Circular No. 58/2005/TT-BTC guiding the regime of collection, payment, and management and use of fees and charges for inland waterway port services.

CIRCULAR

Guidelines on the collection, payment, and management of use of port fees and charges for inland waterway traffic control

fees and charges for inland waterway navigation management

Pursuant to the Law on Inland Waterway Traffic;

Pursuant to the Ordinance on Fees and Charges dated August 28, 2001 and Decree No. 57/2002/NĐ-CP dated June 3, 2002 of the Government detailing the implementation of the Ordinance on Fees and Charges;

After receiving comments from the Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of Finance issues guidelines on the collection, payment, and management of use of port fees and charges for inland waterway traffic control as follows:

I - OBJECTS OF COLLECTION AND AMOUNTS OF COLLECTION:

1. All vessels entering or leaving operations at inland waterway ports and wharfs (including dedicated ports and wharfs) that have been announced or permitted by state authorities must pay port fees and charges for inland waterway traffic control according to the provisions of this Circular (except cases not required to pay as stipulated in Point 2 of this Section).

Where international treaties to which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a party provide different provisions, such provisions shall be implemented.

2. The following cases are exempted from paying port fees for inland waterway traffic control:

a) Vessels used for national defense and security purposes under the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Public Security (excluding those used for economic activities).

b) Vessels avoiding storms and providing emergency assistance.

c) Vessels transporting goods with a total deadweight of less than 10 tons or carrying passengers up to 12 seats.

d) Vessels transporting flood prevention materials.

e) Vessels of customs authorities performing duties (excluding those used for economic activities).

g) Vessels of traffic inspection agencies, inland waterway traffic control agencies when performing duties (excluding those used for economic activities).

3. The amounts of collection for port fees and charges for inland waterway traffic control are specified as follows:

- In the case where ships enter or leave inland waterway ports and wharfs and must pay tonnage fees and maritime security guarantee fees according to Decision No. 88/2004/QD-BTC dated November 19, 2004 of the Minister of Finance regarding the level of collection of maritime fees and charges. For ships within the same voyage entering and leaving multiple sea ports and inland waterway ports within the same maritime area, they only need to pay once the tonnage fee and maritime security guarantee fee, in this case, the ship owner must present to the inland waterway traffic control agency the receipt of tonnage fee and maritime security guarantee fee paid at the first port entered.

- In the case where vessels enter or leave multiple ports and wharfs within the same area managed by one inland waterway traffic control agency during the same voyage, they only need to pay once the tonnage fee according to the tonnage fee collection rate specified in Point 3 of this Section.

- Vessels entering or leaving ports to refuel, take food, change crew without loading or unloading cargo or embarking or disembarking passengers apply a tonnage fee rate of 70% compared to the tonnage fee collection rate specified in Point 3 of this Section.

- Vessels entering or leaving ports within the same area managed by one inland waterway traffic control agency more than three times per month, starting from the fourth trip onwards in the same month, apply a tonnage fee rate of 60% compared to the tonnage fee collection rate specified in Point 3 of this Section.

- Organizations or individuals having cargo vessels entering or leaving ports within the same area managed by one inland waterway traffic control agency more than eight times per month, starting from the ninth trip onwards in the same month, apply a tonnage fee rate of 60% compared to the collection rate specified in Point 3 of this Section.

- The deadweight of vessels that are not river cargo ships is converted when calculating tonnage fees as follows:

- Special purpose vessels: 1 horsepower is equivalent to 1 ton of total deadweight.

- Passenger vessels: 1 passenger seat is equivalent to 1 ton of total deadweight.

4Port fees and charges for inland waterway traffic control are collected in Vietnamese Dong. In cases where foreign organizations or individuals wish to pay fees and charges in foreign currency, they will be collected in US dollars (USD) based on the average inter-bank foreign exchange trading rate published by the State Bank of Vietnam at the time of payment.

II - ORGANIZATION OF COLLECTION, PAYMENT, AND MANAGEMENT OF USE:

1. The agencies collecting port fees and charges for inland waterway traffic control are the inland waterway traffic control agencies specified in Article 71, Clause 10 of Article 72 of the Law on Inland Waterway Traffic. These agencies are responsible for registering, declaring, and paying fees and charges into the state budget according to Circular No. 63/2002/TT-BTC dated July 24, 2002 of the Ministry of Finance guiding the implementation of laws on fees and charges.

2. The agencies collecting fees and charges retain 95% of the total amount collected before paying into the state budget to cover the expenses of the port authority according to the approved budget by the competent authority as stipulated below:

a) Recurrent expenses to ensure the operation of the organizational machinery of the port authority: expenditures according to the current state management expenditure standards for the staffing of the port authority including: salary and wage payments, payments with the nature of salary and wages; labor protection or uniform costs as prescribed (if any), social insurance contributions, health insurance contributions; travel expenses; communication expenses; public service expenses (office electricity and water charges); meeting expenses; regular maintenance expenses for buildings, equipment, and office facilities; professional training expenses; meal expenses during shifts for employees at the minimum level prescribed by the State; other expenses for organizing fee collection activities. The staffing of the port authority is assigned by the Ministry of Transport.

b) Special expenses, including:

- Fuel purchase expenses directly serving the operational activities of the port authority.

- Purchase and major repair expenses for specialized equipment and means of transport serving fee and surcharge collection.

- Expenses for search and rescue operations for vessels and persons within the responsibility area, and expenses related to environmental issues such as oil spill treatment caused by discharges from vessels in the port area.

- Rental expenses for premises (if any)

- Purchase expenses for receipts and seals.

c) Expenses for setting up incentive funds and welfare funds for staff collecting fees and surcharges for inland waterway port authorities. The average annual amount allocated to the two incentive and welfare funds shall not exceed three months' actual salary if the revenue exceeds that of the previous year, or two months' actual salary if the revenue is lower than or equal to that of the previous year.

d) Inland Waterway Port Authorities shall, based on the amount allocated for expenses serving the organization of fee collection (95%) and the approved budget estimates (annual budget divided by month or quarter), if the allocated amount is greater than the expenses, the excess must be deposited into the account of the Vietnam Inland Waterways Administration for the Vietnam Inland Waterways Administration to allocate to subordinate port authorities lacking sufficient funds to ensure the minimum wage fund for fee collection staff and other expenses serving the operation of the port authority as prescribed.

The Vietnam Inland Waterways Administration shall open a separate account at the State Treasury where transactions take place to monitor the income and expenditure of the reallocated funds serving the organization of fee collection by units with surplus deposits. At the same time, separate ledgers shall be maintained for each fund, and at the end of the year, any unspent amounts may be carried over to the next year for continued use, and annual settlement with the Ministry of Finance must be conducted.

3. The total amount of fees and surcharges actually collected, after deducting the amount allocated according to the ratio specified in point 2 above, the remaining amount (5%) must be paid into the State budget (corresponding chapter, type, item, sub-item of the current State budget classification).

4. Settlement of fees and surcharges shall be conducted simultaneously with the settlement of the State budget. Annually, the fee collection agency shall settle the use of fee and surcharge receipts, the amount of surcharges collected, the amount retained by the unit, the amount to be paid into the budget, the amount already paid, and the amount still to be paid into the State budget with the Tax Authority; and settle the use of the retained amount with the financial authority at the same level in accordance with regulations.

III - IMPLEMENTATION

1. This Circular takes effect fifteen days after its publication in the Official Gazette, replacing Circular No. 50/2000/TT-BTC dated June 2, 2000, issued by the Ministry of Finance guiding the management and use of port authority fees and surcharges for inland waterways, and Decision No. 142/1999/QĐ/BTC dated November 19, 1999, issued by the Minister of Finance establishing the levels of port authority fees and surcharges for inland waterways.

2. Organizations and individuals subject to payment of port authority fees and surcharges for inland waterways and relevant agencies have the responsibility to implement this Circular in accordance with the provisions.

During implementation, if there are any difficulties, organizations and individuals are requested to promptly report to the Ministry of Finance for research and supplementary guidance.