Circular No. 56/2007/TT-BTC guides the management and distribution of uniforms and the establishment and use of funds amounting to 2% of the actual revenue collected into the State Budget discovered by the State Audit Agency.

CIRCULAR

Guidelines on management, allocation of uniforms; establishment and utilization of fundsamounting to 2%

of the actual amount paid into the State budget discovered bythe State Audit Agency

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Pursuant to Article 67 of the Law on State Audit regarding the operating expenses of the State Audit Agency;

Pursuant to Resolution No. 1003/2006/NQ-UBTVQH11 dated March 3, 2006 of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly approving the salary scale and position allowances for leaders of the State Audit Agency; the salary scale, allowances, and uniforms for officials and civil servants of the State Audit Agency; preferential treatment for state auditors;

Pursuant to Decree No. 162/2006/NĐ-CP dated December 28, 2006 of the Government on the salary system, uniform regulations for officials, civil servants, and public employees of the State Audit Agency, and preferential treatment for state auditors;

Pursuant to Decree No. 60/2003/NĐ-CP dated June 23, 2003 of the Government detailing and guiding the implementation of the State Budget Law;

The Ministry of Finance guides the management, allocation, and use of uniforms for officials and civil servants of the State Audit Agency; the establishment and utilization of funds amounting to 2% of the actual amount paid into the State budget discovered by the State Audit Agency outside the revenue collected by the agencies responsible for collecting state budget revenues (hereinafter referred to as the 2% fund) as follows:

I. REGULATIONS ON MANAGEMENT, ALLOCATION AND USE OF UNIFORMS FOR STATE AUDIT AGENCIES

DRESS CODE FOR STATE AUDITORS

1. Officials and civil servants under the State Audit Agency shall be provided with uniforms for use when performing official duties according to the quantity and usage period of uniforms prescribed in Resolution No. 1003/2006/NQ-UBTVQH11 dated March 3, 2006 of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly, Session XI.

The form, color, and style of uniforms in the State Audit Agency shall be stipulated by the Chief State Auditor.

2. Source of funds for purchasing uniforms:

Annually, based on the recipients of uniforms and the number of types of uniforms reaching their usage period, the State Audit Agency shall prepare a budget estimate for purchasing uniforms. The funds for implementing the uniform system for officials and civil servants of the State Audit Agency shall be allocated within the annual state budget of the State Audit Agency according to the provisions of the State Budget Law and the guiding documents.

3. Principles of allocation:

- The allocation and use of uniforms must comply with the purpose and recipients as prescribed by the State Audit Agency; records must be kept to accurately track the management and allocation to each civil servant to avoid errors and overlaps.

- Uniforms damaged or lost due to objective reasons shall be replaced. In cases of damage or loss without justifiable reasons, individuals must register to obtain replacements and bear the cost of replacement or purchase uniforms themselves to meet the requirements for use when performing official duties. - For those who resign, retire, or transfer to other positions while their uniforms have not yet reached the end of their usage period, there is no need to return them.

- Based on specific conditions, the Chief State Auditor may decide to purchase and allocate uniforms for individual officials and civil servants or consider providing money for civil servants to purchase uniforms based on prices, standards, and models prescribed by the Chief State Auditor.

- Strictly prohibit the misuse of funds for purchasing uniforms contrary to regulations.

4. Payment and settlement of funds for purchasing uniforms for officials and civil servants of the State Audit Agency shall be carried out in accordance with the State Budget Law and current guiding documents.

II. REGULATIONS ON THE ESTABLISHMENT AND UTILIZATION OF THE 2% FUND

Annually, based on the audit conclusions of the State Audit Agency, the State Audit Agency is entitled to extract 2% of the actual amount paid into the State budget outside the revenue collected by the agencies responsible for collecting state budget revenues to invest in infrastructure to enhance operational capacity in the sector and reward activities in auditing.

- Increased revenue for the state budget discovered by the State Audit Agency and paid into the state budget (taxes, fees, charges, other revenues);

- Funds improperly spent and returned to the state budget;

- Reductions in expenditures that should be recovered from the state budget (construction investment, budget settlement);

- Excess funds and other reductions in expenditures that were improperly used and subsequently paid into the state budget.

a) For the State Audit Agency and its Audit Teams:

- When compiling audit results, the Audit Teams shall prepare a summary table of recommendations for increasing state budget revenue, including the following contents:

+ Recommendations for recovering hidden and illegal revenues from entities required to pay into the state budget, as identified by the Audit Team.

+ Improperly spent funds returned to the state budget.

+ Improperly spent funds that should be reduced from the budget estimates and allocations.

- The summary table must be detailed by each budgetary unit with violations and the name of the State Treasury where the unit conducts transactions.

- At the same time, in the audit conclusion, the State Audit Teams need to clearly require that when units implement the State Audit's recommendations regarding the payment to the state budget and reduction of state budget expenditures, they must specify the content and amount of implementation according to the State Audit's recommendations on the revenue receipt documents for the state budget.

b) For the audited units:

The audited unit must record the economic essence accurately (Example: pay...dong according to the State Audit's conclusion at document number...on...month...year regarding...).

The model of the revenue submission document shall be implemented in accordance with Decision No. 24/2006/QD-BTC dated April 6, 2006, issued by the Minister of Finance on the issuance of the state accounting system and treasury operations.

c) The State Treasury, where the audited unit has an account for transactions, shall record in detail the results of implementing the State Audit Agency's recommendations according to the audited unit and the nature of the violation (clearly stated on the documents, detailed by audit year) and compile the results of implementing the State Audit Agency's recommendations.

By the end of the year, the State Treasury shall aggregate the total amount actually paid into the State Treasury discovered by the State Audit (based on the cumulative annual figure, including the amount recommended for state budget payment by the State Audit in previous years but only paid into the state budget this year) nationwide for each Ministry, central agency, locality according to the list of audited units decided by the State Auditor General in the annual audit plan, and report to the Ministry of Finance and the State Audit, serving as the basis for implementing Resolution No. 1003/2006/NQ-UBTVQH11 of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly.

d) Based on the report on the results of implementing the State Audit Agency's recommendations prepared by the State Treasury, the Ministry of Finance shall extract 2% of the actual amount paid into the state budget for the State Audit Agency as stipulated in Point 4, Section II of this Circular.

The use of the 2% funding source from the results of audit activities shall be carried out in accordance with Resolution No. 1003/2006/NQ-UBTVQH11 of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly.

Expenses for incentives and rewards for officials and civil servants from the 2% funding source plus their rank and position salaries guaranteed from the state budget funding, shall not exceed a maximum of 1.8 times the rank and position salary for audit officers directly performing auditing tasks, and not more than 1.6 times for other officials and civil servants, including the occupational allowance ranging from 15% to 25% depending on the category as stipulated in Resolution No. 1003/2006/NQ-UBTVQH11 of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly.

4. On the allocation of the 2% funding in the annual state budget expenditure plan of the State Audit:

Annually, at the time of building the state budget revenue and expenditure forecast; the State Audit shall base on the estimated actual amount collected and paid into the state budget discovered by the State Audit in that year to determine the 2% funding for the planning year, aggregate it into the state budget revenue and expenditure forecast of the State Audit, submit to the Ministry of Finance for inclusion in the state budget forecast submitted to the Prime Minister for approval by the National Assembly in accordance with the State Budget Law and guiding documents.

At the end of the year, based on the confirmation of the actual amount paid into the state budget by the State Treasury, the Ministry of Finance will consider resolving the difference between the amount allocated based on the actual amount paid into the state budget higher or lower than the amount allocated in the annual state budget expenditure forecast, specifically as follows:

- In case the actual amount paid is higher than the amount allocated in the annual budget forecast, the shortfall will be allocated in the next year's budget forecast (for example, the shortfall of 2006 will be allocated in the 2008 budget forecast);

- In case the actual amount paid is lower than the amount allocated in the annual budget forecast, the excess allocation will be deducted from the amount to be allocated in the next year's budget forecast (for example, the excess of 2006 will be deducted from the 2% allocation in the 2008 budget forecast);

5. On the allocation, assignment, use, and settlement of the 2% funding extracted from the actual amount paid into the state budget shall be implemented in accordance with the State Budget Law and current guiding documents.

III. IMPLEMENTATION

This Circular takes effect fifteen days after its publication in the Official Gazette.

During the implementation process, if there are difficulties or obstacles, agencies and units are requested to reflect them to the Ministry of Finance for study and resolution.