DECREE NO. 68/1998/ND-CP DETAILING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE NATURAL RESOURCES TAX ORDINANCE (AMENDED)

DECREE OF THE GOVERNMENT

Article 24Providing detailed regulations for the implementation of the Mineral Resources Tax Ordinance
(Amended) 

THE GOVERNMENT

Pursuant to the Government Organization Law dated September 30, 1992;

Pursuant to the amended Mineral Resources Tax Ordinance No. 05/1998/PL-UBTVQH10 dated April 10, 1998;

At the proposal of the Minister of Finance,

DECREE:

PART I

SUBJECTS LIABLE FOR THE MINERAL RESOURCES TAX

Article 1. All organizations and individuals belonging to various economic sectors including state-owned enterprises; joint-stock companies; limited liability companies; cooperatives; cooperative groups; private businesses and individual households engaged in production and business activities; foreign-invested enterprises or foreign parties participating in joint business contracts under the Law on Foreign Investment in Vietnam; other organizations and individuals conducting resource exploitation in any form are taxpayers of the mineral resources tax as stipulated in Article 1 of the amended Mineral Resources Tax Ordinance. Excluding subjects specified in Article 3 of this Decree.

Article 2. All natural resources within the territory, islands, inland waters, territorial seas, exclusive economic zones, and continental shelf under the sovereignty of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam are taxable objects, including:

1. Metallic minerals;

2. Non-metallic minerals, including common construction materials and soil extracted for land leveling, construction, raw material, and other purposes; mineral water and natural hot water as defined in the Minerals Law;

3. Crude oil: as defined in Clause 2, Article 3 of the Petroleum Law;

4. Natural gas: as defined in Clause 3, Article 3 of the Petroleum Law;

5. Products from natural forests: Various types of plants, animals, and other products from natural forests;

6. Natural aquatic products: Various types of marine, river, stream, lake animals and plants;

7. Natural water: Surface water and underground water, excluding mineral water and natural hot water as defined in Point 2 of this Article;

8. Other natural resources.

Article 3. The Vietnamese party participating in a joint venture with a foreign party under the Law on Foreign Investment in Vietnam that contributes capital by means of resources shall not be subject to the mineral resources tax for the amount of resources used as statutory capital contribution.

Article 4. In cases where a resource-extraction enterprise is established based on a joint venture agreement, a business cooperation contract, or a product-sharing contract, the mineral resources tax payable by the joint venture enterprise or the foreign party must be determined in the joint venture agreement and included in the share of products allocated to the Vietnamese party. When sharing the extracted products, the Vietnamese party is responsible for paying the mineral resources tax to the State budget according to the provisions of the State Budget Law.

Chapter II

||| BASIS FOR CALCULATING THE MINERAL RESOURCES TAX AND THE MINERAL RESOURCES TAX SCHEDULE

Article 5. The basis for calculating the mineral resources tax is the actual commercial quantity of resources extracted, the taxable price, and the tax rate.

Article 6. The actual commercial quantity of resources extracted is the quantity, weight, or volume of resources actually extracted during the tax payment period, regardless of the purpose of resource extraction.

, Clause 1, Clause 2 Article 7a of this Regulation.

1. The taxable price of mineral resources is the selling price per unit of the resource at the place of extraction.

2. In cases where the resource does not have a selling price, such as when it is extracted for further processing or refining, or when the resource contains multiple compounds, the taxable price of mineral resources is determined based on one of the following bases:

The selling price of a type of resource with equivalent value.

The selling price of the pure substance and its content in the extracted resource or the selling price of the pure substance and the content of each component in the extracted resource.

The selling price of goods produced from the extracted resource minus the costs of producing those goods.

3. For natural water used for hydroelectric power production, the taxable price is the selling price of commercial electricity; for timber, it is the selling price at the logging site.

4. For crude oil and natural gas, the taxable price is regulated in Article 47 of Decree No. 84/CP dated December 17, 1996 of the Government detailing the implementation of the Petroleum Law.

The Ministry of Finance shall specify and guide the method of calculating the taxable price of mineral resources as provided in this Article.

Provincial People's Committees shall specifically define the taxable price of each type of resource according to the guidance of the Ministry of Finance.

Article 8. The mineral resources tax schedule is issued together with this Decree.

Based on the value of each type of resource, the conditions for extraction, and management requirements for each type of resource in different periods, the Ministry of Finance shall take the lead in coordinating with relevant ministries and sectors to adjust the tax rates in the mineral resources tax schedule issued with this Decree in accordance with the tax rate framework prescribed in Article 6 of the amended Mineral Resources Tax Ordinance.

Chapter III

REPORTING, REGISTRATION, AND PAYMENT OF THE MINERAL RESOURCES TAX

Article 9. Organizations and individuals engaged in resource extraction must comply fully with the regulations on reporting, registration, and payment of the mineral resources tax as stipulated in Article 7 of the amended Mineral Resources Tax Ordinance.

The Ministry of Finance shall provide specific guidelines for the procedures of registration, reporting, and collection of the mineral resources tax.

Article 10. Organizations and individuals engaged in resource extraction must strictly adhere to accounting records and purchase-sale documentation and revenue receipts in accordance with current regulations.

Article 11. Tax authorities at all levels must fulfill their duties and powers as prescribed in Articles 8, 9, 12, and 16 of the amended Mineral Resources Tax Ordinance.

Chapter IV

||| EXEMPTIONS AND REDUCTIONS OF THE MINERAL RESOURCES TAX

Article 12. The mineral resources tax may be exempted or reduced in the following cases:

1. Projects falling under investment incentives as prescribed in the Law on Encouraging Domestic Investment and detailed implementing regulations issued by the Government, if they extract non-petroleum mineral resources, shall enjoy a maximum reduction of 50% of the mineral resources tax for the first three years from the start of extraction; for projects already underway that fall under the above category, the remaining tax period will be considered for reduction from the date the amended Mineral Resources Tax Ordinance takes effect.

2. Organizations and individuals exploiting natural resources encountering natural disasters, enemy threats, unexpected accidents causing losses to declared and taxed natural resources shall be exempted from resource tax for the lost resources. In cases where taxes have already been paid, such organizations and individuals may be refunded the paid taxes or offset against future periods' resource tax payable if they agree.

3. Organizations and individuals operating marine fishing in distant waters using large-capacity vessels shall be exempted from resource tax for the first five years from the date of obtaining exploitation permits and shall enjoy a 50% reduction in resource tax for the following five years.

The Fisheries Department shall issue separate permits for organizations and individuals engaged in marine fishing in distant waters.

Exemption and reduction of tax shall be conducted annually. During operation, if there are changes in conditions that reduce the level of benefits, organizations and individuals must promptly report to the nearest tax authority for confirmation. Failure to report to continue enjoying exemptions and reductions will be considered tax evasion and will be handled according to Article 11 of the Amended Natural Resources Tax Ordinance.

After the period of exemption and reduction, if organizations and individuals still incur losses, they will continue to be eligible for reduced resource tax corresponding to their annual losses for up to five consecutive years.

Organizations and individuals exploiting marine resources in distant waters before the effective date of the Amended Natural Resources Tax Ordinance shall have their tax exemption and reduction periods calculated from the effective date of this ordinance and shall be entitled to full exemption and reduction periods as prescribed.

4. Individuals permitted to exploit natural forest products such as wood, branches, firewood, bamboo, rattan, mai, giang, vầu, lồ ô... for daily life needs shall be exempted from resource tax; however, those who intentionally exploit or destroy forests indiscriminately shall be dealt with according to current laws.

The Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development shall guide appropriate management measures to ensure correct tax exemptions, encourage afforestation and forest protection, and prevent indiscriminate exploitation and destruction of natural forests.

5. Water used for hydroelectric power production not connected to the national power grid shall be exempted from resource tax.

6. Organizations and individuals exploiting land for the following purposes shall be exempted from resource tax:

 Filling and constructing facilities serving security and defense.

Filling and constructing dike, water conservancy, agricultural, forestry, and fishery facilities.

Filling and constructing humanitarian and charitable facilities or providing preferential treatment for those who have contributed to the revolution; self-exploited and used-in-place land within the allocated area.

Filling and constructing infrastructure facilities in mountainous areas (within districts classified as mountainous) to serve economic and social development.

Filling and constructing key national projects as decided by the Government for specific cases.

The Ministry of Finance shall stipulate procedures, processes, and authorities for considering tax exemptions and reductions as provided in this Article.

Chapter V

 VIOLATION HANDLING AND REWARD

Article 13. Organizations and individuals violating natural resources tax regulations shall be handled according to Articles 11 and 13 of the Amended Natural Resources Tax Ordinance.

Article 14. Tax authorities and tax officers who complete assigned tasks well; other organizations and individuals with achievements in implementing the Natural Resources Tax Ordinance, and taxpayers fulfilling their tax obligations shall be rewarded according to government regulations.

Chapter VI

IMPLEMENTATION

Article 15. This Decree shall take effect fifteen days after its signing. Previous regulations on natural resources tax contrary to this Decree shall be abolished.

Foreign-invested enterprises and foreign parties cooperating in business based on contracts paying resource fees or taxes according to investment licenses issued before the effective date of the Amended Natural Resources Tax Ordinance shall continue to comply with those provisions until the expiration of the licensed term.

Article 16. The Minister of Finance shall guide the implementation of this Decree.

Ministers, Heads of ministerial-level agencies, Heads of agencies under the Government, Chairpersons of People's Committees of provinces and centrally governed cities are responsible for implementing this Decree./.

NATURAL RESOURCES TAX SCHEDULE

DETAILING REGULATIONS IMPLEMENTING THE NATURAL RESOURCES TAX ORDINANCE
(AMENDED)

Issued together with Decree No. 68/1998/NĐ-CP
of the Government dated September 3, 1998

(1) (2): The tax rate for oil and gas shall be implemented in accordance with the Oil Law and Decree No. 84/CP dated February 17, 1996 of the Government detailing the implementation of the Oil Law./.