Circular No. 90/2017/TT-BTC on the implementation of the financial autonomy mechanism for public science and technology organizations

CIRCULAR

Regulations on the implementation of the financial autonomy mechanism

for public scientific and technological organizations

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Pursuant to Decree No. 163/Decision No. 2016/2025/NĐ-CP ||| dated December 21, 2016 of the Government detailing the implementation of certain provisions of the State Budget Law;

Pursuant to Decree No. 16/2015/NĐ-CP dated February 14, 2015 of the Government stipulating the self-management mechanism of public service units;

Based on Decree No. 54/2016/NĐ-CP dated June 14, 2016 of the Government stipulating the autonomy mechanism of public scientific and technological organizations;

Cpursuant to Decree No. 87/2017/Decree-CP dated February 26 the 7 Article 2. The receipt, handling of reflections and petitions from individuals and organizations concerning administrative regulations shall be carried out in accordance with Decree No. 20/2008/NĐ-CP dated February 14, 2008 of the Government on the receipt, handling of reflections and petitions from individuals and organizations concerning administrative regulations (amended and supplemented by Decree No. 48/2013/NĐ-CP dated May 14, 2013 on amending and supplementing certain articles of decrees related to administrative procedure control and Decree No. 92/2017/NĐ-CP dated August 7, 2017 on amending and supplementing certain articles of decrees related to administrative procedure control).7 of the Government stipulating functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure1. The person with auctioned assets self-assesses or establishes an assessment team or another form to assess the selection criteria for auction organizations and bears responsibility for such assessment. organization of         Ministry of Finance;

At the proposal of Director of the Administrative and Public Services Financial Department;

Article 1. Amending and supplementing some articles of Circular No. 21/2023/TT-BTTTT dated December 31, 2023 of the Ministry of Information and Communications on functions and technical features of the Administrative Procedure Handling Information System at the ministerial and provincial levels (hereinafter referred to as Circular No. 21/2023/TT-BTTTT) as follows: The Ministry of Finance issues this Circular to regulate the implementation of the financial autonomy mechanism of public scientific and technological organizations.

Article 1. Scope of regulation and applicable subjects

2. Applicability:

This Circular regulates the implementation of the financial autonomy mechanism of public scientific and technological organizations according to Decree No. 54/2016/NĐ-CP dated June 14, 2016 of the Government stipulating the autonomy mechanism of public scientific and technological organizations (hereinafter referred to as Decree No. 54/2016/NĐ-CP) and Decree No. 16/2015/NĐ-CP dated February 14, 2015 of the Government stipulating the autonomy mechanism of public service units (hereinafter referred to as Decree No. 16/2015/NĐ-CP).

第二条 组织和实施奖励工作的支出水平，如政府第152/2025/NĐ-CP号决定关于分级授权和奖励领域的分权规定

a) This Circular applies to public scientific and technological organizations established by competent authorities as specified in points a, b, c, d, đ, e, g Clause 1 Article 12 of the Science and Technology Law No. 29/2013/QH13.

b) Public scientific and technological organizations under the Ministry of National Defense, the Ministry of Public Security, political organizations, and political-social organizations shall apply this Circular and other relevant regulations.

c) Non-public scientific and technological organizations may apply the financial autonomy mechanism as prescribed in this Circular.

Article 2. Classification of levels of financial autonomy for public scientific and technological organizations

1. Public scientific and technological organizations that self-fund both regular expenses and investment costs are those meeting one of the following conditions:

a) Organizations that fully fund their regular expenses from operating revenue and fund their investment costs from development funds, borrowed capital, and other lawful sources as provided by law;

b) Organizations that only provide services not included in the list of public services funded by the state budget;

c) Organizations that provide services included in the list of public services funded by the state budget in the field of science and technology at prices and fees that cover all costs (including depreciation of fixed assets) as prescribed by the competent authority.

2. Public scientific and technological organizations that self-fund regular expenses are those with operating revenue sufficient to fully fund regular expenses; or organizations that only provide services included in the list of public services funded by the state budget in the field of science and technology at prices and fees covering regular expenses (excluding depreciation of fixed assets) as prescribed by the competent authority.

3. Public scientific and technological organizations that partially self-fund regular expenses are those with operating revenue sufficient to partially fund regular expenses, with the remainder supported by the state budget.

4. Public scientific and technological organizations fully funded by the state for regular expenses are those without revenue or low revenue, fully supported by the state budget for regular expenses.

Article 3. Methods for determining income, expenditure, and levels of financial autonomy for public scientific and technological organizations

1. Sources of income for public scientific and technological organizations:

a) Fees retained in accordance with the Law on Fees and Charges;

b) Income from the state budget if selected or directly assigned by the competent authority to perform scientific and technological tasks;

c) Income from providing public services funded by the state budget in the field of science and technology at prices prescribed by the competent authority;

d) Income from providing public services not funded by the state budget, cooperation, joint ventures, joint operations about science and technology, production, and business activities;

đ) State budget support for regular task funding according to functions (if applicable);

e) Income from the state budget for non-regular tasks if assigned by the competent authority, including: Funding for national target programs, projects, and plans; matching funds for projects; development investment capital; procurement funds for equipment serving operational activities approved by the competent authority; emergency task funding assigned by the competent authority;

g) Other lawful income (if any).

2. Regular expenditure items for public scientific and technological organizations:

a) Salary payments to civil servants, officials, employees according to rank, grade, job title, position, and state-prescribed allowances; payment for work contracts (if any);

b) Professional activity expenses;

c) Management expenses;

d) Depreciation of fixed assets (applicable to organizations as specified in Clause 1 and Clause 2 of Article 2 of this Circular);

đ) Other regular expenses (if any).

3. Method for determining the level of financial autonomy:

a) Method for determining the level of self-funding for regular expense funding:

The level of self-financing for regular expenditure (%) = (Total revenue from public services / Total regular expenditure) * 100%.

Where:

- Total revenue from public services includes revenues as stipulated in Points a, b, c, and g Clause 1 of this Article and surplus revenue from public service activities not funded by the state budget, cooperation, joint ventures, and scientific and technological collaborations, and production and business activities as stipulated in Point d Clause 1 of this Article, after fulfilling state obligations or transferring to higher levels according to regulations.

- Total regular expenditure includes expenditures as stipulated in Points a, b, c, and d Clause 2 of this Article.

- Total revenue from public services and total regular expenditure are calculated based on the budgeted revenue and expenditure for the first year of the stable period.

b) Based on the level of self-financing for regular expenditure, the method for determining the degree of financial autonomy of scientific and technological organizations is as follows:

- Scientific and technological organizations that self-finance regular expenditure and investment: These are organizations that meet the following conditions:

+ Having a level of self-financing for regular expenditure determined according to the formula specified in Point a Clause 3 of this Article, exceeding 100%;

+ Having a total amount of retained fees for non-regular expenditure and the planned amount to be allocated to the development fund for public service activities in the year equal to or greater than the depreciation and amortization of fixed assets of the organization in the first year of the stable period; or having a surplus balance of the development fund for public service activities from the previous year (at the time of formulating the autonomous plan), the total amount of retained fees for non-regular expenditure and the planned amount to be allocated to the development fund for public service activities in the year exceeding the depreciation and amortization of fixed assets of the organization in the first year of the stable period.

- Scientific and technological organizations that self-finance regular expenditure: These are organizations with a level of self-financing for regular expenditure determined according to the formula specified in Point a Clause 3 of this Article, being equal to or greater than 100%.

- Scientific and technological organizations that partially self-finance regular expenditure: These are organizations with a level of self-financing for regular expenditure determined according to the formula specified in Point a Clause 3 of this Article, ranging from over 10% to less than 100%.

- Scientific and technological organizations that are fully financed by the state for regular expenditure: These are organizations with a level of self-financing for regular expenditure determined according to the formula specified in Point a Clause 3 of this Article, at 10% or below, or organizations without revenue sources.

Article 4. Financial Autonomy for Public Scientific and Technological Organizations That Self-Finance Regular Expenditure and Investment and Those That Self-Finance Regular Expenditure

1. Utilizing Financial Resources:

Public scientific and technological organizations that self-finance regular expenditure and investment and those that self-finance regular expenditure may proactively utilize various financial resources to cover regular tasks as prescribed in Clause 2 of Article 8 of Decree No. 54/2016/NĐ-CP. Specifically:

a) Regarding Salary Payments:

Public scientific and technological organizations pay salaries according to the salary scale, grade, position, and allowances prescribed by the state for such organizations.

When the state adjusts salaries, these organizations may independently decide the proportion of income to be set aside to create a source for implementing salary reform and additional self-financed salary increases from their own income, without supplementary funding from the state budget.

b) Regarding Depreciation of Fixed Assets:

The amount of depreciation of fixed assets invested or purchased from the state budget or derived from the state budget supplements the development fund for public service activities of the unit.

The amount of depreciation of fixed assets invested or purchased from borrowed funds is used to repay debt; if the debt has been fully repaid, the remaining amount supplements the development fund for public service activities of the unit.

2. Distribution of Financial Results for the Year:

a) Establishing Funds:

Annually, after fully accounting for all expenses, paying taxes, and other payments to the state budget, any surplus revenue from regular expenditure (if any), public scientific and technological organizations that self-finance regular expenditure and investment and those that self-finance regular expenditure establish and use funds as prescribed in Clause 3 of Article 8 of Decree No. 54/2016/NĐ-CP and according to the internal expenditure regulations of the unit.

In particular, for the Reward Fund and Welfare Fund, the maximum contribution rate does not exceed three months' worth of actual annual salary and wages (Actual annual salary and wages include salary according to rank, grade, job title, and allowances prescribed by the state; additional salary for employees due to promotion based on years of service or early promotion (if applicable); payment for work under contracts).

b) Regarding Implementation of Additional Income Expenditures:

On the basis of the annual revenue and expenditure plan and the financial operation results of the previous quarter (in the case of the first quarter of the planning year, the unit bases on the financial operation results of the fourth quarter of the previous year), to promptly motivate employees to strive to complete assigned tasks, public scientific and technological organizations shall independently determine the revenue-expenditure difference (surplus, deficit) of their activities, and temporarily set aside up to a maximum of 70% of the excess revenue over expenditures determined quarterly for additional income payments monthly.

At the end of the year, before January 31 of the following year, public scientific and technological organizations shall independently determine the actual excess revenue over expenditures of the previous year, continue to establish funds according to regulations, and determine the amount of additional income payments from the supplementary income fund based on the internal expenditure regulations of the unit to pay out additional income to employees without exceeding the prescribed limit.

Based on the final accounts of public scientific and technological organizations approved by the competent authority, if the actual excess revenue over expenditures is higher than the amount self-determined by the organization, the public scientific and technological organization may continue to establish funds and make additional income payments according to the prescribed regulations and internal expenditure regulations of the unit. If the actual excess revenue over expenditures is lower than the amount self-determined by the organization, the amount of funds temporarily established and used for the supplementary income fund and additional income payments that exceeds the amount allowed to be established and used (according to the prescribed regulations) shall be deducted from the surplus of the award fund and welfare fund of the unit; if there is still a shortfall, it shall be deducted from the revenue-expenditure difference reserved for establishing the supplementary income fund, the award fund, and the welfare fund of the following year; if there is no revenue-expenditure difference in the following year, it shall be deducted from the salary fund of the unit.

                   Article 5. Financial autonomy for public scientific and technological organizations that partially self-fund regular expenses and those fully funded by the State for regular expenses.

1. Utilization of financial resources:

Public scientific and technological organizations that partially self-fund regular expenses and those fully funded by the State for regular expenses may proactively utilize various sources of funding to cover regular tasks as stipulated in Clause 2, Article 9 of Decree No. 54/2016/NĐ-CP.

2. Distribution of financial results in the year:

a) Establishment of Funds:

Public scientific and technological organizations that partially self-fund regular expenses and those fully funded by the State for regular expenses may establish and use funds as stipulated in Clause 3, Article 9 of Decree No. 54/2016/NĐ-CP and according to the internal expenditure regulations of the unit.

Among these, the salaries and wages implemented in the year of public scientific and technological organizations serving as the basis for establishing the award fund and welfare fund include salaries based on rank, grade, job title, position, and state-prescribed allowances; additional salaries of employees due to promotion based on years of service or early promotion (if applicable); remuneration paid under contracts for specific tasks.

b) Regarding the implementation of additional income payments: Follow the provisions at Point b, Clause 2, Article 4 of this Circular.

         Article 6. Funding for Regular Tasks According to Functions

1. Funding for regular tasks according to functions includes:

a) Salaries, wages, and contributions based on salaries of those directly and indirectly involved in the tasks as stipulated by current state regulations on salary systems (based on the number of people participating in each task; time spent on the task). The total number of people participating in regular functional tasks of public scientific and technological organizations must not exceed the number of positions approved by the competent authority.

b) Direct and indirect costs to serve the implementation of tasks; operational costs of public scientific and technological organizations to carry out tasks (such as purchasing raw materials, supplies; paying for public services, office supplies; maintenance, repair, periodic inspection, calibration of equipment for professional work; professional conferences, travel expenses, etc.): Implemented according to economic and technical norms issued by the relevant ministries and sectors and current regulations on budgetary expenditure standards.

2. The state budget supports funding for regular tasks according to functions for public scientific and technological organizations that partially self-fund regular expenses and those fully funded by the State for regular expenses based on the principle:

a) The state budget supports funding for regular tasks according to functions based on the salary fund and allowances as prescribed; the number of staff approved by the competent authority and administrative cost norms of the unit with the staffing level as prescribed by the competent authority, minus the operating revenue of the organization (operating revenue is determined by retained fees as prescribed, service activity revenues (if any) after fulfilling obligations to the state budget and transferring to superiors as prescribed, and other lawful revenues).

b) For localities that have issued principles, criteria, and budget allocation standards for the field of science and technology within their jurisdiction, the financial support from the state budget to implement regular tasks according to the functions of public science and technology organizations shall be carried out in accordance with the regulations of such localities.

3. Based on the situation and the ability to balance the allocated state budget funds; based on the guidelines of the Ministry of Science and Technology regarding the content, review procedures, and approval authority for regular tasks according to the functions, annually, the supervising agency of public science and technology organizations shall consider and determine the allocation of the budget for implementing regular tasks according to the functions for public science and technology organizations that partially self-fund their regular expenses and those fully funded by the State, in accordance with the principles stipulated in Clause 1 and Clause 2 of this Article and the provisions of the State Budget Law.

4. In cases where public science and technology organizations that partially self-fund their regular expenses and investment costs and public science and technology organizations that partially self-fund their regular expenses are assigned to carry out some regular tasks according to their functions by the supervising agency, the state budget will provide financial support according to the content specified in Point b of Clause 1 of this Article. Public science and technology organizations that self-fund their expenses shall ensure funding for salary, wages, and contributions based on salaries as stipulated in Point a of Clause 1 of this Article.

Criteria, conditions, and types of regular tasks according to functions shall be considered in specific cases deemed necessary for the supervising agency to decide on assigning regular tasks according to functions to public science and technology organizations that partially self-fund their regular expenses and investment costs and those that partially self-fund their regular expenses, following the guidance of the Ministry of Science and Technology.

          5. The allocation, budget assignment, and settlement of state budget funds supporting public science and technology organizations to implement regular tasks according to their functions shall be carried out in accordance with the provisions of the State Budget Law and guiding documents.

In cases where regular tasks according to functions are assigned by the competent authority to be implemented through a system of final product quotas, the management, use, and settlement of funds shall be applied in accordance with the provisions of Circular Joint No. 27/2015/TTLT-BKHCN-BTC dated December 30, 2015, issued by the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Ministry of Finance, concerning cost allocation for implementing scientific and technological tasks using state budget funds.

Article 7. Granting Financial Autonomy to Public Science and Technology Organizations

1. Based on the functions and tasks assigned by the competent authority and the guidelines set forth in this Circular, public science and technology organizations shall develop plans for financial autonomy and responsibility (as per Appendix No. 01 attached to this Circular); submit these plans for review, examination, and consolidation by the supervising agency to seek opinions from the Ministry of Finance (for public science and technology organizations under central ministries and agencies) or the same-level finance agency (for public science and technology organizations under local management) according to the model at Appendix No. 02 attached to this Circular.

          The finance agency has the responsibility to examine and provide written comments on the plans for classifying units with financial autonomy of public science and technology organizations.

          After receiving comments from the finance agency, the supervising agency is responsible for submitting the plans for financial autonomy of public science and technology organizations under its management to the Minister, Head of the Government Agency, or Chairman of the People's Committee of the province or centrally-administered city for approval.

Other agencies and organizations shall organize reviews and approvals of the plans for financial autonomy of public science and technology organizations under their management based on the provisions of this Circular, after receiving written comments from the same-level finance agency.

        2. In the last year of the stabilization period, public science and technology organizations shall report on the summary and evaluation of the implementation of the autonomous mechanism over three years. Based on the results of the previous period, the tasks for the planning year and the subsequent period, public science and technology organizations shall develop plans for the next stabilization period, to be submitted to the higher-level managing agency together with the time for preparing the state budget for the planning year.

        The procedure for granting autonomy to public science and technology organizations in subsequent periods shall be carried out in accordance with the provisions of Clause 1 of this Article.

Article 8. Annual Reporting System

1. Public science and technology organizations implementing periodic annual financial autonomy must report to the higher-level managing agency on the results of the autonomous system before February 28 of the following year (as per Appendix No. 03 attached to this Circular).

2. Ministries, central agencies, and provincial People's Committees of centrally-administered cities shall periodically evaluate the implementation of the financial autonomy mechanism of public science and technology organizations under their management each year, and submit reports to the Ministry of Finance before March 31 of the following year (as per Appendix No. 04 attached to this Circular).

Article 9. Transitional Provisions

1. Public scientific and technological organizations that have been classified by the competent authority as units self-financing regular operating expenses according to the provisions of Government Decree No. 115/2005/NĐ-CP dated September 5, 2005 on the mechanism of autonomy and responsibility for public scientific and technological organizations and Government Decree No. 96/2010/NĐ-CP dated September 20, 2010 amending and supplementing certain articles of Government Decree No. 115/2005/NĐ-CP shall evaluate and statistically report the income of the unit over the three consecutive years immediately preceding for the competent authority to consider and approve the plan to continue self-funding regular expenditures in accordance with Government Decree No. 54/2016/NĐ-CP and the guidance provided in this Circular.

2. In cases where the unit has changes in functions and tasks or there are fluctuations in revenue sources affecting the level of self-funding for operational costs, public scientific and technological organizations (including those specified in Clause 1 of this Article) shall develop an autonomy and financial responsibility plan in accordance with Article 7 of this Circular to submit to the competent authority for consideration and approval.

3. Based on the development requirements of the unit and the budgetary balance capacity of the state, the State will consider allocating capital for investment projects currently underway by public scientific and technological organizations self-funding regular expenditures and investments in accordance with the Law on Public Investment.

3. Amend Clause 3 Article 2 as follows:Article 10. Effectiveness

1. This Circular takes effect from October 28, 2017.

2. The Joint Circular No. 121/2014/TTLT-BTC-BKHCN dated August 25, 2014 of the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Science and Technology guiding the preparation of budgets, management, use, and settlement of funds for regular functional tasks of public scientific and technological organizations ceases to be effective from the date this Circular takes effect.

3. In case the referenced documents in this Circular are amended, supplemented, or replaced, they shall be implemented according to the newly issued documents.

4. During implementation, if there are difficulties or obstacles, please reflect them to the Ministry of Finance for coordination in resolution./.