Circular No. 64/2021/TT-BTC guides the preparation of budgets, management, use, and settlement of state budget funds for legal support activities for small and medium-sized enterprises.

CIRCULAR

Guidelines for preparing budgets, managing, using, and finalizing accounts for state budget funds for the OFFICE OF THE GOVERNMENT to support legal activities for small and medium-sized enterprises

Pursuant to the Law on Supporting Small and Medium Enterprises dated June 12, 2017;

Pursuant to Decree No. 163/2016/NĐ-CP dated December 21, 2016, guiding certain Articles of the State Budget Law;

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;

Pursuant to Decree No. 55/2019/NĐ-CP dated June 24, 2019 of the Government on legal support for small and medium-sized enterprises;

b) Agencies, organizations, units, and individuals related to the determination of funding sources, preparation of budget estimates, management, utilization, and settlement of funds for implementing the policies stipulated in Decree No. 178/2024/NĐ-CP.

The Minister of Finance issues this Circular guiding the preparation of budgets, management, use, and finalization of accounts for state budget funds for supporting legal activities for small and medium-sized enterprises.

Article 1. Scope of Regulation and Applicability

Thông tư này quy định chi tiết khoản 4 Điều 38 Luật Thủy sản số 18/2017/QH14 đã được sửa đổi, bổ sung tại điểm c khoản 21 Điều 14 Luật số 146/2025/QH15.

This Circular guides the preparation of budgets, management, use, and finalization of accounts for state budget funds for supporting legal activities for small and medium-sized enterprises by ministries, ministerial-level agencies, and provincial-level authorities.

Thông tư này áp dụng đối với tổ chức, cá nhân có liên quan đến hoạt động kinh doanh đối tượng thủy sản nuôi chủ lực trên lãnh thổ Việt Nam.

The objects subject to this Circular include those specified in Article 2 of Decree No. 55/2019/NĐ-CP dated June 24, 2019 of the Government on legal support for small and medium-sized enterprises (hereinafter referred to as Decree No. 55/2019/NĐ-CP dated June 24, 2019 of the Government).

Article 2. Sources of funds ensuring legal support activities for small and medium-sized enterprises

1. State budget funds according to the state budget classification.

2. Funding, support, and contributions from businesses, organizations, and individuals both domestically and internationally for legal support activities for small and medium-sized enterprises as prescribed by law.

3. Other lawful sources of funding as prescribed by law.

Article 3. General contents and expenditure levels serving legal support activities for small and medium-sized enterprises

For expenditures that have existing regulations, standards, and expenditure norms, including: Conference fees for specialized meetings, mid-year reviews, and year-end summaries; training sessions; domestic travel expenses; overseas travel expenses; translation costs from Vietnamese to foreign languages and vice versa; overtime pay for legal support activities for small and medium-sized enterprises; inspection and supervision activity costs. In addition to the aforementioned expenditures, this Circular specifies certain contents and detailed expenditure levels as follows:

1. Expenditures for building, managing, maintaining, updating, exploiting, and utilizing data and databases to serve legal support activities for small and medium-sized enterprises as stipulated in Articles 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 of Decree No. 55/2019/NĐ-CP dated June 24, 2019 of the Government:

Implementation shall be in accordance with Decree No. 73/2019/NĐ-CP dated September 5, 2019 of the Government on the management of investment in the application of information technology using state budget funds (hereinafter referred to as Decree No. 73/2019/NĐ-CP dated September 5, 2019 of the Government), current documents on information technology expenditure, and economic and technical norms in the field of information and communication.

2. Expenditures for providing domestic legal information, foreign legal information, international laws, legal risk warnings, and policies related to the business activities of small and medium-sized enterprises as stipulated in point a, Clause 2, Article 10 of Decree No. 55/2019/NĐ-CP in the following forms: Written materials; electronic data (legal news bulletins, reports, special features, columns enhancing legal knowledge) to be published on media platforms; specific expenditure levels as follows:

- Expenditures for compiling books and materials: Implemented in accordance with the provisions on training program development and textbook compilation for higher education and vocational education as stipulated in Circular No. 76/2018/TT-BTC dated August 17, 2018 of the Ministry of Finance guiding the content and expenditure levels for training program development and textbook compilation for higher education and vocational education.

- Expenditures for producing, distributing, broadcasting video and audio programs; other related expenditures for information provision: Expenditure levels implemented in accordance with Decree No. 18/2014/NĐ-CP dated March 14, 2014 of the Government on remuneration systems in journalism and publishing, Decree No. 21/2015/NĐ-CP dated February 14, 2015 of the Government on remuneration for film, fine arts, photography, theater, and other performing arts works, current economic and technical norms, and lawful invoices and certificates as prescribed by law.

3. Expenditures for organizing legal knowledge enhancement activities as stipulated in point b, Clause 2, Article 10 of Decree No. 55/2019/NĐ-CP:

a) Expenditures for training and enhancing legal knowledge for small and medium-sized enterprises and legal advisors:

- Expenditures paid by small and medium-sized enterprises and legal advisors themselves include: Travel expenses, food expenses, accommodation expenses, and other expenses decided by the enterprise to support employees when attending training based on the enterprise's financial capacity. Small and medium-sized enterprises can account for these support expenses for employees attending training as part of their operational costs as prescribed. Travel expenses, food expenses, and accommodation expenses to be included in operational costs shall comply with the travel expense regulations stipulated in Circular No. 40/2017/TT-BTC dated April 28, 2017 of the Minister of Finance on travel expense regulations and conference expense regulations (hereinafter referred to as Circular No. 40/2017/TT-BTC dated April 28, 2017 of the Minister of Finance);

- State budget support for remaining expenditures (excluding travel expenses, food expenses, and accommodation expenses as stipulated in point a, Clause 3, Article 3 of this Circular) to organize training and legal knowledge enhancement conferences: Implemented in accordance with the conference organization expenditure regulations stipulated in Circular No. 40/2017/TT-BTC dated April 28, 2017 of the Minister of Finance.

b) For expenditures on training and enhancing legal knowledge for staff of central ministries, agencies, and localities involved in legal support for small and medium-sized enterprises: Implemented in accordance with Circular No. 36/2018/TT-BTC dated March 30, 2018 of the Ministry of Finance guiding the preparation of budgets, management, use, and finalization of accounts for training and cadre enhancement funds.

4. For organizing dialogues and legal advisory forums for small and medium-sized enterprises: Implement according to the provisions of Circular No. 40/2017/TT-BTC dated April 28, 2017, issued by the Minister of Finance.

5. For purchasing publications, books, and promotional materials serving legal support activities for small and medium-sized enterprises: Implement according to the legal provisions on procurement, legal invoices, and receipts under current laws.

6. For developing and implementing a legal support program for small and medium-sized enterprises:

a) For surveying the demand for legal support for small and medium-sized enterprises: Implement according to the provisions of Circular No. 109/2016/TT-BTC dated June 30, 2016, issued by the Minister of Finance, regarding the preparation of budgets, management, use, and settlement of funds for conducting surveys and national statistical censuses.

b) For meetings to provide feedback on the program outline, review, assess, and develop program content: Implement according to the conference regulations stipulated in Circular No. 40/2017/TT-BTC dated April 28, 2017, issued by the Minister of Finance;

c) For implementing the program: Agencies responsible for implementing the legal support program for small and medium-sized enterprises shall implement based on the approved program and the established expenditure standards and rates.

Article 4. Preparation, allocation, and settlement of budget estimates

The preparation, implementation, and settlement of budget estimates for legal support activities for small and medium-sized enterprises shall be carried out in accordance with the laws on state budget and accounting. This circular provides detailed guidance on certain matters as follows:

1. Preparing budgets

a) For the legal support programs for enterprises of ministries, agencies at the ministerial level, and provincial-level authorities:

Based on the approved legal support program for small and medium-sized enterprises according to the provisions of Decree No. 55/2019/NĐ-CP dated June 24, 2019, of the Government; based on the implementation plan for legal support activities for small and medium-sized enterprises of ministries, agencies at the ministerial level, and provincial people's committees according to Clause 2, Article 15 of Decree No. 55/2019/NĐ-CP dated June 24, 2019, of the Government; based on the expenditure items and levels specified in this circular; relevant agencies and units shall prepare the budget estimate from the state budget for supporting small and medium-sized enterprises and consolidate it within the annual support enterprise plan according to the regulations; submit it to the direct superior supervisory agency for consolidation, and send it to the first-level budget unit for submission to the financial authority at the same level for consolidation and submission to the competent authorities according to the state budget law;

b) For the budget for implementing the Legal Support Program for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises of ministries, agencies at the ministerial level, and provincial-level authorities in 2021, these ministries, agencies at the ministerial level, and provincial-level authorities shall allocate and arrange within the budget framework already assigned by the competent authority for implementation.

2. The implementation and settlement of budget estimates for ensuring legal support activities for small and medium-sized enterprises by agencies and units shall be carried out according to the current regulations.

State-owned enterprises that have been assigned by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to conduct offshore wind power project surveys before the effective date of this Circular shall continue to implement according to the assigned documents; any new matters arising after the effective date of this Circular shall be implemented in accordance with the provisions of this Circular.

1. This circular takes effect from October 1, 2021.

2. Circular Joint No. 157/2010/TTLT-BTC-BTP dated October 12, 2010, issued by the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Justice, guiding the preparation of budget estimates, management, use, and settlement of state budget funds for legal support activities for enterprises, shall cease to be effective from the date this circular takes effect.

3. When regulations on expenditure standards and rates referred to for application in this circular are amended, supplemented, or replaced by new documents, they shall be applied according to the amended, supplemented, or replacing documents.

4. The expenditure levels prescribed in this circular serve as the basis for ministries and agencies at the ministerial level to prepare budget estimates for activities supporting legal services for small and medium-sized enterprises. The Minister or head of an agency at the ministerial level decides on issuing specific expenditure levels from the state budget to implement legal support activities for small and medium-sized enterprises within the allocated state budget framework.

5. Based on the actual situation in the locality and the local budget balance capacity, the People's Committee of provinces and centrally-administered cities shall submit to the People's Council at the same level for deciding on issuing specific expenditure levels suitable for implementation in the locality.

6. In cases where ministries, agencies at the ministerial level, and localities do not issue specific expenditure levels, the heads of agencies and units shall implement based on the expenditure levels prescribed in this circular but shall not exceed the prescribed levels, ensuring economy and avoiding waste within the allocated budget framework.

7. Any issues encountered during implementation should be promptly reported to the Ministry of Finance for research and resolution./.