Circular No. 61/2022/TT-BTC guiding the preparation of budgets, use, and settlement of expenses for the implementation of compensation, support, and resettlement when the State recovers land.

CIRCULAR

GUIDELINES FOR THE PREPARATION OF ESTIMATES, USE, AND SETTLEMENT OF EXPENSES FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF COMPENSATION, SUPPORT, AND RELOCATION WHEN THE STATE ACQUIRES LAND

The Government issues this Decree on management and development of industrial clusters.

Pursuant to the State Budget Law dated June 25, 2015;

Pursuant to the Law on Public Investment dated June 13, 2019;

Pursuant to Decree No. 43/2014/NĐ-CP dated May 15, 2014 of the Government detailing certain provisions of the Land Law;

Pursuant to Decree No. 47/2014/NĐ-CP dated May 15, 2014 of the Government on compensation, support, and relocation when the State acquires land;

Pursuant to Decree No. 163/2016/NĐ-CP dated June 25, 2016 of the Government detailing and guiding the implementation of the State Budget Law;

Pursuant to Decree No. 01/2017/NĐ-CP dated January 6, 2017 and Decree No. 148/2020/NĐ-CP dated December 18, 2020 of the Government amending and supplementing some Decrees detailing the implementation of the Land Law;

Pursuant to Decree No. 32/2019/NĐ-CP dated April 10, 2019 of the Government stipulating the assignment of tasks, ordering goods or services, or tendering for the provision of public products and services using state budget funds from regular expenditure;

Pursuant to Decree No. 99/2021/NĐ-CP dated November 11, 2021 of the Government on management, payment, and settlement of projects using state capital;

Pursuant to Decree No. 87/2017/NĐ-CP dated July 26, 2017, issued by the Government, stipulating the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Finance;

At the proposal of the Director of the State Asset Management Agency,

The Minister of Finance issues this Circular guiding the preparation of estimates, use, and settlement of expenses for the implementation of compensation, support, and relocation when the State acquires land.

PART I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope of Regulation

1. This Circular guides the preparation of estimates, use, and settlement of expenses for the implementation of compensation, support, and relocation when the State acquires land (including expenses for the implementation of forced acquisition of land and forced inventory taking) in accordance with the laws on land.

2. The following items of expenses are regulated by other relevant laws; they do not fall under the expenses for the implementation of compensation, support, and relocation when the State acquires land; and are not within the scope of regulation of this Circular:

a) Expenses for appraising specific land to serve as the basis for calculating compensation and support when the State acquires land, allocated from the state budget in accordance with Clause 4, Article 21 of Decree No. 44/2014/NĐ-CP dated May 15, 2014 of the Government on land prices, shall be prepared in the estimate, used, and settled according to the laws on the state budget.

b) Expenses for determining or hiring organizations to assess the value of land use rights, land rent, residual value of assets, and expenses for assessing the value of land use rights, land rent, and residual value of assets in accordance with Circular No. 80/2017/TT-BTC dated August 2, 2017 of the Minister of Finance, shall be included in the budget estimate assigned to financial authorities (of the competent authority acquiring land), used, and settled according to the laws on the state budget.

c) Expenses for paying salaries, contributions based on salary, and allowances according to regulations for civil servants, public officials, and employees mobilized from state agencies to implement compensation, support, and relocation work on a part-time basis, paid by the agency or unit that employs such personnel.

d) Expenses for preparing and updating cadastral maps at local level, allocated from the local budget in accordance with Circular No. 136/2017/TT-BTC dated December 22, 2017 of the Minister of Finance on the preparation, management, and use of expenses for economic activities related to environmental resource tasks.

Article 2. Applicability

1. Organizations entrusted by competent state authorities to carry out the task of compensation, support, and relocation when the State acquires land in accordance with the law (hereinafter referred to as the Organization implementing compensation).

2. Other entities related to the preparation, use, and settlement of expenses for the implementation of compensation, support, and relocation when the State acquires land.

Chapter II

SPECIFIC PROVISIONS

Article 3. The level of funds allocated for organizing and implementing compensation, support, resettlement, and forced inventory and land recovery

1. The level of funds allocated for organizing and implementing compensation, support, resettlement, and forced inventory shall be prescribed as follows:

a) For projects and sub-projects implemented in areas with difficult economic and social conditions or extremely difficult conditions as stipulated by laws on investment, infrastructure construction projects along routes, the level of funds allocated for organizing and implementing compensation, support, resettlement, and forced inventory (if applicable) shall be based on the actual workload according to the budget approved by the competent state agency in accordance with Clause 1, Article 6 of this Circular.

b) For projects and sub-projects not falling under the cases prescribed in point a of this clause and which do not need to implement forced inventory according to the decision of the competent state agency, the level of funds allocated for organizing and implementing compensation, support, and resettlement shall not exceed 2% of the total compensation, support, and resettlement funds of the project or sub-project.

c) For projects and sub-projects not falling under the cases prescribed in point a of this clause but which must implement forced inventory according to the decision of the competent state agency, the level of funds allocated for organizing and implementing compensation, support, and resettlement (excluding funds allocated for organizing and implementing forced inventory) shall not exceed 2% of the total compensation, support, and resettlement funds of the project or sub-project; the level of funds allocated for organizing and implementing forced inventory shall be based on the actual workload according to the budget approved by the competent state agency in accordance with Clause 1, Article 6 of this Circular.

2. For projects and sub-projects that must implement forced land recovery according to the decision of the competent state agency, the level of funds allocated for organizing and implementing forced land recovery shall be based on the actual workload according to the budget approved by the competent state agency in accordance with Clause 1, Article 7 of this Circular.

Article 4. Contents of expenditures for organizing and implementing compensation, support, resettlement, and forced inventory and land recovery

1. Contents of expenditures for organizing and implementing compensation, support, and resettlement:

a) Expenditures for publicizing policies and regulations on compensation, support, and resettlement when the State recovers land and organizing mobilization of related parties to implement the land recovery decision.

b) Expenditures for investigation, survey, measurement, and inventory as prescribed in Clause 1, Article 69 of the Land Law 2013 including: Distributing claim forms, guiding those affected to declare their claims; extracting cadastral data for parcels of land at places without existing cadastral maps for compensation and clearance purposes; measuring to determine the actual area of parcels of land within the boundaries of the recovered land area for the implementation of the project (if applicable) of each organization, household, or individual as the basis for implementing compensation, support, and resettlement when the State recovers land in cases requiring re-measurement; inventorying the number of houses, structures, crops, livestock, and other assets damaged when the State recovers land from each organization, household, or individual; checking and comparing declarations with inventory results, determining the extent of damage for each specific land recovery recipient; calculating the value of losses regarding land, houses, structures, crops, livestock, and other assets.

c) Expenditures for establishing, reviewing, approving, and publicly announcing compensation, support, and resettlement plans from the stage of calculating indicators, determining compensation levels to the approval stage, and publicly announcing the compensation, support, and resettlement plan.

d) Expenditures for disbursing compensation, support, and resettlement funds according to the approved compensation, support, and resettlement plan by the competent state agency as prescribed.

đ) Expenditures for serving the guidance on implementation and resolution of difficulties in organizing the implementation of the approved compensation, support, and resettlement plan by the competent state agency as prescribed.

e) Expenditures for renting office space, leasing and purchasing machinery and equipment for the implementation of compensation, support, and resettlement work by the Compensation Organization and the review agency.

g) Expenditures for printing, photocopying documents, office supplies, communication services (postal, telephone), fuel, and vehicle expenses.

h) Expenditures for hiring labor to carry out compensation, support, and resettlement work (if applicable). Hiring labor shall be decided by the head of the Compensation Organization and regulated in internal expenditure rules and can only be carried out when the Compensation Organization does not have sufficient staff to perform the tasks and cannot duplicate the tasks performed by the Compensation Organization's staff.

i) Other relevant expenditures directly related to organizing and implementing compensation, support, and resettlement.

2. Contents of expenditures for organizing and implementing forced inventory and land recovery:

a) Expenditures for notifying, publicizing, and mobilizing parties to implement the forced inventory decision and the forced land recovery decision.

b) Expenditures for purchasing raw materials, fuels, leasing protective, medical, fire prevention equipment, and other necessary equipment and facilities to serve the implementation of forced inventory and land recovery.

c) Expenditures for organizing the execution of the forced inventory and land recovery decisions.

d) Expenses for sealing, breaking down, dismantling, transporting assets; relocating individuals subject to forced recovery and related persons out of the forced recovery area, renting locations, labor, and means of asset preservation, and other legitimate expenses directly serving the preservation of assets during the implementation of forced land recovery when the asset owner does not settle the costs.

đ) Expenditures for filming and photographing activities to serve the implementation of forced inventory and land recovery.

e) Expenses for protecting and preventing reoccupation of land after the completion of the forced land recovery of the recovered parcel until the completion of the land clearance process.

g) Other related expenses directly associated with organizing and implementing forced inventory counts and forced land recovery.

3. Expenditure on salaries, contributions based on salaries, and salary allowances according to the regulations stipulated by the organization responsible for compensation related to organizing and implementing compensation, support, resettlement, and forced inventory counts and forced land recovery under the financial mechanism applicable to that organization.

Expenditure on salaries and contributions based on salaries shall be determined in accordance with the current provisions of the law.

Article 5. The level of expenditure for organizing and implementing compensation, support, resettlement, and forced inventory counts and forced land recovery.

1. For expenditure items that have established norms, standards, and unit prices prescribed by competent state agencies, they shall be implemented in accordance with current regulations.

2. As for office space, machinery, and equipment serving the activities of the organization responsible for compensation and the appraisal agency, these entities are responsible for arranging and organizing within their existing office space, machinery, and equipment to serve their activities.

In cases where it is not possible to arrange within the existing office space, machinery, and equipment, renting office space, leasing and purchasing machinery and equipment for the implementation of compensation, support, and resettlement work is allowed. The rental of office space, leasing, and purchase of machinery and equipment shall be carried out in accordance with the laws on public asset management and utilization, procurement laws, and relevant laws.

3. Expenditure on printing, photocopying documents, office supplies, communication services (postal and telephone), fuel, and vehicle expenses shall be calculated based on the actual needs of each project and sub-project.

4. Expenses paid to service providers for compensation, support, and resettlement services shall be executed through contracts signed between the organization responsible for compensation and the service provider. The service provider has the obligation to fulfill the contract signed and relevant laws. The selection of service providers shall be carried out in accordance with the laws on procurement.

5. For expenditure items not covered by the scope defined in Clauses 1, 2, 3, and 4 of this Article, the People's Committee of the province shall base on the actual situation at the locality, report to the Provincial People's Council to specify specific expenditure levels for implementation in accordance with the circumstances.

Article 6. Preparation of budget estimates, use, and settlement of funds for organizing and implementing compensation, support, resettlement, and forced inventory counts.

1. The preparation of budget estimates for organizing and implementing compensation, support, resettlement, and forced inventory counts shall be carried out as follows:

a) For projects and sub-projects falling under the case specified in Point a Clause 1 of this Circular:

The organization responsible for compensation shall base on the expenditure contents stipulated in Article 4 of this Circular, the expenditure levels stipulated in Article 5 of this Circular, and the anticipated workload to prepare the budget estimate for organizing and implementing compensation, support, resettlement, and forced inventory counts (if any); submit to the Department of Finance for review (for projects and sub-projects approved by the provincial People's Committee on compensation, support, and resettlement plans); submit to the Financial Planning Office for review (for projects and sub-projects approved by the district People's Committee on compensation, support, and resettlement plans, including those authorized by the provincial People's Committee to approve plans) to be submitted to the same-level People's Committee for approval.

b) For projects and sub-projects falling under the cases specified in Points b and c Clause 1 of this Circular:

b.1) For projects and sub-projects carried out by the Compensation Support and Resettlement Board for compensation, support, and resettlement: The preparation of budget estimates for organizing and implementing compensation, support, resettlement, and forced inventory counts shall be carried out in accordance with Point a of this Clause.

b.2) For projects and sub-projects carried out by the organization responsible for compensation, which is a public service entity, for compensation, support, and resettlement:

The organization responsible for compensation shall base on the funding allocation levels stipulated in Points b and c Clause 1 and Clause 2 of this Circular to determine the budget for organizing and implementing compensation, support, and resettlement and submit to the finance authority specified in Point a of this Clause for review to be submitted to the same-level People's Committee for approval. The budget for organizing and implementing compensation, support, and resettlement approved by the provincial or district People's Committee shall be considered as the budget estimate for organizing and implementing compensation, support, and resettlement of the project and sub-project.

If forced inventory counts need to be implemented, the organization responsible for compensation shall base on the expenditure contents stipulated in Article 4 of this Circular, the expenditure levels stipulated in Article 5 of this Circular, and the anticipated workload to prepare the budget estimate for organizing and implementing forced inventory counts to be combined with the budget estimate for organizing and implementing compensation, support, and resettlement before submitting to the finance authority for submission to the same-level People's Committee for approval in accordance with the regulations.

c) After the budget estimate has been approved by the competent state authority, the organization responsible for compensation shall send a copy to the Project Investor, Sub-project Investor, or Land Development Fund or State Treasury for coordination in implementation.

d) The budget estimate for organizing and implementing compensation, support, resettlement, and forced inventory counts approved by the competent state authority shall be considered as the final settlement value of the budget for organizing and implementing compensation, support, resettlement, and forced inventory counts with the Project Investor, Sub-project Investor and shall be used for:

d.1) The organization responsible for compensation to carry out payment procedures and recover advance payments from the state budget.

d.2) The Project Investor, Sub-project Investor to carry out final settlement of completed projects.

In cases where compensation, support, resettlement, and forced inventory counts are implemented over several years, based on the anticipated workload to be carried out each year, the budget estimate for organizing and implementing compensation, support, resettlement, and forced inventory counts approved by the competent state authority shall be allocated annually to carry out payment procedures and recover advance payments from the state budget in accordance with the laws on investment, state budget laws, and relevant laws.

2. The use and settlement of funds for organizing compensation, support, resettlement, and forced inventory of projects and sub-projects carried out by the Compensation, Support, and Resettlement Council shall be implemented as follows:

a) The use of funds for organizing compensation, support, resettlement, and forced inventory of projects and sub-projects shall be implemented as follows:

a.1) Based on the budget estimate approved by the competent state agency, the Compensation, Support, and Resettlement Council shall be transferred funds or advance capital or temporary advance capital for organizing compensation, support, resettlement, and forced inventory from the Project Investor or Land Development Fund or State Treasury according to the progress of implementation in accordance with the laws on state budget, laws on public investment, and other relevant laws.

The repayment of advance capital and settlement of temporary advance capital shall be carried out in accordance with the relevant laws.

In cases where projects and sub-projects (excluding those using public investment capital) urgently require immediate implementation of compensation, support, and resettlement work pursuant to the decision of the competent state agency while the budget estimate has not yet been approved, the Compensation, Support, and Resettlement Council may borrow funds from the Project Investor or Sub-project Investor in accordance with the law to implement such work. If the amount borrowed exceeds the approved budget estimate for organizing compensation, support, resettlement, and forced inventory, the Compensation, Support, and Resettlement Council shall repay the Project Investor or Sub-project Investor in accordance with the law.

a.2) The Compensation, Support, and Resettlement Council shall be responsible for using the funds for organizing compensation, support, resettlement, and forced inventory strictly in accordance with the approved budget estimate by the competent state agency.

The use and accounting of funds for organizing compensation, support, resettlement, and forced inventory of projects and sub-projects carried out by the Compensation, Support, and Resettlement Council shall be implemented in accordance with the laws on state budget.

a.3) In cases where services are provided by service providers for compensation, support, and resettlement, the Compensation, Support, and Resettlement Council shall settle payments to the service providers in accordance with the signed contracts.

b) Annually, the Compensation, Support, and Resettlement Council shall be responsible for settling the funds for organizing compensation, support, resettlement, forced inventory, and handling discrepancies between actual expenditures as approved in the settlement compared to the received funds based on the approved budget estimates of completed projects and sub-projects within the fiscal year. Specifically, as follows:

b.1) Settlement of funds for organizing compensation, support, resettlement, and forced inventory:

The settlement of funds for organizing compensation, support, resettlement, and forced inventory shall be carried out in accordance with the laws on state budget, laws on public investment, and other relevant laws.

In cases where the Compensation, Support, and Resettlement Council is assigned to simultaneously carry out multiple projects and sub-projects with common costs (not tracked separately for each project or sub-project), the Compensation, Support, and Resettlement Council shall aggregate all common costs in the fiscal year and allocate them to each project or sub-project according to the following formula:

The Compensation, Support, and Resettlement Council shall prepare a table allocating common costs in the year to each project or sub-project (including all supporting documents for common costs incurred in the year). On this basis:

- For projects and sub-projects that have completed compensation and land clearance within the fiscal year, the Compensation, Support, and Resettlement Council shall prepare a report on the settlement of funds for organizing compensation, support, resettlement including direct costs and common costs (if any) to submit to the financial authority specified in point a and point b of Clause 1 of this Article for approval in accordance with the laws on state budget.

- For projects and sub-projects that have not completed compensation and land clearance within the fiscal year, record the direct costs and common costs (if any) of such projects and sub-projects to serve the full settlement of funds for organizing compensation, support, resettlement when the compensation and land clearance work is completed.

b.2) The difference between actual expenditures as approved by the competent state agency in the settlement and the received funds based on the approved budget estimate shall be deposited into the central budget for projects and sub-projects under central management, and into local budgets for the remaining projects and sub-projects (excluding those under central management).

3. The use and settlement of funds for organizing compensation, support, resettlement, and forced inventory of projects and sub-projects carried out by organizations performing compensation tasks as public service units shall be implemented as follows:

a) Funds for organizing compensation, support, resettlement, and forced inventory according to the budget estimate approved by the competent state agency shall be revenue of the organization performing compensation tasks; it shall be consolidated into the revenue of the unit and used, settled, and accounted for in accordance with the financial mechanism applicable to public service units.

b) Based on the budget that has been approved by the competent state agency, the organization performing compensation shall be transferred funds or advance funds or temporarily advance funds for organizing the implementation of compensation, support, resettlement, and forced inventory according to the progress of implementation in accordance with the laws on state budget, laws on public investment, and other relevant laws by the project investor or the Land Development Fund or the State Treasury.

The repayment of advance capital and settlement of temporary advance capital shall be carried out in accordance with the relevant laws.

In cases where projects or sub-projects (excluding projects or sub-projects using public investment capital) urgently require immediate implementation of compensation, support, and resettlement work as decided by the competent state agency but the budget has not yet been approved, the organization performing compensation may borrow funds from the project investor or sub-project investor in accordance with the law to implement. If the amount borrowed exceeds the approved budget for organizing the implementation of compensation, support, resettlement, and forced inventory by the competent state agency, the organization performing compensation shall repay the excess to the project investor or sub-project investor in accordance with the law.

c) In cases where services are outsourced to provide compensation, support, and resettlement services, the organization performing compensation shall make payments to the service provider in accordance with the signed contract.

Article 7. Preparation of Budget Estimates, Use, and Settlement of Funds for Organizing Forced Land Recovery

1. In cases where forced land recovery must be implemented, upon issuance of the decision on forced land recovery by the competent state agency, the organization performing compensation shall prepare a budget estimate for organizing the implementation of forced land recovery based on the expenditure items specified in Article 4 and the expenditure levels specified in Article 5 of this Circular and submit it to the financial authority specified in point a, Clause 1, Article 6 of this Circular for review and approval by the People's Committee at the same level.

2. The budget estimate for organizing the implementation of forced land recovery approved by the competent state agency shall be considered the value of the settlement of funds for organizing the implementation of forced land recovery with the project investor or sub-project investor and shall be used for:

a) The organization performing compensation shall carry out procedures for payment and recovery of temporarily advanced capital from the state budget.

b) The project investor or sub-project investor shall carry out final settlement of the project.

In cases where forced land recovery is carried out over multiple years, the budget estimate for organizing the implementation of forced land recovery approved by the competent state agency must be allocated annually to carry out procedures for payment and recovery of temporarily advanced capital from the state budget in accordance with the laws on investment, laws on state budget, and related laws.

3. The use, settlement, and finalization of funds for organizing the implementation of forced land recovery shall be carried out as follows:

a) For projects or sub-projects where compensation, support, and resettlement are carried out by the Compensation, Support, and Resettlement Council: The use, settlement, and finalization of funds for organizing the implementation of forced land recovery shall be carried out as stipulated for funds for organizing the implementation of compensation, support, resettlement, and forced inventory in Clause 2, Article 6 of this Circular.

b) For projects or sub-projects where compensation, support, and resettlement are carried out by the organization performing compensation which is a public service unit: The budget estimate for organizing the implementation of forced land recovery approved by the competent state agency shall be revenue of the organization performing compensation; it shall be consolidated into the revenue of the unit and used, settled, and finalized in accordance with the financial mechanism applicable to public service units.

Chapter III

IMPLEMENTING PROVISIONS

Article 8. Transitional Provisions

For projects or sub-projects that have been approved by the competent state agency for compensation, support, and resettlement plans when the State recovers land (including funds for organizing the implementation of forced land recovery and forced inventory) before this Circular takes effect, the following shall apply:

1. In cases where projects or sub-projects have been approved by the competent state agency for budget estimates but have not yet completed payment (expenditure) or have not yet completed the settlement of funds for organizing the implementation of compensation, support, and resettlement, the following shall be done:

a) Re-preparing, reviewing, and approving the budget estimate for organizing the implementation of compensation, support, and resettlement in accordance with this Circular.

b) The use, settlement, and finalization of funds for organizing the implementation of compensation, support, and resettlement and the handling of discrepancies between actual expenditures as approved by the settlement and the funds received according to the approved budget estimate shall be carried out in accordance with this Circular.

2. In cases where projects or sub-projects have been approved by the competent state agency for budget estimates and have completed the payment of costs for organizing the implementation of compensation, support, and resettlement according to the approved budget estimates but have not yet submitted the settlement of funds for organizing the implementation of compensation, support, and resettlement to the competent state agency for approval (have not yet submitted the settlement report to the competent state agency for approval), the following shall be done:

a) The budget estimate for organizing the implementation of compensation, support, and resettlement approved by the competent state agency shall be considered the value of the settlement of funds for organizing the implementation of compensation, support, and resettlement with the project investor or sub-project investor and shall be used for:

a.1) The organization performing compensation shall carry out procedures for payment and recovery of temporarily advanced capital from the state budget (if any).

a.2) The project investor or sub-project investor shall carry out final settlement of the project.

b) Based on the approved budget estimate, the settlement of funds for organizing the implementation of compensation, support, and resettlement by the organization performing compensation and the handling of discrepancies between actual expenditures as approved by the settlement and the funds received according to the approved budget estimate shall be carried out in accordance with this Circular.

3. In cases where the project or sub-project has been approved by the competent state agency for the budget estimate, has completed the payment of costs for organizing compensation, support, and resettlement according to the approved budget estimate, and has submitted but not yet received approval from the competent state agency for the final settlement of costs for organizing compensation, support, and resettlement, the final settlement shall be carried out and the difference between the actual expenditure according to the approved final settlement and the funds received according to the approved budget estimate shall be handled in accordance with the regulations applicable at the time of submission for approval of the final settlement; this case shall not be implemented according to this Circular.

4. In cases where the project or sub-project has been approved by the competent state agency for the final settlement of costs for organizing compensation, support, and resettlement, but the difference between the actual expenditure according to the approved final settlement and the funds received according to the approved budget estimate has not yet been handled, such difference shall be processed in accordance with the regulations applicable at the time of approval of the final settlement; this case shall not be implemented according to this Circular.

5. In cases where the project or sub-project has not yet been approved by the competent state agency for the budget estimate for organizing compensation, support, and resettlement, but funds have been advanced or temporarily advanced according to the provisions of the law to organize compensation, support, and resettlement, the repayment of advanced funds, settlement of temporarily advanced funds, and repayment to the project investor of the difference between the advanced funds and the budget estimate for organizing compensation, support, and resettlement approved by the competent state agency (if any) shall be carried out in accordance with the provisions of this Circular.

Article 9. Implementation Provisions

1. This Circular takes effect from November 20, 2022.

2. The People's Committees of provinces and centrally governed cities are responsible for reviewing the regulations on expenditure levels related to the organization of compensation, support, and resettlement and forced inventory and land recovery enforcement issued under the law before the effective date of this Circular; based on the actual situation in their locality, they shall report to the Provincial People's Council to issue regulations on expenditure levels in accordance with Clause 5, Article 5 of this Circular.

3. This Circular replaces Circular No. 74/2015/TT-BTC dated May 15, 2015, issued by the Minister of Finance guiding the preparation of budget estimates, use, and final settlement of costs for organizing compensation, support, and resettlement when the State recovers land.