Circular No. 82/2005/TT-BTC guiding the pilot implementation of self-declaration and self-payment of special consumption tax for production and business establishments pursuant to Decision No. 161/2005/QĐ-TTg dated June 30, 2005 of the Prime Minister.

CIRCULAR

Guidelines for pilot implementation of production and business establishments self-declaring and self-paying special consumption tax according to Decision No. 161/2005/QĐ-TTg dated June 30, 2005 of the Government

Pursuant to the Special Consumption Tax Law (SCT) No. 08/2003/QH10 dated June 17, 2003;

Pursuant to Decree No. 149/2003/NĐ-CP dated December 4, 2003 of the Government detailing the implementation of the SCT Law and the Law amending and supplementing certain articles of the SCT Law;

Pursuant to Decision No. 161/2005/QĐ-TTg dated June 30, 2005 of the Prime Minister on expanding the pilot implementation of production and business establishments self-declaring and self-paying taxes including SCT at the production stage within the country; natural resource tax; real estate tax; income tax for high-income individuals; and business registration fee;

Pursuant to Decree No. 77/2003/NĐ-CP dated July 1, 2003 of the Government stipulating the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Finance;

The Ministry of Finance hereby guides the pilot implementation of production and business establishments self-declaring and self-paying SCT as follows:

I. APPLICABLE OBJECTS

Production and business establishments specified in Clause 2, Article 1 of Decision No. 197/2003/QĐ-TTg dated September 23, 2003 of the Prime Minister and other guiding documents of the Ministry of Finance (collectively referred to as business establishments) shall implement the pilot mechanism of self-declaration and self-payment of SCT at the production stage within the country.

II. REGISTRATION, DECLARATION, AND PAYMENT OF SCT

1. Registration

Business establishments implementing the pilot mechanism of self-declaration and self-payment of SCT at the production stage within the country continue to use the tax number already issued by the tax authority without having to re-register with the tax authority.

2. Declaration and Payment of SCT

a) Declaration of SCT

- SCT is calculated and declared monthly. Business establishments implementing the pilot mechanism of self-declaration and self-payment must declare SCT fully and accurately each month according to the declaration form prescribed by the Ministry of Finance (Form No. 01A/TTĐB and other forms attached hereto). In cases where no SCT is payable during the declaration period, the business establishment still must declare and submit the declaration form to the tax authority.

- The deadline for submitting the SCT declaration form to the tax authority is no later than the 25th day of the following month. The business establishment does not need to send lists of goods and services sold, exported goods, bottled wine and beer sold, and deductible SCT. The business establishment can submit the declaration form through postal service or directly to the tax authority. The submission date is considered the postmark date (for submissions via postal service) or the date the business establishment submits the form directly to the tax authority.

- If the business establishment fails to declare fully or does not follow the prescribed format; or if the declaration has not been legally confirmed (signed and stamped), it will be deemed that the declaration form has not been submitted to the tax authority.

- The business establishment bears legal responsibility for the truthfulness and accuracy of the monthly SCT declaration. If the tax authority discovers during inspection or audit that the figures on the declaration form are not truthful or accurate, the business establishment will be subject to penalties under the law. regarding the monthly declaration of turnover tax. In case the tax authority discovers during inspection or audit that the figures on the declaration form are not truthful or accurate, the business entity will be subject to penalties as prescribed by law.

b) Adjustment Declaration of SCT

- After submitting the declaration form to the tax authority, if there are errors or mistakes in the declared figures (discovered by the business establishment itself or notified by the tax authority), the business establishment is responsible for adjusting the declaration with the tax authority:

+ If the declaration period has not yet expired, the business establishment may prepare and submit a new declaration form replacing the previously submitted form. The new form must clearly state that it replaces the form submitted on a specific date, month, and year.

+ If the declaration period has passed (after the 25th of the month), the business establishment must adjust the errors directly on the SCT declaration form of the month (Form No. 01A/TTĐB) and simultaneously prepare an adjustment explanation form for SCT (Form No. 01C/TTĐB). If the tax authority has issued a notice regarding an inspection or audit decision, the business establishment cannot make adjustments for declarations in the inspected or audited period.

- Business establishments implementing the pilot program do not need to settle annual tax with the tax authority. Monthly, the business establishment must review invoices, vouchers, and accounting records from the previous month to promptly identify any undeclared or incorrectly declared tax amounts and adjust them in the next month's declaration form.

- At the end of the calendar year, the business establishment prepares an adjustment declaration form for the taxable price of bottled wine and beer (if sold with bottles) according to Form No. 01B/TTĐB attached hereto. The adjustment declaration form (Form No. 01B/TTĐB) is prepared and adjusted into the SCT declaration form of January or February of the following year.

c) Payment of SCT

- Monthly, the business establishment pays the SCT into the State budget based on the declared amount. The payment deadline is no later than the 25th of the following month. For business establishments paying by bank transfer, the payment date is considered the date when the bank transfers funds into the State Treasury according to the payment voucher; for those paying in cash, the payment date is the date when the State Treasury or tax authority receives the tax.

- The business establishment must fill out all required fields on the payment voucher according to the guidance of the tax authority and the State Treasury. The business establishment must clearly indicate the amount of SCT and tax penalties for each tax period on the payment voucher. If the business establishment has both current and outstanding tax and penalty payments but does not specify which period they belong to, the tax authority will first deduct the outstanding amount from previous periods, then apply the remaining amount to the current period's tax and penalty payments.

d. In cases of merger, consolidation, division, spin-off, dissolution, bankruptcy, production, transferring ownership, relocating to another locality (another province or city); transferring state-owned enterprises or business establishments through sale, lease, or other forms such as contracting out must declare the tax arising up to the date of merger, consolidation, division, spin-off, dissolution, bankruptcy, ownership transfer, sale, contracting out, or leasing, and submit the declaration form to the tax authority within forty-five days from the date of decision on such changes. The business establishment must pay any outstanding turnover tax into the State budget within ten days from the date of submitting the tax declaration form. In case of overpayment of tax, it can be offset against the tax payable for the next period or refunded according to current regulations.

III. DUTIES, RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE TAX AUTHORITY

In addition to the duties, rights, and responsibilities stipulated in the laws and related legal documents on taxation, the tax authority managing business establishments implementing the self-declaration and self-payment mechanism shall have the responsibility to:

1. Propagate, disseminate, guide, and answer questions from business establishments regarding tax policies, procedures for declaration and payment of taxes so that they understand and comply with the legal provisions on taxation and the self-declaration and self-payment mechanism.

2. Monitor the fulfillment of the obligation to declare and pay taxes by business establishments.

- If the deadline for declaration has passed, the tax authority shall send a notice reminding the business establishments that have not submitted their tax declaration forms to do so, and impose administrative penalties according to current regulations. In cases where, after sending the reminder notice and imposing administrative penalties, the business establishments still fail to submit their tax declaration forms, the tax authority will determine the provisional amount of tax to be temporarily paid according to the legal provisions on taxation.

- If the deadline for tax payment has passed, the tax authority shall send a notice reminding the business establishments that have not paid or have not fully paid their taxes to do so; at the same time, calculate late payment penalties on the overdue tax debt according to the prescribed regulations.

3. Conduct inspections and audits of the tax declaration and payment activities of business establishments.

4. Apply coercive measures to collect overdue taxes and fines according to the legal provisions.

5. Maintain confidentiality of information provided about pilot production and business establishments according to the prescribed regulations.

IV. IMPLEMENTATION

1. This Circular takes effect fifteen days from the date of publication in the Official Gazette.

2. Provisions concerning the basis for calculating tax, methods of calculation, tax rates, exemptions, refunds, handling of violations, rewards, and other provisions not mentioned in this Circular shall be implemented according to the provisions of the Law on Turnover Tax and guiding documents for its implementation.

3. The General Department of Taxation is responsible for organizing the pilot implementation of self-declaration and self-payment of turnover tax at the domestic production stage for production and business establishments.

4. During the implementation process, if there are difficulties or obstacles, units, agencies, and business establishments are requested to promptly report them to the Ministry of Finance for supplementary guidance.