Circular No. 77-TC/TCT guides the collection, payment, and management of administrative fees for ensuring traffic order and safety on roads and in urban areas.

CIRCULAR

GUIDELINES ON THE REGIME OF COLLECTION, PAYMENT AND MANAGEMENT OF FEES FOR STATE ADMINISTRATION IN TERMS OF TRAFFIC ORDER AND SAFETY ON ROADS AND CITY TRAFFIC ORDER AND SAFETY ISSUED BY THE MINISTRY OF FINANCE UNDER DECREE NO. 77 TC/TCT ON NOVEMBER 29, 1996

- BASED ON Article 5, 6, 7 of Decree No. 36/CP dated May 29, 1995 of the Government on ensuring traffic order and safety on roads and city traffic order and safety and the Traffic Order and Safety Regulations for Roads and City Traffic Order and Safety issued together with Decree No. 36/CP dated May 29, 1995 of the Government;

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

The Ministry of Finance issues guidelines on the regime of collection, payment and management of fees for state administration in terms of ensuring traffic order and safety on roads and city traffic order and safety as follows:

I. SCOPE OF APPLICATION:

1. OBJECTS REQUIRED TO PAY: Domestic and foreign organizations and individuals (except those entitled to diplomatic privileges and immunities as specified in Point 2, Section of this item) must pay the fee as prescribed in this Circular when the competent state administrative agencies on traffic order and safety on roads and city traffic order and safety as stipulated in Articles 5, 6, and 7 of Decree No. 36/CP dated May 29, 1995 of the Government handle the following matters:

a) Issuing registration certificates and license plates for all types of motor vehicles (hereinafter referred to collectively as issuing registration certificates and license plates);

b) Organizing examinations (including examinations on traffic laws and practical driving tests) and issuing driver's licenses for drivers of motor vehicles with engine displacement over 50 cubic centimeters;

c) Issuing certificates of completion of traffic law courses for drivers of motorcycles with engine displacement under 50 cubic centimeters, including organizing examinations or inspections of traffic law courses (hereinafter referred to collectively as issuing certificates of completion of traffic law courses).

d) Issuing various types of transport permits, circulation permits, vehicle modification permits, permits to enter restricted streets, and priority passes through ferries and floating bridges.

g) Approving designs for vehicle modifications, new constructions, and assemblies; inspecting vehicles that have completed modifications, new constructions, and assemblies.

2. OBJECTS NOT REQUIRED TO PAY: Foreign organizations and individuals entitled to diplomatic privileges and immunities as prescribed in the Ordinance on Privileges and Immunities for Diplomatic Missions, Consular Posts, and International Organizations' Representative Offices in Vietnam are exempt from paying the fees for state administration in terms of traffic order and safety on roads and city traffic order and safety as prescribed in this Circular, including:

a) Diplomatic missions (embassies of foreign countries in Vietnam); consular posts (general consulates, consulates, and vice-consulates of foreign countries in Vietnam); representative offices of international organizations within the United Nations system (including: the United Nations, UN bodies, specialized UN agencies, and the International Atomic Energy Agency); representative offices of intergovernmental or non-governmental international organizations entitled to privileges and immunities under international treaties concluded between Vietnam and such organizations.

b) Members of the aforementioned organizations, including: members of diplomatic missions (diplomatic officials, administrative technical staff, service staff, and family members entitled to privileges and immunities); members of consular posts (consular officials, consular staff, service staff of consular posts, and family members entitled to privileges and immunities); members of representative offices of international organizations within the United Nations system and their cohabiting family members entitled to privileges and immunities under international treaties concluded or acceded to by Vietnam; members of representative offices of intergovernmental or non-governmental international organizations and their cohabiting family members entitled to privileges and immunities under international treaties concluded between Vietnam and such organizations.

Objects entitled to diplomatic privileges and immunities as specified in this point must present their diplomatic passports to the fee collection agency. In cases where there is no diplomatic passport, they must present an introduction letter confirmed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as belonging to objects entitled to privileges and immunities based on international treaties concluded or acceded to by Vietnam.

II. AMOUNT OF COLLECTION:

1. LEVELS OF FEES FOR STATE ADMINISTRATION IN TERMS OF ENSURING TRAFFIC ORDER AND SAFETY ON ROADS AND CITY TRAFFIC ORDER AND SAFETY ARE AS FOLLOWS;

2. THE LEVELS OF FEES PRESCRIBED FOR DOMESTIC ORGANIZATIONS AND INDIVIDUALS (column 4 of the fee schedule) APPLY TO:

a) Vietnamese organizations and individuals, including: enterprises, state-owned corporations, companies, factories, and other production and business organizations of all economic sectors; administrative agencies, public service agencies; political organizations; political-social organizations; social organizations; occupational social organizations; and Vietnamese citizens;

b) Foreign-invested organizations (joint ventures, wholly foreign-owned enterprises, and organizations conducting business cooperation with foreign entities);

3. The level of collection prescribed for foreign organizations and individuals (column number 5 of the collection rate table) applies to all foreign organizations and individuals or Vietnamese individuals residing abroad who operate in Vietnam, including those working at units with foreign investment in Vietnam, except for those diplomatic beneficiaries exempted from payment as specified in Point 2, Section I, of this Circular.

4. The fee collection levels prescribed in this section include all related costs such as:

- Registration certificate issuance fees and license plate fees (Section I of the collection rate table), which already cover application form fees, certificate fees, plastic carding of certificates, reflective license plate fees, etc.;

- Driving test and driver's license issuance fees for motor vehicle operators (Section II of the collection rate table), which already cover registration form fees, examination fees, driver's license fees, plastic carding of licenses, etc.;

Individuals who have paid the driving test fee but did not meet the requirements may retake the test if they wish, paying half the prescribed fee for each retake (paying the fee for the specific part of the test being retaken).

5. Organizations and individuals, when having their matters resolved by the State management agencies responsible for road traffic safety and urban traffic safety as stipulated in Section I of this Circular, shall not be required to pay additional amounts beyond the prescribed fee collection levels if they have already paid the full amount.

It is strictly prohibited for State management agencies responsible for road traffic safety and urban traffic safety to collect fees contrary to the prescribed levels set forth in this Circular.

III. ON THE MANAGEMENT OF FEES

1. Fee Collection Agencies:

The State management agencies responsible for road traffic safety and urban traffic safety as stipulated in Articles 5, 6, and 7 of Decree No. 36/CP dated May 25, 1995 of the Government are tasked with organizing the collection, submission, and management of fees according to the provisions of this Circular (hereinafter referred to collectively as the collecting agency).

2. Procedures for Collection, Submission, and Management of Fees:

a) Organizations and individuals must pay the full amount of the prescribed fee immediately upon filing and submitting the relevant application forms to the State agency responsible for resolving the matter requiring fee collection. The payer has the responsibility to request the collector to issue a receipt (a type of receipt issued by the Ministry of Finance) accurately recording the amount paid.

b) The Ministry of Finance (the tax authority) uniformly issues receipts for the collection of national management fees for road traffic safety and urban traffic safety as stipulated in this Circular, applicable nationwide. The fee collection agency receives the receipts from the local Tax Bureau where its headquarters is located, is responsible for issuing receipts to the payer, and manages, uses, settles, and reconciles the receipts with the tax authority according to the regulations of the Ministry of Finance.

c) National management fees for road traffic safety and urban traffic safety as stipulated in this Circular are part of the State budget revenue. The daily collected fees must be deposited into the account of the collecting agency at the local Treasury Office and temporarily managed and used as follows:

- Registration certificate issuance and license plate fees (Section I of the collection rate table), after deducting the cost of purchasing license plates according to the price regulations of the Ministry of Finance during each period (actual price recorded on the purchase invoice issued by the Ministry of Finance), the remaining amount allows the collecting agency to temporarily retain 40% (forty percent).

Example: If the total registration certificate issuance and license plate fees collected in a period amount to 200 million VND, with the cost of purchasing license plates being 120 million VND, the collecting agency will temporarily retain 40% of the remaining amount after deducting the cost of purchasing license plates: (200 million - 120 million) x 40% = 32 million VND.

- Test and driver's license issuance fees (Section II of the collection rate table); motor vehicle management fees (Section III of the collection rate table), the collecting agency can temporarily retain 40% (forty percent) of the total amount collected in a period.

The temporarily retained amount according to the ratio prescribed in this point shall be used for regular expenditures directly serving the work of fee collection as follows:

+ Printing (or purchasing) forms, applications, registration documents, or examination documents, various types of certificates, including plastic carding; record books for tracking registration and license issuance, etc.;

+ Paying remuneration to specialized staff who work overtime outside regular government hours (if any) according to the government regulations;

In cases where the organization entrusted with fee collection does not have sufficient specialized staff, it may hire additional personnel to carry out the fee collection work, and the costs for hiring labor, including social insurance and health insurance for hired workers, shall be reimbursed according to government regulations.

Payment of overtime remuneration to specialized staff and wages for hired labor as mentioned above must be supported by a labor hiring contract, an overtime work attendance sheet, a labor hiring attendance sheet, a remuneration settlement list, and other related expenses, all signed off by the workers, accompanied by valid supporting documents as prescribed by the government.

+ Other regular expenditures directly serving the issuance of registration certificates and license plates, examinations and license issuance, and motor vehicle management according to government regulations (excluding salary costs for state employees, construction and fixed asset procurement costs, and non-recurring expenses).

The entire amount of fees temporarily withheld according to the ratio specified in sub-item c, this point, the collecting agencies must balance against the annual financial plan and must manage and use for the intended purpose and in accordance with the current state financial regulations; at year-end settlement, if not fully utilized, the remaining amount must be fully remitted to the State Budget.

d) The entire amount of fees collected, after deducting (-) the amount temporarily withheld according to the ratio specified in sub-item c, this point, the remaining amount (60%) must be immediately remitted to the State Budget, specifically as follows:

- Fees for issuing registration certificates and license plates (item I of the fee collection schedule):

Amount remitted to the State Budget = (Total revenue - Total cost of purchasing license plates) x 60%

- Fees for examination and issuance of driver's licenses (item II of the fee collection schedule) and fees for managing road motor vehicles (item III of the fee collection schedule):

Amount remitted to the State Budget = Total revenue x 60%

In cases where revenue is not substantial, the Provincial Tax Department may stipulate that the collecting agency implement declaration and payment to the budget on a periodic basis of every 10 days or 15 days, but no later than the 10th day of the following month, all amounts due from the previous month must be paid into the State Budget (agencies under central management pay into the Central Budget; agencies under provincial or city management pay into the provincial budget; agencies under district or county management pay into the district or county budget), recorded in the corresponding chapter, type, item, category, section 35 of the state budget schedule.

IV. IMPLEMENTATION ORGANIZATION:

1. The Provincial Tax Departments have the responsibility to guide, inspect, and urge the collecting agencies to implement the collection, remittance, and management of fees; maintain accounting books and use receipts and invoices in accordance with the state regulations and the guidance provided in this Circular.

2. The agencies responsible for managing national traffic order and safety on roads and urban traffic order have the responsibility:

- To register the collection and remittance of fees with the local tax authority; organize the collection, remittance, and management of fees in accordance with the provisions of this Circular; maintain accounting books and use receipts and invoices for the collection, remittance, and use of fees in accordance with the current state accounting and statistics law and the regulations of the Ministry of Finance;

- To prepare the annual budget for fee income and expenditure simultaneously with the financial budget of the unit and report to the superior supervisory agency, while sending copies to the financial department and the tax department at the same level;

- At year-end, settle the collection, remittance, and use of fee income simultaneously with the financial budget settlement of the unit and report to the superior supervisory agency, while sending copies to the financial department and the tax department at the same level.

This Circular takes effect from the date of signature. All previous regulations contrary to this Circular are hereby abolished.

Specifically, the provisions regarding the use and remittance to the State Budget mentioned in sub-item c, point 2, item III of this Circular shall be implemented from January 1, 1996 to December 31, 1996, and from 1997 onwards, it must be implemented in accordance with the provisions of the State Budget Law passed by the National Assembly, ninth session, on March 20, 1996.

During implementation, if there are any difficulties, agencies are requested to promptly reflect them to the Ministry of Finance for study and resolution.