Circular No. 51/2017/TT-BTC Amending and Supplementing Certain Provisions of Circular No. 117/2012/TT-BTC of the Ministry of Finance dated July 19, 2012 on Tax Procedure Services Practice

CIRCULAR

AMENDING AND SUPPLEMENTING CERTAIN PROVISIONS OF THE CIRCULAR NO. 117/2012/TT-BTC dated July 19, 2012 guiding the practice of tax procedure service business

Pursuant to the Law on Tax Administration No.No. 78/2006/QH11 on June 26/11/2006, Law Amending and Supplementing Certain Provisions of the Tax Administration Law No. 21/2012/QH13 dated June 20/11/2012;

Pursuant to the Enterprise Law No. 68/2014/QH13 dated June 26/11/2014;

Pursuant to Decree No. 215/2013/NĐ-CP dated September 23/12/2013 of the Government stipulating the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Finance;

At the proposal of the Director General of the State Revenue Administration,

The Minister of Finance issues this Circular amending and supplementing certain articles of Circular No. 117/2012/TT-BTC of the Ministry of Finance dated July 19, 2012 guiding the practice of tax procedure service business (hereinafter referred to as Circular No. 117/2012/TT-BTC) as follows:

Article 1

Amending and supplementing some articles of Circular No.

1. Amending and supplementing Clause 3 Article 2 as follows:

“3. ‘Tax agent’: is a business enterprise or branch of a business enterprise meeting the conditions to operate tax procedure service business in accordance with the Tax Administration Law and other relevant laws.”

2. Amend Clause 1 Article 7 as follows:

“1. Before commencing operations, a tax agent must prepare one (01) set of application documents for confirmation of eligibility to conduct tax procedure service business and submit it to the Tax Department where the main office of the tax agent is located; The documents include:

- A request for confirmation of eligibility to conduct tax procedure service business (according to Form No. 01A promulgated together with this Circular).

- A copy of the Business Registration Certificate (certified by the tax agent).

- Copies of the certificates of practice in tax procedure service business of the tax agent's staff (certified by the tax agent).

3. Amending and supplementing Clause 3 Article 7 as follows:

“Within five (05) working days from the date of receipt of complete and valid application documents as prescribed in Clause 1 of this Article, the Tax Department shall check and verify the information on the business registration for tax procedure service business of the enterprise on the National Portal for Business Registration, and issue a "Confirmation of Eligibility to Operate as a Tax Agent" (according to Form No. 02 issued together with Circular No. 117/2012/TT-BTC) to enterprises that meet the conditions; in cases where the conditions are not met, the Tax Department shall notify the enterprise in writing.

Within one (01) working day from the date of issuing the "Confirmation of Eligibility to Conduct Tax Procedure Service Business" to the tax agent, the Tax Department shallamendpublicly post the list of tax agents eligible to conduct tax procedure service business on its official website and send the information through the internal network of the tax sector to the General Department of Taxation fordevelopment posting on the General Department of Taxation’s official website.”

4. Amending and supplementing Clause 2 Article 11 as follows:

“2. Havinglogoa college degree or higher in economics, taxation, finance, banking, accounting, auditing, law, or other related fields, and having completed at least seven percent (7%) of the total course units (or class hours) in subjects such as finance, accounting, auditing, financial activity analysis, and taxation throughout the entire program, and having worked in this field for at least two (02) years from the graduation date recorded on the graduation certificate to the deadline for submitting the application to take the examination.”

5. Amend and supplement Clause 3 Article 13 as follows:

“3. Examination organization:

a) The General Department of Taxation establishes the Examination Board for Issuing Practice Certificates in Tax Procedure Services. The Examination Board selects and decides on the examination unit, provides specific guidance on examination conditions (if necessary), and performs other necessary tasks to organize the examination.

b) Examination schedule: The Examination Board organizes examinations annually; each year, at least two (02) examinations are held.

At least sixty (60) days before the examination date, the Examination Board officially announces on the General Department of Taxation’s official website and through mass media about the examination conditions, standards, time, location, and other relevant information regarding the examination.

At least fifteen (15) days before the examination date, the Examination Board must inform the candidates of the following contents: registration number, subject(s) to be taken, examination time, location, and other relevant information.

One day before the examination, the Examination Board convenes the candidates to disseminate examination rules, distribute examination forms, correct any errors in candidate information, and provide other relevant information.

c) Examination venue: The Examination Board decides on centralized examination venues or regional venues to ensure convenience for candidates.

d) Examination fees: Candidates must pay the examination fee for each subject registered according to the announcement of the Examination Board.”

6. Amend and supplement Point a Clause 2 and Clause 3 Article 14 as follows:

“2. Exemption from the Tax Law examination:

a) Tax officials and tax employees holding positions from specialist tax officers, senior tax inspectors, lecturers in higher education in taxation, and above, who have worked in the tax sector for at least three (03) years and have ceased their work in the tax sector (excluding cases of disciplinary dismissal) and apply for the examination to obtain a practice certificate in tax procedure services within three (03) years from the date of the decision on transfer, retirement, or resignation. tr3. Exemption from two (02) subjects: Tax Law and Accounting

a) Persons holding a Certificate of Registration for Auditing Practice or a Certificate of Registration for Accounting Practice issued by the competent authority in accordance with the regulations of the Ministry of Finance.

b) Tax officials and tax employees holding positions from specialist tax officers, senior tax inspectors, lecturers in higher education in taxation, and above, who have continuously worked in the tax sector for at least five (05) years and have ceased their work in the tax sector (excluding cases of disciplinary dismissal) within three (03) years from the date of the decision on transfer, retirement, or resignation and apply to the General Department of Taxation for issuance of a practice certificate in tax procedure services.”

Point e Clause 2.1 Article 15

7. Amend and supplement “e) A Certificate of Registration for Auditing Practice or a Certificate of Registration for Accounting Practice issued by the competent authority in accordance with the regulations of the Ministry of Finance (certified copy) for persons exempted under Point a Clause 3 Article 14 of this Circular; a confirmation letter of the number of years of professional work from the unit where the applicant has worked or a social insurance book of the applicant (certified copy) for persons exempted under Point b Clause 3 Article 14 of this Circular.” as follows:

provisions of Circular No. 117/2012/TT-BTC byiđiểm b khoản 3 Điều 14 của Thông tư này về đối tượng được miễn bản sao chứng thực giấy tờ về tình hình xã hội của người dự thi.

8. Amend and Supplement Form No. 01 quy định tại Thông tư số 117/2012/TT-BTC bằng Form No. 01A promulgated together with this Circular.

Article 2. Repeal

Article 3. Effectiveness

This Circular takes effect from the date 15 the 07 of 2017.

Applications for confirmation of meeting the conditions to operate tax procedure services business, or applications for registration to take the examination for issuance of a professional practice certificate for tax procedure services, or applications for issuance of a professional practice certificate for tax procedure services submitted before this Circular takes effect shall be implemented according to Circular No. 117/2012/TT-BTC.

During implementation, if there are difficulties or obstacles, organizations and individuals are requested to report to the Ministry of Finance for timely guidance and resolution..

Respectfully submitted to: Tax Department …………………………………………

Pursuant to Clause 1, Article 7 of Circular No. 117/2012/TT-BTC dated July 19, 2012 of the Ministry of Finance guiding on practicing tax procedure services business and Circular No. ……/2017/TT-BTC dated ……/5/2017 amending and supplementing some articles of Circular No. 117/2012/TT-BTC; Enterprise……………………………, tax code………………………….. self-assesses that it has met all conditions for operating as a tax agent.

We request the Tax Department to confirm that the Enterprise meets the conditions to operate tax procedure services business as prescribed.

Attached documents:

- A copy of the Business Registration Certificate (1) with the stamp of the legal representative of the Enterprise;

- A copy of theứprofessional practice certificate for tax procedure services of the employees working at the Enterprise;

- MFUNCTIONS, DUTIES, POWERS, ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE, OPERATIONAL REGULATIONS, AND RELATIONSHIPS OF MANAGEMENT BOARDS; DUTIES, POWERS OF THE CHAIRPERSON, VICE CHAIRPERSON (IF ANY), SECRETARY, AND MEMBERS OF MANAGEMENT BOARDSsignature of the authorized person of the Enterprise on tax registration, tax declaration, tax payment, tax settlement, tax appeal, application for tax exemption, tax reduction, tax refund, and other related documents as stipulated in the Law on Tax Administration and relevant laws;shall signature of the authorized person of the Enterprise (Enterprise Branch) on documents implementing tax procedure services:ồ Positiono signature;

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