Circular No. 71-TC/TCT guiding the regime of collection, payment, and management of fees for issuing postal and telecommunications operating licenses.

CIRCULAR

OF THE MINISTRY OF FINANCE NO. 71/TC/TCT DATED OCTOBER 10, 1997 GUIDING REGIME FOR THE COLLECTION, PAYMENT AND MANAGEMENT OF FEES FOR ISSUING LICENSES FOR POSTAL AND TELECOMMUNICATION ACTIVITIES

BASED ON Decree No. 12/CP dated March 11, 1996 of the Government stipulating the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the General Department of Posts and Telecommunications;

BASED ON Decision No. 158/CT dated May 18, 1991 of the Chairman of the Council of Ministers (now Prime Minister) on the collection of fees for issuing and protecting radio frequency;

WHEREAS Decision No. 276/CT dated July 28, 1992 of the Chairman of the Council of Ministers (now the Prime Minister) on the unified management of various fees and charges;

After reaching consensus with the General Department of Posts and Telecommunications, the Ministry of Finance guides the regime for the collection, payment, and management of fees for issuing licenses for postal and telecommunication activities as follows:

I- SCOPE OF APPLICATION AND AMOUNTS OF COLLECTION:

1) Subjects paying fees:

Organizations and individuals (including both domestic and foreign entities) must pay fees as prescribed in this Circular when they are technically inspected and issued licenses for postal and telecommunication activities by state management agencies:

- License for postal and telecommunication service operation; production of radio transmitters and electronic switchboards; agency for postal and telecommunication services for foreign organizations.

- License for establishing postal and telecommunication networks (both public and dedicated); using transmitting equipment and radio frequencies.

- License for exporting and importing postal stamps.

- Quality and technical inspection of postal and telecommunication products produced domestically and imported.

2) No fees will be collected for inspection and issuance of licenses for postal and telecommunication activities for:

- Networks directly serving national security and defense

- Radio stations serving emergencies during floods, typhoons, or other natural disasters.

- Radio stations belonging to humanitarian activities of charitable organizations.

- Special networks directly serving the central Party, National Assembly, and Government's directives.

- Radio stations of diplomatic missions and international organizations in Vietnam enjoying diplomatic immunity.

3) Fee rates:

The fee rates for inspection and issuance of licenses for postal and telecommunication activities shall be applied according to the schedule attached to this Circular.

II- ORGANIZATION OF COLLECTION, PAYMENT AND MANAGEMENT OF FEES:

1) Organizations and individuals requesting inspection and issuance of licenses for postal and telecommunication activities must pay fees at the prescribed rate in this Circular simultaneously with submitting the application for license issuance. When paying, they must request the person collecting the money to issue a receipt (type of receipt for fees issued by the Ministry of Finance).

2) Organizing body for fee collection:

The state management agency for postal and telecommunication activities stipulated in Decree No. 12/CP dated March 11, 1996 of the Government shall organize the collection of fees for inspection and issuance of licenses for postal and telecommunication activities in the course of performing its functions and tasks (hereinafter referred to as the fee collection agency). The fee collection agency has the responsibility to:

- Register the organization of fee collection with the Provincial Tax Office where the unit is headquartered at least ten days before the start of fee collection or the end of fee collection.

- Collect fees for issuing licenses for postal and telecommunication activities strictly in accordance with the provisions of this Circular; at the place of fee collection, publicly announce the fee rates, procedures for collection, cases not required to pay, and procedures for exemption from payment; when collecting fees, issue a payment receipt (fee receipt) to the payer, type of receipt issued by the Ministry of Finance (General Department of Taxation) (receipts can be obtained at local tax offices where the fee collection agency is headquartered).

- Declare fees monthly and submit the declaration form to the Tax Authority within the first ten days of the following month; declarations must be complete, accurate, and comply with the declaration form model and bear responsibility for the accuracy of the declaration.

- Pay the full amount due to the state budget according to the notification of the Tax Authority on time.

- Implement accounting systems, policies, vouchers, and reports for tracking the collection, payment, and use of fees in accordance with current state regulations.

Settle accounts for the collection, payment, and use of fees and settle accounts for fee collection vouchers with the Tax Authority. Within forty-five days from the end of the year, submit the settlement report to the Tax Authority, the same-level Finance Authority, and pay any outstanding fees into the state budget within ten days from the date of submission of the settlement report. If there is an overpayment, it can be deducted from the next period's payment.

3) Procedures for payment into the state budget:

Monthly, upon receiving the declaration forms sent by the fee collection agency, the Tax Authority shall inspect and notify the fee collection agency to temporarily pay seventy-five percent (75%) of the fees collected in the period into the state budget. The notification of the Tax Authority must clearly indicate the amount to be paid, the deadline for payment, and the corresponding chapter, type, clause, and item 046 of the state budget schedule. The deadline for paying the collected fees into the state budget in the month indicated in the notification shall not exceed the 25th day of the following month.

Based on the notification of the Tax Authority, the fee collection agency shall pay into the state budget at the State Treasury where the fee collection agency is headquartered.

4) The fee collection agency may retain twenty-five percent (25%) of the total fees collected in the period to cover costs for organizing the collection of fees for inspection and issuance of licenses for postal and telecommunication activities, including the following specific items:

- Printing (or purchasing) application forms, declaration forms, related files, and business licenses;

- Paying remuneration to specialized staff involved in fee collection who work overtime outside regular government working hours (if applicable) according to state regulations.

Other expenses related to fee collection.

If the fee collection agency does not have enough specialized staff and needs to hire additional personnel to carry out fee collection, it may pay wages (salaries) and allowances such as social insurance, health insurance, etc., to hired workers according to state regulations.

The payment of remuneration to dedicated staff working overtime and the hiring of labor outside the establishment must be based on the outsourcing labor contract, the attendance sheet for overtime work or outsourced labor, the payroll settlement list for wages, remuneration, and other expenses with the confirmation signature of the worker, accompanied by reasonable and valid supporting documents as prescribed by the State. The entire amount temporarily retained (25%) at this point must be used for its intended purpose. At the end of the year, the unit must settle accounts with the financial authority and the directly managing tax authority according to the prescribed regulations, and the remaining amount must be fully paid into the State budget according to the procedures specified in Point 2 of this Section.

III- IMPLEMENTATION

1) The Tax Authority where the fee-collecting agency has its headquarters shall be responsible for issuing receipts for the collection of fees upon request of the collecting agency; inspecting and urging the fee-collecting agency to implement the system of fee collection, submission, and utilization in accordance with the guidelines set forth in this Circular; managing and utilizing the receipts for money collection; and implementing accounting books and vouchers in accordance with the regulations of the Ministry of Finance.

2) This Circular shall take effect fifteen days from the date of signing. All previous provisions that conflict with this Circular are hereby abolished.

During implementation, if there are any difficulties, they should be promptly reported to the Ministry of Finance for study and resolution.

TABLE

LEVELS OF FEES FOR STATE MANAGEMENT OF ACTIVITIES
POSTAL AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS

(Annexed to Circular No.: 71 TC/TCT dated October 10, 1997)