shall prepare revenue and expenditure estimates according to Form No. 28 to Form No. 35 in Appendix 1 issued together with this Circular and the forms prescribed in the Government's decree on the Regulations on the Preparation, Examination, and Approval of Five-Year Financial Plans, Medium-Term Public Investment Plans, Three-Year Financial-Budget Plans, Budget Estimates, and Annual Final Accounts Approval at the Local Level.

7. The Ministry of Finance shall prepare revenue and expenditure estimates for the state budget according to the forms prescribed in the Resolution of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly on the Regulations on the Preparation, Examination, and Approval of Five-Year National Financial Plans, Medium-Term National Public Investment Plans, Three-Year National Financial-Budget Plans, State Budget Estimates, Central Budget Allocation Schemes, and Annual Final Accounts Approval of the State Budget.

Chapter IV

IMPLEMENTATION OF THE STATE BUDGET

Article 13. Allocation and Assignment of the State Budget Estimate to Budgetary Entities

1. Before December 31 of the previous year, primary budgetary entities at the central and local levels must complete the allocation and assignment of the state budget estimate to subordinate budgetary units and lower-level entities in accordance with the provisions of Clauses 1, 2, and 3 of Article 31 of Decree No. 163/2016/NĐ-CP of the Government.

In cases where the state budget estimate is re-prepared in accordance with Article 48 of the State Budget Law and Article 27 of Decree No. 163/2016/NĐ-CP of the Government, primary budgetary entities at the central and local levels must complete the allocation and assignment of the state budget estimate to subordinate budgetary units and lower-level entities within ten working days from the date they are assigned the state budget estimate by the Prime Minister or the People's Committee.

2. Primary budgetary entities at the central level shall assign the state budget estimate to subordinate budgetary entities according to Model A in Appendix 2 issued together with this Circular, while sending the Ministry of Finance (along with explanatory documents for the basis of allocation and assignment of the budget estimate according to Form No. 36 to Form No. 47 in Appendix 1 issued together with this Circular), the State Treasury, and the State Treasury branch where transactions take place (sending detailed versions according to each budgetary unit) for implementation.

Agencies and units organized vertically shall allocate the state budget estimate directly to lower-level budgetary entities and authorize these entities to allocate and assign the budget estimate to their subordinate budgetary units; simultaneously reporting to the primary budgetary entity for consolidation.

Primary budgetary entities at the central level shall consolidate the results of the allocation and send them to the Ministry of Finance, and shall be responsible for the state budget estimate allocated and assigned to budgetary units under their management.

3. Primary budgetary entities at the local level shall assign the state budget estimate to subordinate budgetary entities according to Model B and Model C in Appendix 2 (accompanied by Form No. 48 and Form No. 49 in Appendix 1) issued together with this Circular, while sending the financial agency, the State Treasury at the same level, and the State Treasury branch where transactions take place (sending detailed versions according to each budgetary unit) for implementation.

The Department of Finance shall submit to the Provincial People's Committee regulations on explanatory documents and reports on allocation and assignment of the state budget estimate sent to the financial agency to serve the inspection of allocation and assignment of budgetary entities at various levels in the locality.

Within ten working days from the date of receipt of the explanatory documents and reports on allocation from the primary budgetary entity, the financial agency at the same level must inspect the state budget estimate assigned by the primary budgetary entity to budgetary units regarding accuracy and consistency both in total amounts and details by sector and tasks of revenue and expenditure with the authorized budget estimate assigned to the primary budgetary entity:

a) If discrepancies are found in the allocation of the state budget estimate by the primary budgetary entity compared to the total amount and details by sector and tasks of revenue and expenditure of the authorized budget estimate or if it does not comply with policies and regulations, the financial agency shall require the primary budgetary entity to adjust the allocated budget estimate. Within seven working days from the date of receipt of the financial agency's request, the primary budgetary entity must adjust the budget estimate according to the financial agency's opinion and send the decision on the adjusted budget estimate to the financial agency, the State Treasury at the same level, and the State Treasury branch where transactions take place as prescribed;

b) If the primary budgetary entity disagrees with the financial agency's requirements, then the primary budgetary entity shall report to the Prime Minister (for primary budgetary entities at the central level) and the People's Committee (for primary budgetary entities at the local level) for consideration and decision. During the waiting period for the Prime Minister's or People's Committee's decision, the entity may not spend the budgeted funds that the financial agency requires to be adjusted.

5. In the case where a first-level budget entity is assigned to supplement the budget, such entity and the People's Committee at the lower level must complete the allocation and assignment of the supplementary budget within the latest ten working days from the date of receiving the supplementary budget assignment, in accordance with the regulations.

Article 14. Adjustment of the Assigned State Budget Estimate

1. The adjustment of the State Budget Estimate during the implementation of the budget shall be carried out in accordance with Articles 52 and 53 of the State Budget Law and Clause 2 and Clause 3 of Article 36 of Decree No. 163/2016/NĐ-CP of the Government.

2. The decision on adjusting the estimate of the first-level budget entity shall be sent to the financial agency at the same level, including: basis, content of tasks, adjusted funds for each task according to each field of agencies and units implementing the tasks.

3. In the event that the adjustment of the estimate of the first-level budget entity does not comply with the provisions of Clause 1 of Article 50 of the State Budget Law, within the latest ten working days from the date of receipt of the adjustment decision of the first-level budget entity, the financial agency shall request the first-level budget entity to adjust the estimate accordingly. If the first-level budget entity disagrees with the request of the financial agency, it shall be handled in accordance with Point b of Clause 4 of Article 13 of this Circular.

Article 15. Organization of State Revenue Collection

1. The organization of State revenue collection shall be carried out in accordance with Article 55 of the State Budget Law and Article 32 of Decree No. 163/2016/NĐ-CP of the Government.

2. State revenues collected in foreign currency shall be recorded as income in the foreign currency fund of the State budget, while simultaneously recording State revenues in Vietnamese Dong according to the accounting exchange rate prescribed by the Ministry of Finance.

State revenues collected in foreign currency generated locally must be centralized to the State Treasury (central level) in accordance with the regulations of the Ministry of Finance. Local levels of the budget shall not establish a foreign currency fund.

3. The Ministry of Finance shall have specific regulations on the organization of collection and accounting for non-reimbursable grants and donations into the State budget.

Article 16. Management and Accounting of Borrowing by the State Budget

1. Borrowings of the State budget shall be implemented within the scope of the budget estimates approved by the competent authority, managed and accounted for on the accounts of corresponding levels of the budget.

In the case where the local budget estimate includes domestic borrowings and borrowings from the central government for onward lending, additional disbursements from the central government for onward lending to the locality may be permitted during implementation, but the corresponding reduction in domestic borrowing must be made to ensure that the total borrowing does not exceed the allocated estimate.

2. Foreign currency borrowings shall be accounted for in the original currency and in Vietnamese Dong according to the accounting exchange rate prescribed by the Ministry of Finance. At the beginning of each month, the State Treasury shall adjust the balance of debt in Vietnamese Dong of all levels of the budget according to the accounting exchange rate prescribed by the Ministry of Finance; simultaneously, any resulting differences arising from revaluation of the debt shall be separately tracked on a foreign exchange difference account (not recorded in revenue or expenditure of the budget) to ensure the balance of revenue and expenditure of the budget according to the accounting exchange rate at the time of borrowing. At year-end, the State Treasury shall process the foreign exchange differences for accounting purposes in the State budget revenue and expenditure in accordance with the regulations.

3.[3] Borrowings through bond issuance shall be accounted for at face value. In cases where there are price differences between the selling price of bonds and their face value, and discount amounts, differences in face value of swapped bonds and bonds being swapped, and differences between the original face value of repurchased bonds and the purchase price, these differences shall be tracked on separate accounts; at year-end, based on the balance of the separate account mentioned above, if the difference is positive, it shall be recorded as revenue of the budget, and if the difference is negative, it shall be recorded as expenditure of the budget.

Article 17. State budget expenditure

1. State budget expenditure shall be implemented in accordance with the provisions of Article 56 of the State Budget Law and Clause 34 of Decree No. 163/2016/NĐ-CP of the Government.

2. In cases where at the beginning of the fiscal year, the state budget estimate and the budget allocation plan have not been decided by the National Assembly and People's Councils, financial agencies and State Treasury agencies at all levels shall temporarily allocate the state budget in accordance with the provisions of Article 51 of the State Budget Law.

3. In cases where agencies, organizations, and budgetary units fail to fully and promptly comply with accounting reporting, finalization, and other financial reporting systems as prescribed, financial agencies may temporarily suspend or request the State Treasury to temporarily suspend state budget expenditure, except for: salaries, allowances, contributions based on salary, social allowances, scholarships, and other expenditures for human resources according to regulations; business operation fees and public service fees, and some necessary expenditures to ensure the operation of the state machinery (excluding expenditures for equipment procurement and repairs); supplementary budget balance transfers to lower-level budgets; expenditures for ongoing national target programs and important national projects; and important and urgent investment project expenditures to mitigate the consequences of natural disasters, catastrophes, and epidemics.

When deciding to temporarily suspend state budget expenditure, the financial agency shall notify the supervisory agency of the suspended agencies, organizations, and units.

4. State budget expenditures denominated in foreign currency shall be recorded in both the original currency and Vietnamese Dong at the exchange rate specified by the Ministry of Finance.

Article 18. State budget expenditure through withdrawal from the State Treasury

1. Expenditure shall be carried out through withdrawal from the State Treasury for the following tasks:

a) Regular expenditure within the allocated budget of state agencies, public service units, political-social organizations, political-social-professional organizations, social organizations, and social-professional organizations regularly supported by the state budget, and units implementing certain regular tasks as prescribed by law;

b) Training assistance for Laotian and Cambodian students;

c) Tourism promotion, trade promotion, and investment promotion (excluding national investment promotion);

d) Commissioned production of documentary films, scientific films, animated films, and feature films according to state policy;

đ) Supplementary transfers from higher-level budgets to lower-level budgets.

2. Monthly maximum withdrawal limits for supplementary budget balance transfers from the central budget to local budgets shall not exceed one-twelfth of the total annual supplementary budget balance transfer amount; however, during the first quarter, based on the requirements and expenditure tasks of local budgets, the monthly withdrawal limit can be higher, but it must not exceed 12% of the annual budget and ensure that the total first-quarter withdrawal does not exceed 30% of the annual budget. In special cases requiring an increase in the withdrawal schedule, the provincial People's Committee shall submit a written request to the Ministry of Finance for consideration and decision.

Based on revenue capacity and the requirements of expenditure tasks of lower-level budgets, the higher-level People's Committee shall stipulate the monthly withdrawal limit for supplementary budget balance transfers to lower-level budgets in line with local realities.

3. Based on the system, progress, volume of implementation of each program, project, task, and provisional advance payment as prescribed, the Department of Finance shall withdraw supplementary targeted budget allocations from the central budget to local budgets, with the maximum withdrawal equal to the allocated budget for each program, project, and task. If the withdrawal is not used for its intended purpose or is not fully utilized, it must be returned to the central budget within a maximum period of thirty days from the date of withdrawal.

For targeted supplementary transfers from higher-level budgets to lower-level budgets in localities, the higher-level People's Committee shall specify the withdrawal procedures of lower-level budgets in line with local realities and ensure compliance with the intended purposes as prescribed.

4. Periodically, no later than the 15th day of the following month, the State Treasury shall compile and report to the same-level financial agency the situation of the previous month's withdrawals of supplementary budget balance transfers and targeted supplementary transfers from higher-level budgets to lower-level budgets.

In cases where improper withdrawal of supplementary budget balance transfers and targeted supplementary transfers by financial agencies is discovered, the State Treasury shall issue a notification to the financial agency and simultaneously suspend the withdrawal of supplementary budget balance transfers and targeted supplementary transfers from higher-level budgets to lower-level budgets.

5. The Ministry of Finance shall establish specific regulations on the procedures, documentation, formalities, accounting entries, and expenditure control for withdrawals from the State Treasury.

Article 19. Budget expenditure in the form of payment orders

1. Expenditure shall be carried out in the form of payment orders for the following tasks:

a) Loans according to social policies of the State and other programs and projects as decided by the Prime Minister;

b) Transfer of funds to the Vietnam Social Security agency to pay pensions and social insurance benefits as prescribed by law; funding for health insurance contributions and support for health insurance contributions for specified groups as prescribed by health insurance laws; funding to support the unemployment insurance fund as prescribed by unemployment insurance laws;

c) Capital contribution to shares and annual premiums for international financial organizations (excluding amounts already allocated in the budgets of ministries, ministerial-level agencies, government agencies, and central-level agencies withdrawing budgets from the State Treasury);

d) Capital contribution and support for state financial organizations as prescribed by law;

đ) Interest rate subsidy for state investment credit and preferential credit for poor households, ethnic minorities, and policy beneficiaries;

e) Support for enterprises engaged in public welfare activities and national defense;

g) Promotion of national investment;

h) Support, commissioning, and assignment of tasks to enterprises, economic organizations, social organizations, and social-professional organizations not regularly related to the budget;

i) Supplementing the national reserve and expenses for managing national reserve goods (for goods assigned by the State to enterprises for storage);

k) Funding for the East Sea - Island Target Program for national defense and security at sea and on islands (the portion allocated to ministries, ministerial-level agencies, government agencies, and central-level agencies);

l) Implementation of special tasks and other expenditures funded through payment orders issued by public security and defense agencies as decided by competent authorities;

m) Ensuring operations for the Communist Party of Vietnam's agencies;

n)[4] Repayment of state budget loans (excluding principal, interest, issuance fees, swaps, repurchases, and government bond payments);

o) Emergency aid provided by the State to foreign countries;

p) Supporting other localities and supporting higher-level agencies as stipulated in points a, b, and c of Clause 9, Article 9 of the State Budget Law;

q) Supplementing the financial reserve fund;

Other revenue and expenditure items recorded under the budget system;

2. Procedure for expenditure in the form of payment orders:

a) Based on the allocated budget estimates, documents, and vouchers as prescribed and the requirements of the budget-using unit, the finance authority reviews and checks, if all conditions for expenditure as prescribed in Clause 2, Article 12 of the State Budget Law are met, within five working days from the date of receipt of the expenditure request from the unit, the finance authority issues a payment order and sends it to the State Treasury;

b) Within two working days from the date of receipt of the payment order from the finance authority, the State Treasury verifies the legality and validity of the payment order, based on the content of the payment order, it disburses the budget funds, transfers money to the account, or pays in cash to the beneficiaries. If the payment order is invalid, within one working day from the date of receipt of the payment order, the State Treasury must notify the finance authority to handle the matter.

Article 20. State budget lending

1. Based on the state budget estimate assigned by the competent authority, the financial agency shall disburse funds through payment orders to transfer capital to the agency tasked with lending or directly to the borrowing entity according to the loan contract in cases of direct lending.

2. The agency tasked with lending or the financial agency (in cases of direct lending) shall be responsible for managing, lending, recovering principal and interest payments to the state budget in accordance with prescribed regulations.

Article 21. Repayment of state budget loans

1. Repayment of state budget loans shall be carried out in accordance with the provisions of Clause 1 and Clause 2, Article 35 of Decree No. 163/2016/NĐ-CP of the Government.

In cases where actual repayment needs exceed the total estimated repayment budget assigned by the competent authority, the Ministry of Finance (for the central budget) and the Department of Finance (for local budgets) shall aggregate and report to the competent authority for consideration and decision.

2. Process of repayment and accounting for central government budget repayments:

a)[5] a) Repayment of government bond debt: Based on the budget estimate and the obligation to repay maturing debts, the State Treasury shall implement the withdrawal of central government budget funds for payment, simultaneously reducing the loan debt (for principal repayments) and recording central government budget expenditures (for interest, fees, and other costs arising from the issuance, exchange, repurchase, and payment of government bonds) in accordance with regulations;

b) Repayment of other domestic loan debts: Based on the budget estimate and the obligation to repay maturing debts, the Ministry of Finance shall issue payment orders deposited with the State Treasury to implement the withdrawal of central government budget funds for repayment, simultaneously reducing the loan debt (for principal repayments) and recording central government budget expenditures (for interest, fees, and other costs arising from the loan) in accordance with regulations;

c) Repayment of foreign loan debts: Seven working days before the due date (except in cases where the creditor's notification is required to determine the amount to be paid), based on the budget estimate and the obligation to repay maturing debts, the Ministry of Finance shall issue payment orders accompanied by the repayment schedule and related documents (if any) sent to the State Treasury to implement the withdrawal of central government budget funds for repayment, simultaneously reducing the loan debt (for principal repayments) and recording central government budget expenditures (for interest, fees, and other costs arising from the loan) in accordance with regulations.

3. Process of repayment and accounting for local government budget repayments:

Based on the budget estimate and the obligation to repay maturing debts, the Department of Finance shall issue payment orders deposited with the State Treasury to implement the withdrawal of local government budget funds for repayment, simultaneously reducing the loan debt (for principal repayments) and recording local government budget expenditures (for interest, fees, and other costs arising from the loan) in accordance with regulations.

Article 22. Organization of State Budget Management

1. State budget management shall be carried out in accordance with the provisions of Article 54 of the State Budget Law and Article 36 of Decree No. 163/2016/NĐ-CP of the Government.

2. Quarterly, revenue collection agencies shall prepare detailed quarterly state budget revenue plans by economic sector, tax type, and taxpayer category, and submit them to the same-level financial agency before the 20th day of the last month of the previous quarter.

3. Based on the annual state budget revenue and expenditure estimates, the quarterly revenue plan, and the expenditure needs, the financial agency shall develop a quarterly state budget management plan for its own level, ensuring sufficient sources to timely settle state budget expenditures as prescribed.

The financial agency shall send the quarterly state budget management plan to the same-level State Treasury no later than the 30th day of the last month of the previous quarter for coordination in implementation.

4. Based on the annual state budget revenue and expenditure estimates and the quarterly state budget management plan of the financial agency, the State Treasury shall aggregate and develop a state treasury management plan in accordance with the state treasury management system regulations, fully and promptly meeting the state budget's payment and repayment needs.

5. Daily, the State Treasury shall report the state budget fund balance to the same-level financial agency.

6. In cases of temporary budget fund shortages, the financial agency shall handle it in accordance with the provisions of Clause 1, Article 36 of Decree No. 163/2016/NĐ-CP of the Government.

Article 23. Reward for Exceeding the State Budget Revenue Estimate

1. The reward for exceeding the central budget estimate from revenue shares between the central budget and local budgets, excluding increased revenue from new projects starting operations during the budget stabilization period that must be remitted to the central budget as stipulated in Point d Clause 7 Article 9 of the State Budget Law:

a) Principles for award consideration:

The total revenue of the central budget must increase compared to the estimate decided by the National Assembly;

The basis for rewarding each locality is the total revenue shares on the local territory, not individual revenue items. The reward ratio does not exceed 30% of the increased central budget revenue share, but shall not exceed the increase in revenue compared to the previous year's actual performance;

Example 1:

The total revenue estimate of the central budget for the award year decided by the National Assembly is 1,000,000 billion VND. The actual result achieved is 1,200,000 billion VND.

In Province A, the revenue (central budget) from revenue shares implemented in the previous year was 500 billion VND. For the award year, the central budget revenue estimate assigned was 550 billion VND, with the actual result achieved being 600 billion VND. The reward ratio on the revenue exceeding the assigned estimate according to the Prime Minister's decision for Province A is 30%. The reward level for Province A is determined as follows:

Reward amount based on the ratio: (600 billion VND - 550 billion VND) x 30% = 15 billion VND.

Increase in revenue compared to the previous year's actual performance: 600 billion VND - 500 billion VND = 100 billion VND.

Since the increase in revenue compared to the previous year's actual performance is greater than the increase in revenue according to the estimate and the total central budget revenue has increased compared to the estimate, the reward for exceeding the revenue estimate for Province A shall not exceed 15 billion VND. If the total central budget revenue only reaches or falls below 1,000,000 billion VND, the locality will not be rewarded.

Example 2:

As with the total central budget estimate and revenue at Province A in Example 1, if the previous year's actual performance was 590 billion VND; the assigned revenue estimate was 550 billion VND, and the actual performance was 600 billion VND.

Reward amount based on the ratio: (600 billion VND - 550 billion VND) x 30% = 15 billion VND.

Reward amount for exceeding revenue compared to the previous year's actual performance: 600 billion VND - 590 billion VND = 10 billion VND.

The maximum reward amount is equal to the increase in revenue compared to the previous year's actual performance, which is 10 billion VND, and the total central budget revenue increase compared to the estimate. If the total central budget revenue only reaches or falls below 1,000,000 billion VND, the locality will not be rewarded.

Example 3:

As with the revenue of Province A in Example 1, if the previous year's actual performance was 610 billion VND, the assigned revenue estimate was 550 billion VND, and the actual performance was 600 billion VND.

Reward amount based on the ratio: (600 billion VND - 550 billion VND) x 30% = 15 billion VND.

Increase in revenue compared to the previous year's actual performance: 600 billion VND - 610 billion VND = -10 billion VND.

The locality will not be rewarded because the revenue did not increase compared to the previous year's actual performance.

b) Based on the state budget revenue results up to December 31, the People's Committees of provinces and centrally-administered cities are responsible for consolidating the actual central budget payments from revenue shares between the central budget and local budgets as prescribed, preparing reports with confirmation from the Treasury, and submitting them to the Ministry of Finance before January 31 of the following year as the basis for award consideration;

c) The Ministry of Finance aggregates and prepares a plan for using the increased central budget revenue to submit to the Government and the Standing Committee of the National Assembly as stipulated in Point b Clause 4 Article 59 of the State Budget Law;

d) Localities use the excess revenue rewards as prescribed in Point a Clause 4 Article 59 of the State Budget Law and Clause 8 Article 36 of Decree No. 163/2016/NĐ-CP of the Government.

2. The reward for exceeding the revenue estimate of revenue shares between different levels of the budget at the local level is implemented according to the provisions in Point b Clause 4 Article 59 of the State Budget Law and Clause 6 Article 36 of Decree No. 163/2016/NĐ-CP of the Government.

Article 24. Reporting System on the Implementation of State Budget

1. The reporting on the implementation of the state budget shall be carried out in accordance with Article 60 of the State Budget Law and Clause 41 of Decree No. 163/2016/NĐ-CP of the Government.

2. Time limit for reporting and reporting forms:

a) Tax authorities and customs offices at all levels shall report periodically every 15 days, monthly, and quarterly to the financial authorities at the same level on the implementation of state budget revenue collection using Form No. 53 attached as Appendix 1 of this Circular; they shall also report to other relevant agencies on the implementation of state budget revenue collection in accordance with the provisions of the law.

b) Primary budget units shall report periodically quarterly to the financial authorities at the same level on the implementation of state budget revenue and expenditure using Form No. 54 attached as Appendix 1 of this Circular; they shall also report to other relevant agencies on the implementation of state budget revenue and expenditure in accordance with the provisions of the law.

c) People's Committees at provincial level shall report periodically monthly and quarterly to the Ministry of Finance on the implementation of state budget revenue collection within their jurisdiction and on the implementation of local budget revenue and expenditure using Forms No. 55 to No. 57 attached as Appendix 1 of this Circular.

d) The Ministry of Finance shall report periodically monthly to the Government on the implementation of state budget revenue and expenditure using Forms No. 50 to No. 52 attached as Appendix 1 of this Circular; it shall also report to other relevant agencies on the implementation of state budget revenue and expenditure in accordance with the provisions of the law.

đ) People's Committees at all levels shall report to the People's Councils and Standing Committees of the People's Councils at the same level on the implementation of local budgets in accordance with Clause 5 of Article 60 of the State Budget Law and guiding documents of the State Budget Law.

e) The Ministry of Finance shall report to the Government on the adjustment of the budget estimates, the use of additional revenues and savings from central government budget expenditures, and the implementation of state budget revenue and expenditure in accordance with Clause 8 of Article 60 of the State Budget Law and guiding documents of the State Budget Law for submission to the National Assembly and the Standing Committee of the National Assembly.

g) The Ministry of Finance shall stipulate separately the time limits and reporting forms for the State Treasury to report periodically to the financial authorities at the same level on the implementation of state budget revenue and expenditure.

h) Provincial People's Committees shall stipulate the time limits and reporting forms for reports required under Clauses 4 and 6 of Article 60 of the State Budget Law.

Chapter V

ACCOUNTING, AUDITING AND FINAL ACCOUNTS OF THE STATE BUDGET

Article 25. Closing of Accounting Books

1. At the end of the fiscal year, agencies, units, and organizations related to state budget revenue and expenditure shall close their accounting books in accordance with Article 42 of Decree No. 163/2016/NĐ-CP of the Government and shall carry out the following tasks:

a) Review and complete the payment of amounts due to the state budget that have not yet been paid into the state budget. In cases where it is not possible to complete the payment procedures into the current fiscal year's budget and the payment is deferred to the next fiscal year, such payments shall be recorded and settled as part of the next fiscal year's budget revenue.

b) Review and process remaining unspent budget allocations, balances in unit deposit accounts at the State Treasury, temporary advances, and cash reserves at units to ensure proactive spending and advance payment settlement within the year.

c) For state budget revenue and expenditure items that regulations require to be recorded as revenue and expenditure in the state budget, the necessary procedures for recording revenue and expenditure in the state budget must be completed.

2. Financial authorities, the State Treasury, and revenue collection agencies at the same level shall reconcile the newly generated state budget revenue on their territory and the state budget revenue and expenditure at various levels within their management scope to ensure accurate reconciliation both in total and in detail according to the State Budget Item List before preparing and reporting the annual budget settlement.

3. Financial authorities shall cooperate with the State Treasury at the same level to reconcile state budget revenue and expenditure from January 1 to December 31 and items recorded in the budget during the period of adjusting the settlement to ensure that all state budget revenue and expenditure items are fully, accurately, and correctly recorded according to the State Budget Item List.

Article 26. Handling of State Budget Revenue and Expenditure at Year-End

1. The handling of state budget revenue and expenditure at year-end shall be carried out in accordance with the provisions of Article 64 of the State Budget Law and Article 42 of Decree No. 163/2016/NĐ-CP of the Government.

2. Time limits for expenditure, advance payments, and accounting of budget revenues and expenditures:

a) The time limit for expenditure and advance payments (including advance payments for basic construction investment) for tasks allocated in the annual state budget estimate shall be completed no later than December 31. The deadline for budget-using units (including project sponsors) to submit withdrawal documents and vouchers for budget expenditure and advance payments to the State Treasury where transactions take place is no later than December 30.

b) For advance payments that meet the conditions for expenditure, work volume, and tasks completed on or before December 31 and included in the annual state budget estimate, the time limit for expenditure and settlement shall be completed no later than January 31 of the following year and shall be accounted for and settled in the previous year's budget. The deadline for budget-using units (including project sponsors) to submit expenditure documents and vouchers (including settlement of advance payments) according to regulations to the State Treasury where transactions take place is no later than January 25 of the following year.

3. The balance of budget deposit accounts as of December 31 shall be handled as follows:

a) The balance of budget deposit accounts of budget estimate units opened at the State Treasury as of December 31 shall continue to be paid out according to regulations during the period of adjusting the final settlement. If there is still a balance at the end of the adjustment period, it must be returned to the state budget; except in cases where it is transferred to the next year according to the provisions of Article 43 of Decree No. 163/2016/NĐ-CP of the Government.

By no later than February 10 of the following year, budget-using units must reconcile the account balance with the State Treasury where transactions take place and detail the remaining balance according to Item, Clause, Section, Subsection using Form No. 58 attached as Appendix 1 of this Circular as the basis for transferring the balance to the next year. Based on the results of reconciling the account balance, the State Treasury will adjust the reduction in expenditures (if previously recorded as expenditures) or the reduction in advance payments (if previously recorded as advance payments) from the previous year's budget, while simultaneously transferring the previous year's budget estimate balance (corresponding to the transferred account balance) to the next year's budget estimate.

The State Treasury prepares a detailed report on the handling of account balance balances when the fiscal year ends, sent to the financial authority at the same level for monitoring. In cases where continued use of the account balance is permitted, it will be accounted for and settled in the next year's budget according to regulations;

b) The account balance specified in point a of this clause, if not used further, must be returned to the state budget. Budget-using units must submit a detailed report on the balance according to the State Budget Schedule to the State Treasury where transactions take place before February 10 of the following year to coordinate the return to the state budget and reduce expenditures or advance payments in the budget;

c) The account balance of village-level budgets (if any) may be transferred to the next year's budget for use according to regulations.

4. Budget estimates allocated to units, projects, and works as of January 31 of the following year that have not been used or fully utilized (referred to as the remaining budget estimate) shall be canceled; except for cases where they are transferred to the next year's budget for continued use according to the provisions of Article 43 of Decree No. 163/2016/NĐ-CP of the Government. The transfer of the remaining budget estimate to the next year's budget for continued use shall be carried out as follows:

a) By no later than February 10 of the following year, budget-using units must reconcile the remaining budget estimate with the State Treasury where transactions take place using Form No. 59 attached as Appendix 1 of this Circular;

b) Based on the regulations regarding the transfer of budget sources (time limit for expenditure, authorized budget estimate content, and conditions for transferring funds for expenditures), the State Treasury where transactions take place will reconcile and confirm the used and unused budget estimates for units and transfer the remaining budget estimate from the previous year to the next year's budget estimate according to regulations;

c) The State Treasury prepares a detailed report on the remaining budget estimate transferred to the next year's budget for each budget estimate unit, detailing each task for each budget-using unit, and sends it to the financial authority at the same level for monitoring. When used, it will be accounted for and settled in the next year's budget according to regulations.

5. Advance payments in the budget estimate according to regulations as of January 31 of the following year that have not completed settlement procedures (referred to as the remaining advance payment) must be returned to the budget, except for cases where they are transferred to the next year's budget for continued use according to the provisions of Article 43 of Decree No. 163/2016/NĐ-CP of the Government. The transfer of the remaining advance payment to the next year's budget for continued use or return to the budget shall be carried out as follows:

a) By no later than February 10 of the following year, budget-using units (including project sponsors) must reconcile the remaining advance payment with the State Treasury where transactions take place using Form No. 59 attached as Appendix 1 of this Circular;

b) Based on the regulations regarding the transfer of budget sources (time limit for expenditure, authorized budget estimate content, and conditions for transferring funds for expenditures), the State Treasury where transactions take place will reconcile and confirm the remaining advance payment that has not been settled for units and transfer the remaining budget estimate from the previous year (corresponding to the remaining advance payment) to the next year's budget estimate according to regulations.

The State Treasury prepares a detailed report according to each budget estimate unit and sends it to the financial authority at the same level for monitoring. When used, it will be accounted for and settled in the next year's budget according to regulations;

c) The remaining advance balance may not be carried over to the next year; the budget-using unit must return the budget before February 10 of the following year. If it has not been returned by February 10 of the following year, the State Treasury at the transaction location will recover it by transferring this advance to the advance for the following year within the scope of the allocated budget estimate for the following year with the same content. In cases where the budget estimate for the following year does not allocate or allocates less than the amount to be recovered, the State Treasury will notify the financial authority at the same level to handle the situation.

For unrecovered advances (including those that have already been disbursed from the budget), the State Treasury shall record them in the advance account for monitoring purposes; when they are recovered, they shall be recorded as a reduction in the advance, and not recorded as state budget revenue.

6. Programs, topics, and projects permitted by the competent authority to have an implementation period exceeding 12 months shall be settled according to Clause 4, Article 44 of Decree No. 163/2016/NĐ-CP of the Government and the following provisions:

a) Programs, topics, and projects managed under the regulations on regular expenditure shall be settled according to the regulations on regular expenditure;

b) Programs, topics, and projects managed under the regulations on investment construction expenditure shall be settled according to the regulations on investment construction expenditure;

c) The funds settled annually according to the fiscal year shall be monitored and accumulated annually as the basis for settling programs, topics, and projects upon completion according to the regulations.

7. Financial authorities shall implement the transfer of budget sources from the previous year to the following year and settle expenditures according to the fiscal year:

a) Expenditures transferred to the following year as stipulated in Clauses 3, 4, and 5 of this Article;

b) Increased revenues and savings in expenditures approved by the competent authority according to the regulations;

c) Based on the tasks and total funds transferred to the following year's budget as stipulated in Points a and b of this Clause, the financial authority, People's Committee of communes (for commune-level budgets) shall issue a document to the State Treasury at the transaction location to record the transfer of funds to the following year's budget according to the regulations;

8. Budget revenues and expenditures of the state which are regulated to be recorded as income and expenditure in the state budget shall be implemented as follows:

a) Primary budget units shall submit documents to the same-level financial authority no later than January 25 of the following year; the financial authority shall complete the procedures for recording income and expenditure in the state budget and send them to the State Treasury no later than January 30 of the following year. The amount recorded as expenditure in the state budget is the amount actually spent according to the regulations, and the amount recorded as income in the state budget must correspond to the amount recorded as expenditure. Unrecorded income that has not yet been recorded in the state budget shall continue to be monitored and managed until it is recorded in the state budget when the unit has actually spent according to the regulations;

b) Borrowings, foreign aid directly provided to budget-using units must go through the procedures for recording income and expenditure in the state budget according to the regulations; agencies and units shall submit documents to the State Treasury no later than January 30 of the following year. In cases of supplementary funding for lower-level budgets, the procedures for recording income and expenditure and sending them to the State Treasury must be completed no later than January 15 of the following year for central budgets, no later than January 20 of the following year for provincial budgets, and no later than January 25 of the following year for county budgets;

c) Any amounts recorded as income and expenditure in the state budget for a given year shall be settled as income and expenditure in the state budget for that year.

Article 27. Examination and Audit of State Budget Settlement

1. The examination and audit of state budget settlement shall be carried out in accordance with the provisions of Articles 66 and 67 of the State Budget Law.

2. Examination and Audit of State Budget Settlement

a) After receiving the settlement report from subordinate budgetary units, the head of the superior budgetary unit directly responsible shall examine the settlement and notify the results of the examination to the subordinate budgetary unit. Within ten working days from the date of receipt of the examination notification, the subordinate budgetary unit must fully implement the contents of the examination notification.

In case the subordinate budgetary unit does not agree with the contents of the examination notification from the superior budgetary unit, it must submit a written document to the superior budgetary unit that examined the budget settlement for consideration and decision.

In case the subordinate budgetary unit does not agree with the contents of the examination notification from the first-level budgetary unit, it must submit a written document to the financial agency at the same level as the first-level budgetary unit for consideration and decision.

While awaiting the decision of the competent authority, the subordinate budgetary unit must fully comply with the contents of the examination notification from the superior budgetary unit.

b) The first-level budgetary unit is responsible for examining the settlement reports of its subordinate units, compiling and preparing the state budget settlement report (including itself and subordinate budgetary units), and submitting it to the financial agency at the same level.

c) The Ministry of Finance, within a maximum period of thirty days from the date of receipt of the state budget settlement report from the first-level budgetary unit under the central budget, is responsible for auditing the state budget settlement of the first-level budgetary unit under the central budget.

The People's Committee of the province shall specify the time for auditing the state budget settlement of the financial agency for the first-level budgetary units at various levels in the locality, but must ensure the deadline for reporting the local state budget settlement as stipulated in Article 69 of the State Budget Law and Article 44 of Decree No. 163/2016/NĐ-CP of the Government.

Within ten working days from the date of receipt of the audit notification of the financial agency, the first-level budgetary unit must fully implement the contents of the audit notification of the financial agency. If the first-level budgetary unit does not agree with the contents of the audit notification of the financial agency, it must submit a written report to the Prime Minister (if it is a first-level budgetary unit under the central budget) or the People's Committee at the same level (if it is a first-level budgetary unit under the local government) for consideration and decision.

While awaiting the decision of the Prime Minister, the People's Committee at the same level, the first-level budgetary unit must fully comply with the audit contents of the financial agency.

3. Handling of Violations Discovered During the Examination, Audit, Inspection, and Review of State Budget Settlements:

a) When examining, auditing, inspecting, reviewing annual state budget settlements, if violations or insufficient conditions for settlement are discovered, they shall be handled according to the authority or recommended to the competent authority to handle as follows: If expenses are incorrect, they must be recovered in full for the budget; if the conditions for settlement are not met, the settlement procedures must be completed according to regulations.

b) Budgetary units and localities subject to inspection and audit must implement and report the results of implementing the recommendations of the inspection agency and the State Audit Agency to the superior budgetary unit, the first-level budgetary unit to compile and report to the financial agency at the same level. The financial agency compiles the results of implementing the recommendations of the inspection agency and the State Audit Agency, reports to the People's Committee at the same level to report to the superior financial agency. Recommendations and conclusions of inspections and the State Audit Agency implemented after November 15 of the following year for the previous year's state budget settlement shall be recorded in the budget year at the time of handling according to the prescribed regulations.

c) The first-level budgetary unit compiles and reports to the financial agency at the same level, the lower-level financial agency compiles and reports to the People's Committee at the same level to send to the superior financial agency according to form number 69 in Appendix 1 issued together with this Circular.

d) During the audit and compilation of lower-level budget settlements, if errors or violations are discovered, the higher-level financial agency shall handle them and issue a written notification to the lower-level People's Committee to report to the People's Council at the same level to adjust the state budget settlement according to the provisions of Article 67 of the State Budget Law.

Article 28. Handling of Budget Surpluses at Each Level

1. The handling of budget surpluses shall be carried out in accordance with the provisions of Article 72 of the State Budget Law.

2. Based on the resolution approving the final accounts of the state budget of the National Assembly and People's Councils, the financial authorities at the same level, and the People's Committee of communes (for commune budgets) shall issue documents to the State Treasury where transactions are conducted to process the transfer into the financial reserve fund, debt repayment, or transfer into the next year's revenue according to the prescribed regulations (if there is any surplus).

Article 29. Inspection, Audit, and Review of Accounting and Final Accounts of the State Budget

1. Financial authorities, revenue collection agencies, State Treasury agencies, and budgetary units at all levels, based on their assigned functions and responsibilities, shall organize regular and periodic inspections of accounting work for units and individuals obligated to pay into the budget, and for budget-using units at all levels. During the inspection of accounting work, the review and examination of final accounts of the budget, if any revenues from organizations and individuals paid into the state budget are found not to comply with the provisions of the law, they must be refunded from the state budget to those organizations and individuals and recorded as a reduction in budget revenue. For expenditures that do not comply with the prescribed legal regulations, they must be recovered and recorded as a reduction in budget expenditure. In cases where the final accounts of the budget have been approved by the National Assembly or People's Council, the expenditure from the budget (for amounts to be refunded) or revenue into the budget (for amounts to be recovered) shall be recorded in the budget of the year in which the handling takes place.

2. The audit and inspection of final accounts of budgetary units and budgets at all levels shall be carried out in accordance with the laws on state audit, inspection, and the State Budget Law. Upon receiving recommendations and conclusions from the State Audit Agency and inspection bodies, competent authorities must consider and handle them in accordance with the law.

Article 30. Forms and Reports for Final Accounts of the State Budget

1. State agencies and public service establishments shall submit final account reports on the state budget as prescribed and in forms number 58 to 70 in Appendix 1 issued together with this Circular.

2. Agencies directly managing non-budgetary state financial funds shall settle income and expenditure of these funds in accordance with Clause 5 of Article 12 of Decree No. 163/2016/NĐ-CP of the Government.

3. Primary budgetary units under the central government shall submit final accounts to the Ministry of Finance in two copies (one copy to be sent to the State Treasury) and one copy to the State Audit Agency. For detailed reports on state budget revenue and expenditure, they shall send electronic data files in Excel format to the email address: [email protected] and bear responsibility for the accuracy of the data in the electronic files submitted.

4. Provincial Departments of Finance shall prepare explanatory reports on final accounts of the state budget and annual state budget revenue reports; annual local budget revenue and expenditure reports in forms number 58 to 70 in Appendix 1 issued together with this Circular, submit them to the provincial People's Committees, and send two copies to the Ministry of Finance (one copy to be sent to the State Treasury) and one copy to the State Audit Agency; simultaneously, they shall send electronic data files containing the contents specified in this clause and detailed final accounts of state budget revenue and expenditure according to the State Budget Item List to the Ministry of Finance at the email address: [email protected] and bear responsibility for the accuracy of the data in the electronic files submitted.

5. The deadline for submitting annual final accounts of primary budgetary units to the financial authorities at the same level and lower-level People's Committees to higher-level financial authorities shall be implemented in accordance with Articles 69 and 70 of the State Budget Law and Article 44 of Decree No. 163/2016/NĐ-CP of the Government. If the deadline is exceeded and the financial authority has not received the final account report, the financial authority may temporarily suspend the allocation of funds in accordance with Clause 2 of Article 34 of Decree No. 163/2016/NĐ-CP of the Government and Clause 3 of this Circular.

6. Along with the regular annual reporting requirements set forth by the Ministry of Finance regarding the state budget accounting system and the operations of the State Treasury, the State Treasury shall report to the financial authorities at the same level on the use of funds and the results of handling various types of balances using the forms issued together with this Circular. The State Treasury shall submit these reports before March 15 of the following year (for commune and district budgets) and before April 1 of the following year (for provincial and central budgets).

7. Within five working days after the People's Council approves the final accounts of the budget, the lower-level People's Committee shall send the resolution of the People's Council approving the final accounts of the budget to the higher-level financial authority. If the final accounts approved by the People's Council differ from the final accounts report submitted by the People's Committee, the financial authority must request the People's Committee to submit supplementary reports on the differences to the higher-level financial authority.

Chapter VI

IMPLEMENTING PROVISIONS

[6]

Article 31. Transitional Provisions

For the final accounts of the budgets of the years 2015 and 2016, the provisions of the State Budget Law No. 01/2002/QH11, Decree No. 60/2003/NĐ-CP dated June 6, 2003 of the Government detailing and guiding the implementation of the State Budget Law, Circular No. 59/2003/TT-BTC dated June 23, 2003 of the Ministry of Finance guiding the implementation of Decree No. 60/2003/NĐ-CP dated June 6, 2003 of the Government, and Circular No. 108/2008/TT-BTC dated November 18, 2008 of the Ministry of Finance guiding the end-of-year budget and the preparation and reporting of annual final accounts of the state budget shall apply. year 2008 of the Ministry of Finance guiding the end-of-year budget and the preparation and reporting of annual final accounts of the state budget.

Article 32. Effectiveness

1. This Circular shall take effect from February 13, 2017, and shall be applied from the 2017 fiscal year.

2. REPEAL Circular No. 59/2003/TT-BTC dated June 23, 2003 of the Ministry of Finance guiding the implementation of Decree No. 60/2003/NĐ-CP dated June 6, 2003 of the Government detailing and guiding the implementation of the State Budget Law and Circular No. 108/2008/TT-BTC dated November 18, 2008 of the Ministry of Finance guiding the finalization of the state budget and the preparation and reporting of annual state budget settlement.

3. During the implementation process, if there are difficulties, agencies and units are requested to report to the Ministry of Finance for research and resolution./.

 

CERTIFIED CONSOLIDATED DOCUMENT DEPUTY MINISTER DEPUTY MINISTER Huynh Quang Hai

 

 

 

---