CIRCULAR

ON THE RATE, COLLECTION, SUBMISSION, ADMINISTRATION AND USE OF THE CHARGES AND FEES FOR THE PRACTICE OF LAW

Pursuant to the Law of fees and charges dated November 25, 2015;

Pursuant to the Law of state budget dated June 25, 2015;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 120/2016/ND-CP dated August 23, 2016 on details and guidelines for the implementation of certain articles of the Law of fees and charges;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 215/2013/ND-CP dated December 23, 2013 on the functions, missions, authority and organizational structure of the Ministry of Finance;

At the request of the Head of the Department of Tax policy,

Minister of Finance promulgates the following Circular on the rate, collection, submission, administration and use of the charges and fees for the practice of law.

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1. This Circular stipulates the rate, collection, submission, administration and use of the charges and fees for the practice of law.

2. This Circular applies to the persons paying and the agency collecting the charges and fees for the practice of law and other organizations and individuals concerning the collection, submission, administration and use of such charges.

Article 2. Payer

1. An individual applying for certification and re-certification of the practice of law shall incur the fees and charges as per regulations.

2. Foreign organizations that practice law shall incur the regulated fees upon applying for the issuance and reissuance of the practicing certificate for their branches, wholly foreign-owned companies or joint venture companies practicing law, law practicing partnerships of foreign law practicing organizations and Vietnamese partnerships (referred to as the foreign law practicing organizations in Vietnam).

3. The foreign law practicing organizations in Vietnam shall incur the regulated fees upon applying for revision to the practice.

4. The branches of a foreign law firm in Vietnam shall incur the regulated fees upon applying for issuance, reissuance or amendment of their practice.

5. Foreign lawyers, when applying for certification or re-certification of their practice in Vietnam, shall incur the fees regulated.

6. Foreign lawyers, when applying for extension of their practice in Vietnam, shall incur the fee regulated.

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Article 3. Collectors of charges and fees

1. Department of Judicial support (Ministry of Justice) shall collect the fees for verification of eligibility for the practice of law according to Point 1, Point 2a, 2b, 2c, 2d, 2dd and 2e, Article 4 of this Circular.

2. Provincial Departments of Justice shall collect the fees for verification of eligibility for the practice of law according to Point 2g, 2h, 2i and 2k, Article 4 of this Circular.

Article 4. Rate

The rate of fees and charges for the practice of law is defined below:

No.

Entry

Rate

(VND/application)

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The charge for certification of law practice

100,000

2

The fee for verification of eligibility for the practice of law

a

Verification of eligibility for practicing law

800,000

b

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20,000,000

c

Verification of conditions to revise the practice of a foreign organization practicing law in Vietnam

4,000,000

d

Verification of practicing eligibility or revision to the practice of a branch of a foreign law firm operating in Vietnam

3,000,000

dd

Verification of eligibility of a foreign lawyer for practicing law in Vietnam

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e

Verification of eligibility of a foreign lawyer for extending his or her practice of law in Vietnam

3,000,000

g

Verification of operational conditions of a foreign organization practicing law in Vietnam

2,000,000

h

Verification of conditions to revise the operations of a foreign organization practicing law in Vietnam

1,000,000

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Verification of operational conditions of a branch of a foreign law firm operating in Vietnam

600,000

k

Verification of conditions to revise the operations of a branch of a foreign law firm operating in Vietnam

400,000

Article 5. Fee declaration and payment

1. On no later than the fifth of each month, the fee collectors shall deposit the fee amount collected in the previous month into the budgetary contribution account at the State Treasury.

2. The collectors of the fees and charges shall declare and finalize the amount of charges and fees collected on monthly and annual basis, respectively, according to the guidelines in Section 3, Article 19 and Section 2, Article 26 of the Circular No. 156/2013/TT-BTC dated November 06, 2013 by the Minister of Finance on guidelines for the implementation of certain articles of the Law of tax administration; the Law on amendments to certain articles of the Law of tax administration and the Government’s Decree No. 83/2013/ND-CP dated July 22, 2013.

Article 6. Administration of charges and fees

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2. If the operating expenditure of a governmental agency collecting the fees is sourced from the fees collected according to Section 1, Article 4 of the Government's Decree No. 120/2016/ND-CP dated August 23, 2016, it shall be allowed to retain 90% of the fee amount collected to pay for the expenditure defined in Article 5 of the Government's Decree No. 120/2016/ND-CP dated August 23, 2016. The remaining 10% of the fee amount collected shall be submitted into the state budget by chapter and sub-section of the current state budget index.

3. The fee collector shall submit 100% of the charge collected into the state budget by chapter and sub-section of the current state budget index. The expenditure for service provision and fee collection shall be sourced from the state budget apportioned in the fee collection agency’s financial estimate pursuant to the regime and norm of state budget spending as per regulations.

Article 7. Implementation

1. This Circular comes into force as of January 01, 2017. It replaces the Circular No. 02/2012/TT-BTC dated January 05, 2012 by the Minister of Finance on the collection, submission, administration and use of charges for the practice of law in Vietnam and the Circular No. 118/2015/TT-BTC dated August 12, 2015 on amendments to certain articles of the Circular No. 02/2012/TT-BTC dated January 05, 2012.

2. Other matters related to the collection, payment, administration, use, receipt and disclosure of fees not defined in this Circular shall be governed by the Law of fees and charges; the Government's Decree No. 120/2016/ND-CP dated August 23, 2016; the Circular No. 156/2013/TT-BTC dated November 06, 2013 by the Minister of Finance, and the Circular by the Minister of Finance on the printing, issuance, administration and use of the receipts for collection of fees and charges for the state budget and the written amendments thereof (if available).

3. Difficulties that arise during the progress of implementation shall be reported to the Ministry of Finance for review, guidance and amendment./.

p.p. MINISTER
DEPUTY MINISTER




Vu Thi Mai

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