Circular No. 67/2008/TT-BTC guiding the implementation of Decree No. 63/2008/NĐ-CP dated May 13, 2008 of the Government on environmental protection fees for mineral extraction.

CIRCULAR

Guidelines for Implementing Decree No. 63/2008/NĐ-CP dated May 13, 2008 of the Government on Environmental Protection Fees for Mineral Extraction

Pursuant to Decree No. 63/2008/NĐ-CP dated May 13, 2008 of the Government on Environmental Protection Fees for Mineral Extraction;

Pursuant to Decree No. 57/2002/NĐ-CP dated June 3, 2002 of the Government detailing the implementation of the Ordinance on Fees and Charges, and Decree No. 24/2006/NĐ-CP dated March 6, 2006 of the Government amending and supplementing certain articles of Decree No. 57/2002/NĐ-CP dated June 3, 2002 of the Government detailing the implementation of the Ordinance on Fees and Charges;

The Ministry of Finance issues guidelines on certain aspects of environmental protection fees for mineral extraction as follows:

I. CALCULATION AND COLLECTION OF FEES

1. The environmental protection fee for mineral extraction payable during the period of payment shall be calculated as follows:

2. The quantity of minerals extracted to determine the amount of environmental protection fee payable is the actual quantity of raw minerals extracted during the period of payment, regardless of the purpose of extraction (for immediate sale, exchange, internal consumption, storage for subsequent production...) and extraction technology (manual, mechanized) or region, conditions (mountainous, midland, plain, difficult and complex conditions...). In cases where minerals extracted must be screened, processed before being sold, the actual extraction conditions and mineral processing technology in the locality shall be taken into account to establish conversion ratios from the quantity of finished products consumed to the quantity of raw minerals as the basis for calculating the environmental protection fee for each type of mineral appropriately.

3. The environmental protection fee for mineral extraction shall be collected in Vietnamese dong. If the payer requests to pay in foreign currency, it will be collected in foreign currency based on the conversion rate from foreign currency to Vietnamese dong published by the State Bank of Vietnam at the time of fee collection.

II. REGISTRATION, DECLARATION, AND PAYMENT OF FEES

1. The entity responsible for paying the environmental protection fee for mineral extraction has the obligation to:

a) Register the payment of the environmental protection fee for mineral extraction with the directly managing tax authority according to the form issued together with this Circular within the latest ten working days from the date of permission to extract minerals.

b) Declare the environmental protection fee for mineral extraction monthly according to Form 01/BVMT issued together with Circular No. 60/2007/TT-BTC dated June 14, 2007 of the Ministry of Finance guiding the implementation of Decree No. 85/2007/NĐ-CP dated May 25, 2007 of the Government detailing the implementation of certain provisions of the Law on Tax Administration to the tax authority in accordance with Clause 3, Article 7 of Decree No. 63/2008/NĐ-CP.

c) The process of paying the environmental protection fee for mineral extraction into the State Treasury shall be carried out in accordance with Circular No. 80/2003/TT-BTC dated August 13, 2003 of the Ministry of Finance guiding the concentration and management of state budget revenues through the State Treasury.

d) The deadline for paying taxes when settling annual taxes is ten days after the tax authority inspects and issues a notice in accordance with Decree No. 85/2007/NĐ-CP dated May 25, 2007 of the Government detailing the implementation of certain provisions of the Law on Tax Administration. Any excess fees paid will be refunded or counted towards the environmental protection fee for mineral extraction payable in the next period.

2. For entities subject to fixed fee payments as provided for in Article 25 of Decree No. 85/2007/NĐ-CP mentioned above, the determination of the amount of fees payable shall be implemented in accordance with Articles 26 and 27 of Decree No. 85/2007/NĐ-CP.

3. In cases where small-scale, scattered mining operations have small amounts of environmental protection fees for mineral extraction payable and are far from the State Treasury, the tax authority may collect directly and periodically deposit into the State Treasury in accordance with Circular No. 80/2003/TT-BTC dated August 13, 2003 of the Ministry of Finance guiding the concentration and management of state budget revenues through the State Treasury; if the mined minerals are centralized at a purchasing point and the purchasing entity agrees to accept, the provincial-level tax authority may decide (in writing) that organizations or individuals purchasing minerals pay the environmental protection fee for mineral extraction on behalf of the payer. The purchasing entity has the obligation to declare according to Form 02/BVMT issued together with Circular No. 60/2007/TT-BTC dated June 14, 2007 of the Ministry of Finance, calculate, pay, and settle the payment of the environmental protection fee for mineral extraction according to Clause 6, Article 7 of Decree No. 63/2008/NĐ-CP.

III. IMPLEMENTATION

1. Based on the provisions on fee collection rates in Clause 2, Article 4 and Articles 4 and 5 of Decree No. 63/2008/NĐ-CP and the guidance in this Circular, the People's Committee of the province shall establish the fee collection rates for environmental protection for each type of mineral extracted to suit local conditions and submit to the People's Council of the province for decision on the fee collection rate to be implemented no later than January 1, 2009.

2. This Circular takes effect fifteen days after its publication in the Official Gazette and replaces Circular No. 105/2005/TT-BTC dated November 30, 2005 of the Ministry of Finance guiding the implementation of Decree No. 137/2005/NĐ-CP dated November 9, 2005 of the Government on Environmental Protection Fees for Mineral Extraction.

3. During the implementation process, if difficulties arise, organizations and individuals are requested to report to the Ministry of Finance for research and resolution./.