Circular No. 75-TC/CTN guiding the implementation of Decree No. 222-HÐBT dated December 5, 1987 of the Council of Ministers on stamp duty and certification fees

CIRCULAR

GUIDELINES FOR IMPLEMENTING DECREE NO. 222-HĐBT OF THE STATE COUNCIL ON DECEMBER 5, 1987 REGARDING STAMP DUTIES AND CERTIFICATE FEES ISSUED BY THE MINISTRY OF FINANCE NUMBER 75-TC/CTN ON DECEMBER 29, 1987

Implementing Decree No. 222-HĐBT of the State Council dated December 5, 1987 on stamp duties and certificate fees, the Ministry of Finance provides detailed guidance as follows:

A. STAMP DUTIES:

I. SUBJECTS LIABLE FOR STAMP DUTIES AND PERSONS PAYING STAMP DUTIES

1. Objects subject to stamp duties.

Article 1The decree of the State Council has stipulated that all cases involving the transfer of ownership or usage rights over real estate, automobiles, motorcycles, ships, etc. (hereinafter referred to collectively as assets), including sales, exchanges, gifts, or inheritances, must go through registration procedures and pay stamp duties to tax authorities. The Ministry of Finance clarifies the types of assets subject to stamp duties and the situations requiring payment of stamp duties as follows:

a. Types of assets subject to stamp duties.

According to Article 1 of Decree No. 222-HĐBT of the State Council, all transfers of assets that require registration with state agencies must be subject to stamp duties.

Specifically:

- Real estate, including ownership or management rights of houses and land usage rights.

- All types of automobiles.

- Motorcycles, including two-wheeled, three-wheeled, lam, and motorized rickshaws.

- Ships, including canoes, barges, vessels for cargo transport, passenger transport, or fishing on rivers and seas. Other assets or means of transportation include: rickshaws, horse-drawn carriages, three-wheeled trucks, video cassette recorders, cameras, air rifles.

b. Situations involving asset transfers that require payment of stamp duties:

- Transfers of assets between individuals, collectives, social organizations, foreign diplomatic missions, international organizations, and foreign individuals residing in Vietnam.

- Transfers of assets between individuals, collectives, social organizations, foreign diplomatic missions, international organizations, and foreign individuals and state-owned economic organizations, public-private joint ventures, social organizations, or state agencies, or vice versa.

- Receiving assets from abroad when registering for use or ownership also requires payment of stamp duties.

c. Situations involving asset transfers that do not require payment of stamp duties:

- Assets purchased from specialized production and business establishments that deal with items subject to stamp duties.

Example:

+ Purchasing motorcycles from state trading companies.

+ Purchasing boats from shipbuilding cooperatives.

- Houses and lands allocated for use by state agencies.

- Exchanging houses and lands with state agencies at their request.

d. Asset transfers between state-owned economic organizations, public-private joint ventures, and state agency social organizations have special regulations.

2. Persons paying stamp duties.

- In cases of sale, exchange, gift, or inheritance, the recipient of the asset must pay the stamp duty.

- In cases of asset exchange, both parties involved in the exchange must pay stamp duties based on the value of the assets they receive.

II. BASIS FOR CALCULATING STAMP DUTIES

1. The value of transferred assets is calculated based on market prices at the time of stamp duty payment.

For assets sold to state-owned economic organizations, public-private joint ventures, social organizations, or state agencies, the value of the asset is the actual transaction price.

2. A rate of 3% of the asset's value applies to the following situations:

- Inheritance of assets. Inheritance of assets involves the transfer of assets from a deceased person to a living person according to the law and will, as specified in Circular No. 81/TANDTC dated July 24, 1982 issued by the Supreme People's Court regarding guidelines for resolving inheritance disputes.

- Division of jointly owned assets among community members so that each member recognizes ownership or usage rights, stamp duties are paid based on the portion of assets received.

- Division of jointly owned assets of a married couple upon divorce, each party must pay stamp duties based on the value of the assets received.

III. RESPONSIBILITIES OF PERSONS PAYING STAMP DUTIES AND TAX AUTHORITIES

1. Responsibilities of persons paying stamp duties

Within thirty days from the date of completing the asset transfer documents between the two parties (purchase, sale, exchange, gift, will, agreement, contract), the person paying the stamp duty must go to the tax authority where the asset recipient resides to file an asset transfer declaration (according to the prescribed form), present necessary documents, and pay the stamp duty before obtaining permits for usage or ownership certificates from relevant management agencies.

- For assets transferred prior to 1987 without usage permits or ownership certificates, the person must complete the stamp duty payment procedure and submit the stamp duty at the tax authority where the asset owner resides no later than March 30, 1988.

2. Responsibilities of the tax authority:

a. Upon receiving the declaration, the tax authority must verify the current status of the asset, its value, and the documents related to the asset transfer.

b. Calculate and collect the correct amount of stamp duty, record it in the stamp duty ledger, affix the "stamp duty paid" stamp on the asset transfer declaration, and issue a receipt for the payment, giving one copy of the declaration to the person paying the stamp duty.

c. Stamp duty files for each asset must be carefully stored and preserved by the tax authority for future reference and verification.

d. Regularly organize coordination with functional agencies such as police, land management, traffic, courts, culture, etc., to ensure strict management of all asset transfer cases and collection of stamp duties as prescribed, while avoiding complex procedures that may inconvenience the payer.

IV. IMPLEMENTATION

- Organize stamp duty collection machinery.

- In the central districts of Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, and Hai Phong, establish stamp duty collection offices under the district trade and industry inspection bureaus.

- In other areas, the district or county tax offices shall organize stamp duty collection.

2. Settlement of complaints:

Complaints about stamp duty collection and payment shall be resolved by tax authorities at various levels. If unresolved, they shall be handled by the provincial, municipal, or special zone people's committees directly under the central government. The decision of the provincial, municipal, or special zone people's committee directly under the central government is final.

3. Rewards:

Any person who discovers cases of evasion of stamp duty and assists the tax authority in recovering the evaded stamp duty shall be entitled to 10% of the fine imposed for such evasion, with a maximum reward of not more than 50,000 VND per case.

4. Each day, the tax authority must deposit the entire amount of stamp duty collected into the state budget, deposited into the corresponding chapters, type 14, item 01, category 9, sub-item 24 of the State Budget Manual.

B. STAMP DUTY FOR CERTIFICATES

I. OBJECTS SUBJECT TO STAMP DUTY FOR CERTIFICATES

1. Administrative certificates include:

Copies of diplomas, copies of personal records, copies of school transcripts, copies of birth certificates, and other types of copies issued by local authorities at all levels, each copy submitted shall pay 50 VND.

2. Legal certificates include:

- Birth certificates, marriage certificates, each certificate submitted shall pay 100 VND.

- Petitions, court judgments, each certificate submitted shall pay 200 VND.

- Each divorce certificate submitted shall pay 500 VND, paid by the party initiating the divorce.

- Other legal certificates, each certificate submitted shall pay 200 VND.

3. Economic certificates include:

Economic contracts, certificates of trademark and quality, minutes of contract termination, each certificate submitted shall pay 500 VND.

II. COLLECTION AND MANAGEMENT OF STAMP DUTY FOR CERTIFICATES

1. The competent agency issuing which type of certificate shall directly collect the stamp duty for that certificate.

2 Issuance and management of stamp duty labels:

- Each certificate must affix a label uniformly managed and issued by the Department of Finance of the province, city, or centrally governed municipality.

- For the time being, if a locality has not printed the labels in time, it should report to the People's Committee of the province, city, or centrally governed municipality for permission to use receipts instead of stamp duty labels.

- The Department of Finance shall guide the handover, settlement, and clearance of stamp duty labels (or receipts) for each stamp duty collection unit.

3. The amount of stamp duty for certificates must be deposited into the budget daily or periodically according to the regulations of the bank, the stamp duty collection agency at which level collects, shall be deposited into the budget of that level, according to the corresponding chapter, type 15, item 00, category 1, sub-item 47 of the State Budget Manual.

4. The stamp duty collection agency is entitled to 20% of the amount collected to cover expenses for the issuance of certificates, and to reward those who perform well in the issuance of certificates.

This Circular takes effect from January 1, 1988. All previous regulations of localities and sectors that conflict with this Circular are hereby abolished. During implementation, if there are any difficulties or inconsistencies, please report to the Ministry of Finance for timely consideration and resolution.