Circular No. 55/2003/TT-BTC guiding amendments and supplements to Circular No. 28/2000/TT-BTC dated April 18, 2000 of the Ministry of Finance guiding the implementation of Decree No. 176/1999/NĐ-CP dated December 21, 1999 on stamp duty for real estate transactions.

CIRCULAR

Guidelines for amending and supplementing Circular No. 28/2000/TT-BTC dated April 18, 2000 of the Ministry of Finance guiding the implementation of Decree No. 176/1999/NĐ-CPdated December 21, 1999 on stamp duty

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Pursuant to Decree No. 47/2003/NĐ-CP dated May 12, 2003 of the Government amending and supplementing Decree No. 176/1999/NĐ-CP and Decree No. 176/1999/NĐ-CP dated December 21, 1999 on stamp duty;

The Ministry of Finance issues guidelines for amending and supplementing Circular No. 28/2000/TT-BTC dated April 18, 2000 of the Ministry of Finance guiding the implementation of Decree No. 176/1999/NĐ-CP as follows:

I - AMENDMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTS TO POINT 3, SECTION II OF CIRCULAR NO. 28/2000/TT-BTC:

3. The rates (%) of stamp duty shall be as follows:

3.1. Houses and land: 1%

3.2. Ships and boats: 1%; specifically, ships for distant sea fishing: 0.5%

Distant sea fishing ships are those equipped with main engines having a power of 90 horsepower (HP) or more. When paying stamp duty, ship owners must present to the local tax authority:

- A technical inspection report issued by the fisheries protection agency.

- Documents verifying the lawful origin of the ship, clearly stating the engine number and the power of the main engine of the ship subject to stamp duty declaration.

3.3. Cars, motorcycles, hunting guns, sports guns: 2%; specifically:

a) Cars with up to seven seats (excluding cars engaged in passenger transport business according to business licenses or business registration certificates issued by competent state management agencies) and motorcycles owned by organizations and individuals residing in central cities, provincial cities, and towns where the provincial People's Committee has its headquarters, when declaring and paying stamp duty for the first time in Vietnam (regardless of whether they are new or used), shall pay at a rate of 5%.

b) For cars with up to seven seats (excluding cars engaged in passenger transport business according to business licenses or business registration certificates issued by competent state management agencies) and motorcycles that have already paid stamp duty according to point a above and then transferred to organizations and individuals in areas with lower stamp duty rates, shall pay stamp duty at a rate of 2% for cars and 1% for motorcycles.

In cases where the owner has declared and paid stamp duty at a rate lower than 5% and subsequently transferred the asset to organizations and individuals in areas specified in point a above, they shall pay stamp duty at a rate of 5%.

c) For motorcycles paying stamp duty from the second time onwards, the rate shall be 1%, except for cases specified in point b above.

d) For cars with up to seven seats engaged in passenger transport business, the stamp duty rate is 2%, including:

d.1) Cars with up to seven seats belonging to organizations and individuals engaged in passenger transport business such as taxi companies, passenger transport companies, tourist transport companies, etc. Organizations and individuals declaring and paying stamp duty must provide the tax authority with:

- An introduction letter from the organization authorized by the competent state agency to issue business licenses or business registration certificates for passenger transport (for organizations). The introduction letter must specify the number and type of vehicles subject to stamp duty declaration.

- Legal purchase documents for the vehicle according to regulations of the Ministry of Finance.

- Business license or business registration certificate for passenger transport issued by the competent state agency (a notarized copy if it is a copy).

d.2) Cars leased by financial leasing companies to organizations and individuals authorized by the competent state agency to engage in passenger transport business (or business registration certificates for passenger transport). Financial leasing companies declaring and paying stamp duty must provide the tax authority with:

- An introduction letter from the financial leasing company specifying the number and type of cars registered for leasing.

- Business license or business registration certificate for financial leasing activities issued by the competent state agency (a notarized copy if it is a copy).

- A financial leasing contract signed between the financial leasing company and the organization or individual leasing the car for passenger transport, clearly stating the number of cars with up to seven seats leased, and the lease period (a notarized copy if it is a copy).

- Business license or business registration certificate for passenger transport issued by the competent state agency to the lessee organization or individual named in the financial leasing contract (a notarized copy if it is a copy).

e) The maximum amount of stamp duty determined according to the rates (%) specified in points 3.1, 3.2, and 3.3 above is VND 500,000,000 (five hundred million dong) per asset. Specifically, production and business factories are calculated together within the same premises of the production and business facility.

f) In this section, some terms are understood as follows:

f.1) Passenger cars with up to seven seats, excluding lam cars.

f.2) Motorcycles include: two-wheeled motorcycles, three-wheeled motorcycles, motorbikes, and similar types, excluding three-wheeled motorcycles exclusively for disabled persons.

f.3) The cities and towns mentioned in this circular are defined according to national administrative boundaries, specifically as follows:

- Hanoi City, Ho Chi Minh City, and other centrally-administered cities (such as Da Nang City, Hai Phong City, etc.) include all districts and counties directly under the city, regardless of whether they are inner-city or suburban, urban or rural areas.

- Provincial cities and towns where the provincial People's Committee has its headquarters include all wards and communes under the city or town, regardless of whether they are inner-city or inner-town wards or suburban or rural communes.

II - AMENDMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTS TO SUBSECTION K1, POINT 3, SECTION I OF CIRCULAR NO. 28/2000/TT-BTC AS FOLLOWS:

k1) Organizations and individuals contributing their assets to joint ventures or cooperative organizations with legal personality (state-owned enterprises, private enterprises, foreign-invested enterprises, limited liability companies, joint-stock companies, etc.); Members of cooperatives contributing capital to cooperatives, the organization receiving the assets shall not pay the stamp duty for the contributed assets; or when these organizations dissolve and distribute their assets to member organizations and individuals who have registered ownership and use rights. In addition, if cooperatives make decisions to transfer assets between members within the cooperative, the person receiving the assets also does not need to pay the stamp duty when re-registering ownership and use rights.

Individuals contributing assets to cooperatives, then leaving the cooperatives and reclaiming their assets, shall not pay the stamp duty. In this case, the person receiving the assets must present to the Tax Authority:

- The decision to establish the cooperative or the operational charter of the cooperative, accompanied by a list of individual members of the cooperative or documents proving the contribution of assets to the cooperative by individual members (certified true copy).

- The decision of the cooperative to refund assets to members leaving the cooperative (certified true copy).

- Certificate of ownership and use of assets registered under the name of the cooperative.

III- IMPLEMENTATION:

This Circular takes effect 15 days after its publication in the Official Gazette. Previous regulations on stamp duty that conflict with Decree No. 47/2003/NĐ-CP and the guidance provided in this Circular are hereby abolished.

During implementation, if there are any difficulties, it is requested that agencies, organizations, and individuals promptly report them to the Ministry of Finance for further study and supplementary guidance.