Circular No. 58/TC-TCT guiding the implementation of tax declaration and registration

 CIRCULAR

DIRECTIVE NO. 58-TC/TCT OF THE MINISTRY OF FINANCE ON IMPLEMENTING THE REGISTRATION AND DECLARATION OF TAXES

Pursuant to Article 10 of the Law on Business Tax, Article 10 of the Law on Special Consumption Tax, and Circulars No. 45-TC/TCT and No. 46-TC/TCT issued on October 4, 1990, the Ministry of Finance has provided detailed guidance on tax registration and declaration. However, many localities have not yet implemented or have not fully implemented according to the provisions of the Tax Laws.

In order to enhance efforts against revenue loss from households and business establishments, creating conditions for the strict implementation of the Tax Laws for all economic sectors starting from January 1991, the Ministry of Finance directs localities to organize a concentrated campaign to intensify tax registration and declaration in accordance with Article 10 of the Law on Business Tax, Article 10 of the Law on Special Consumption Tax, and Decision No. 268-CT of the Council of Ministers' Chairman.

I- OBJECTIVES AND REQUIREMENTS

The purpose of tax registration and declaration is:

1. Organizations and individuals engaged in various trades under different economic sectors must comply with the initial procedure of tax registration as stipulated by the State's Tax Laws. Tax authorities and tax officers are responsible for guiding both long-established and newly established taxpayers to declare and register their taxes according to the Law.

2. Tax registration and declaration is the first step in tax collection management, providing conditions for tax authorities and tax officers to grasp all business establishments in various trades and economic sectors within their jurisdiction; understand basic factors of each business establishment such as location, goods, capital, assets, labor, business methods, and organizational structure, etc., to establish tax records for accurate and practical tax collection management.

3. This round of tax registration and declaration aims to maximize revenue collection by bringing all hidden businesses out of the shadows to declare and pay taxes, including businesses registered at the commune level, those evading taxes, large and small businesses, etc., striving to increase the number of taxpayers by 10-30%.

II- CONTENTS OF THE TAX REGISTRATION AND DECLARATION WORK

The contents of tax registration and declaration have been specifically guided in Point C - I of Circular No. 45-TC/TCT and Point A - 1 of Circular No. 46-TC/TCT dated October 4, 1990, issued by the Ministry of Finance. The General Department of Taxation has cooperated with financial printers to print "tax registration forms" and sent them to localities. The Ministry of Finance further clarifies the following two points:

1. Establishing "Registers of Business Establishments"

"Registers of Business Establishments" shall be established separately for each economic sector: state-owned enterprises, cooperatives, production groups, administrative organizations, political-social organizations, armed forces, private enterprises, individual households, and family economies.

Where there are numerous business establishments, separate registers should be established for each economic sector, such as "Register of State-Owned Enterprises," "Register of Cooperative Enterprises," "Register of Individual Households," etc. In areas with fewer business establishments, a single "Register of Business Establishments" can be established, divided into sections for each economic sector: state-owned enterprises, cooperatives, production groups, administrative organizations, political-social organizations, armed forces, private enterprises, individual households, and family economies.

The Register of Business Establishments serves to record tax registration and declaration, not as a tax ledger.

The method of recording the register is as follows:

In the register, there are columns, with the first column being "Tax Registration Number" to record the code numbers of each business establishment (see instructions on code numbers below), followed by columns recording the contents listed in the tax registration form in sequence.

Each business establishment is recorded in one row; below each business establishment, three to five rows are left blank for future supplementary entries specific to each business establishment.

At the end of each section for each economic sector, several pages should be reserved to record new business establishments operating in each economic sector and trade.

2. Recording Code Numbers for Each Business Establishment:

Recording code numbers (unique numerical symbols for each business establishment) is intended to facilitate the use of computers in tax management in the future. The Ministry of Finance temporarily guides the recording of code numbers as follows:

a) Using letters (capital letters) to indicate symbols for each economic sector:

A- State-owned economy

B- Cooperatives

C- Production groups, cooperative associations

D- Administrative organizations, political-social organizations, armed forces

E- Private economy

G- Individual households

H- Family economy.

b) Using Roman numerals to indicate symbols for each trade, in the order specified in the business tax schedule. Specifically:

I- Manufacturing

II- Construction

III- Transportation

IV- Commerce

V- Catering

VI- Services.

c) Subsequent numbers use regular digits in sequence for each business establishment that submits the "tax registration form."

Therefore, whenever a "tax registration form" is submitted by a business establishment, the tax officer must immediately record the code number in the upper right corner of the form (where it says "tax registration...") as the basis for entering the code number column in the "register of business establishments." Simultaneously, the retained copy of the "tax registration form" must be arranged in order of the code number in each file accompanying the "register of business establishments," for easy reference when needed.

An example of how to record code numbers is as follows:

- Factory Tool No. 1, which was the first to submit the tax registration form, has the code number A - I - 1.

- Cooperative Construction 8 - 3, which was the fourteenth to submit the tax registration form, has the code number B - II - 14.

- Individual household Nguyen Van Y selling pho, who was the fortieth to submit the tax registration form, has the code number G - V - 40.

III- PLAN AND MEASURES FOR ORGANIZING AND IMPLEMENTING THE CONCENTRATED CAMPAIGN TO INTENSIFY TAX REGISTRATION AND DECLARATION

1. Regarding guidance, organizing forces, and preparing for implementation:

Tax registration declaration is one of the most important initial contents in implementing tax laws, which must be directly guided by the Chairman of the People's Committee at all levels, with the coordinated efforts of relevant sectors such as the Prosecutor's Office, police, market management, banks, economic and technical sectors; the main managing sector of business establishments, local propaganda agencies, and the tax authority shall jointly implement.

In this regard, the Provincial, City, and Central-Special-City Tax Departments (and simultaneously instructing the District Tax Offices) must immediately undertake the following main tasks:

a) Prepare a report to the Provincial, City, and Central-Special-City People's Committees, proposing:

- Issuing a Decision by the Chairman of the Provincial, City, and Central-Special-City People's Committee on launching a concentrated campaign to promote tax registration declarations for all existing business establishments in the locality (including all business establishments from all industries and economic components, regardless of whether they have just started operating or have been operating for a long time).

- Issuing a decision to establish a tax collection work steering committee (in accordance with Article 8 of Decree No. 281-HĐBT dated August 7, 1990 of the Council of Ministers) to immediately direct the tax registration declaration work. The steering committee will be headed by the Deputy Chairman of the People's Committee responsible for distribution and circulation, with the Director of the Provincial Tax Department as a standing member, and other members including finance, market management, police, Prosecutor's Office, and other local sectors.

- Based on the guidance provided in Point H of Circular No. 45-TC/TCT dated October 4, 1990 of the Ministry of Finance, the Tax Department drafts a document to be submitted to the People's Committee for issuing a notice to all business establishments regarding the location and deadline for tax registration declarations (specifying which establishment should declare at the Provincial Tax Department and which at the District Tax Office).

b) Accompanying the report to the People's Committee, there must be a detailed implementation plan specifying the content of each step of the work, assigning personnel with tax officers as the core force, and the content of publicity, explanation, and guidance on specific tasks during the tax registration declaration campaign. Each task needs to be compiled into small documents including measures for handling if the law is not followed correctly.

c) Within each tax authority (Provincial Tax Department, District Tax Office), immediately prepare the following:

- Estimate the number of business establishments in each locality to prepare tax registration forms for sale to business establishments (at least two copies per establishment). Localities that cannot print in time may purchase from the printing house of the Ministry of Finance.

- Organize a permanent tax registration declaration working group to:

+ Sell tax registration forms and guide business establishments to fill out and submit tax registration declarations: each business establishment comes to the tax authority to purchase the form, fills it out according to the indicators listed on the form, and submits it to the tax authority within the announced deadline.

+ Collect tax registration forms, assign codes, check the forms, and record business establishments in the business registry book, keep the retained copies of the forms. Report the results of implementation weekly to unit leaders and superiors.

The business registry book must be bound in hard cover with good quality paper, written clearly and neatly in non-fading ink for long-term preservation.

The permanent tax registration declaration working group is also responsible for issuing business licenses to entities in accordance with Decision No. 268-CT of the Council of Ministers' Chairman and Circular No. 32-CT/CTN of the Ministry of Finance. This group has the responsibility to closely coordinate with related sectors concerning the issuance of business licenses to entities as stipulated in Decrees No. 27, 28, 29-HĐBT dated March 9, 1988, Decision No. 193-HĐBT dated December 23, 1988, and Directive No. 131-CT dated May 3, 1990 of the Council of Ministers, requesting these agencies to only issue business licenses to establishments that have registered taxes and only after tax registration can they open bank accounts.

2. Plan for organizing and implementing the concentrated campaign to promote tax registration declarations.

This campaign will be carried out urgently in December 1990 and completed before December 31, 1990, consisting of the following steps:

a) By the beginning of December 1990, localities must complete preparatory work as outlined in point 1 of Section III above.

b) From the beginning of December 1990, immediately launch tax registration declarations in localities according to the guidance provided. It is necessary to note that business establishments that have already registered taxes before December 1, 1990, using the pre-printed tax declaration form, must also be rechecked to ensure compliance with regulations.

Strengthen publicity, guidance, encouragement, and motivation for this campaign; at the same time, take measures to prevent violations.

The tax authority will cooperate with district and commune authorities and main managing sectors to guide and urge timely submission of tax declarations.

When collecting tax declarations, the tax officer responsible for a particular business establishment must check the declaration of that establishment and present it to the tax authority leader and some main managing sectors for approval before recording it in the business registry book.

Aggregate and classify business establishments to arrange management and post-registration processing; regularly report the results of this campaign to superiors.

c) By December 31, 1990, any business establishment that has not declared tax registration will be considered to be evading taxes and will be punished according to the Tax Law.

To achieve successful results in this campaign, it is proposed that the People's Committee direct the police, Prosecutor's Office, market management, and tax forces to conduct regular inspections starting from December 1, 1990, using sequential inspection methods in different areas or cross-inspection between areas to ensure strict compliance with the law.

3. After completing the campaign, each locality (province, district) must summarize experiences from guidance to organization and implementation to institutionalize regular tax registration declarations. Organize regular tax registration declarations as a routine task of the tax authority.

- Shift the content of tax collection management work from tax officials merely visiting establishments superficially to actually examining accounting books, business results, and comparing with tax declaration forms to identify errors, promptly guiding businesses to comply strictly with the Tax Law, ensuring genuine qualitative improvement in tax collection management work. This must be considered a key, fundamental, and extremely important task directly serving tax collection management and the strict implementation of the new Tax Law. Therefore, efforts should be concentrated on its execution, with weekly reports submitted to the General Department of Taxation for consolidation and reporting to the Ministry of Finance and the Council of Ministers for supervision and guidance.

During the implementation process, if any difficulties arise, they should be reported promptly to the General Department of Taxation for guidance and resolution.