DECREE

OF DETAILING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE ORDINANCE ON CHARGES AND FEES

THE GOVERNMENT

Pursuant to the Law on Organization of the Government of December 25, 2001;
Pursuant to August 28, 2001 Ordinance No. 38/2001/PL-UBTVQH10 on Charges and Fees;
At the proposal of the Minister of Finance,

DECREES:

Chapter I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1.- This Decree details the implementation of the Ordinance on Charges and Fees.

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Article 3.- This Decree shall not govern:

1. Social insurance premiums;

2. Medical insurance premiums;

3. Other insurance premiums;

4. Fees, monthly dues and yearly dues collected under the charters of political organizations, socio-political organizations, social organizations, socio-professional organizations and clubs, and not yet prescribed in the detailed list of charges and fees, which is issued together with this Decree;

5. Other assorted charges not prescribed in the detailed list of charges and fees, issued together with this Decree, such as freights, postal and telecommunication charges, payment and money transfer charges collected by credit institutions…

Article 4.

1. Organizations and individuals entitled to collect charges and/or fees include:

a/ State tax offices; customs offices;

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2. Organizations and individuals defined in Clause 1 of this Article may collect only charges and fees on the detailed list of charges and fees, issued together with this Decree.

3. In cases of necessity, competent State bodies may authorize the charge and/or fee collection; authorized organizations and individuals shall comply with the provisions of this Decree.

Chapter II

COMPETENCE TO PRESCRIBE CHARGES AND FEES

Article 5.- Competence to prescribe charges shall be as follows:

1. The Government shall prescribe a number of important charges of great value and related to many socio-economic policies of the State. For each particular type of charge prescribed by the Government, the Government may authorize the ministries or ministerial-level agencies to set their rates on a case-by-case basis suitable to the practical situation.

The People’s Councils of the provinces and centrally-run cities (hereinafter collectively referred to as provincial-level) shall prescribe a number of charges associated with land and natural resource management or with the State administrative management function of the local administrations.

The Ministry of Finance shall prescribe other charges for uniform application throughout the country.

The competence to prescribe charges is specified in the detailed list of charges and fees, issued together with this Decree.

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2. The prescription of the rates as well as the regime of collection, remittance, management and use of charges shall comply with the provisions in Articles 8, 10, 11 and 12 of this Decree.

Article 6.- Competence to prescribe fees shall be as follows:

1. The Government shall prescribe a number of important fees of great value or international legal significance. The Government shall assign the Ministry of Finance to prescribe other fees.

The competence to prescribe fees is specified in the detailed list of charges and fees, issued together with this Decree.

The competence to prescribe charges covers the prescription of the rates as well as the regime of collection, remittance, management and use of each specific fee.

2. The prescription of the rates as well as the regime of collection, remittance, management and use of fees shall comply with the provisions in Articles 9, 10, 11 and 12 of this Decree.

Article 7.- Where it is necessary to supplement and/or amend the list of charges and fees, the rates and the regime of collection, remittance, management and use of charges and fees, the ministries and the provincial-level People’s Committees shall report such to the Ministry of Finance for submission to the Government for consideration and settlement according to the competence prescribed in Article 9 of the Ordinance on Charges and Fees.

Chapter III

PRINCIPLES FOR DETERMINING THE RATES AND THE REGIME OF COLLECTION, REMITTANCE, MANAGEMENT AND USE OF CHARGES AND FEES

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The general principle is that the charge rates must ensure the retrieval of capital within a reasonable period of time and be compatible with the payer’s payment capability.

Besides, the rates of charges for the State-invested services must secure the realization of the socio-economic development policies of the Party and the State in each period and be suitable to the practical situation.

The Ministry of Finance shall guide the determination of the rates of charges under the prescribing competence of the provincial-level People’s Councils in order to ensure uniform application throughout the country.

Article 9.- The fee rates shall be pre-fixed in a certain sum of money for each State management job for which fee is collected, not for the purpose of covering expenses for the fee-liable jobs, and comply with international practices. Particularly for the registration fee, the rates shall be set in a percentage (%) of the value of registered property according to the stipulations of the Government.

Article 10.- On the basis of the principles for determining the charge and fee rates under Articles 8 and 9 above, organizations and individuals entitled to collect charges and fees prescribed in Clauses 1 and 3, Article 4 of this Decree shall elaborate the charge and fee rates and submit them to competent bodies for promulgation.

The pricing agencies of the same level should be consulted before the charge and/or fee rates are submitted to the competent bodies for promulgation or before they are added or amended.

Article 11.- Principles for management and use of charges and fees shall be prescribed as follows:

1. Charges collected from services not invested by the State or invested by the State but then transferred to organizations or individuals for provision on the cost-accounting and financial autonomy principles are revenues not belonging to the State budget. The collected charge amounts shall constitute turnovers of the charge-collecting organizations and individuals that shall be obliged to pay tax thereon according to the State’s current regulations.

2. Charges collected from services invested or exclusively owned by the State are State budget revenues, and shall be managed and used as follows:

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b/ Where the charge-collecting organizations are not yet funded with the State budget for their charge-collecting operations, they can retain part of the collected charge amounts to cover the charge collection expenses under the provisions in Article 12 of this Decree, and remit the remainder into the State budget;

c/ Where the organizations are authorized to collect charges in addition to their regular function and tasks, they can retain part of the collected charge amounts to cover the charge collection expenses under the provisions in Article 12 of this Decree, and must remit the remainder into the State budget.

3. All collected fees shall belong to the State budget. The fee-collecting organizations must remit promptly the full collected amounts into the State budget. In cases of authorized collection, the organizations authorized to collect fees may retain part of the collected fee amounts to cover the fee-collection expenses under the provisions of Article 12 of this Decree, and must remit the remainder into the State budget.

The Ministry of Finance shall guide the accounting of, and the process and procedures for, the charge and fee amounts remitted into the State budget.

Article 12.- Principles for determining, managing and using the retained charge and fee amounts as prescribed in Clauses 2 and 3, Article 11 of this Decree are as follows:

1. The charge and fee amounts to be retained by the collecting organizations to cover the charge and/or fee collection expenses shall be deducted according to a percentage (%) of the total charge and/or fee amounts collected each year. This percentage (%) is determined as follows:

The percentage (%)

=

The whole year’s estimate of the expenses necessary for the charge and/ or fee collection according to the prescribed regime, norms and limits

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100

The whole year’s estimate of the collectible charge or fee amounts

Based on the nature and characteristics of each type of charge or fee as well as the spending contents prescribed in Clause 2 of this Article, the competent bodies shall decide on the percentage (%) to be retained by the charge- and/or fee-collecting organizations, which may be kept unchanged for a number of years.

The retained charge and/or fee amounts shall be managed and used under the provisions in Clause 2 of this Article and be annually settled on the basis of actual collections and expenditures. After being settled according to the prescribed regime, the unspent charge and/or fee amounts shall be allowed to be carried forward to the subsequent year for continued spending according to the prescribed regime.

2. The charge and/or fee amounts retained by the collecting agencies under the provisions of Clause 1 of this Article shall be managed and used as follows:

a/ For State enterprises engaged in public-utility activities, they shall manage and use the retained charge and/or fee amounts according to the Government’s current regulations the on the regime of financial management of public-utility State enterprises.

b/ For other charge- and/or fee-collecting organizations, the retained charge and/or fee amounts can be spent on the following:

- Payments to the laborers directly involved in collecting charges and fees, including salaries or remuneration, allowances, salary- or remuneration-based contributions according to the current regime;

- Expenses in direct service of the charge and fee collection, such as those for stationery, office supplies, telephone, electricity, water, working trip allowance, official duty allowance according to the current criteria and norms;

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- Expenses for procurement of supplies, materials, and other expenses directly related to the charge and fee collection;

- Deductions for the reward and welfare funds for officials and employees directly engaged in the charge and/or fee collection at their units. The maximum deduction level for the reward and welfare funds shall not exceed three months’ actually paid salary per person per year on average.

The Ministry of Finance shall guide in detail the process of and procedures for the management, use and settlement of the retained charge and fee amounts as prescribed in this Article.

Article 13.- The charge and fee amounts remitted into the State budget shall be distributed to the budgets of different levels, and be managed and used under the provisions of the State Budget Law. For the charges belonging to the State budget but their collected amounts shall be re-invested by the State for the units, the management and use thereof must ensure the re-investment purpose and comply with the current financial management mechanisms.

Article 14.- Charge and fee exemption and reduction are prescribed as follows:

1. For fees:

The rates of fees shall be pre-fixed, associated with each State management job, and fees, in principle, are non-exempt and non-reducible. Particularly for registration fee, the Government shall specify cases where it is necessary to be exempt or reduced in order to contribute to the realization of the State’s socio-economic policies in each period.

2. For charges:

The rates of charges aim to offset expenses, ensure the retrieval of capital within a reasonable period of time, therefore charges, in principle, are non-exempt and non-reducible, except for special cases specified in this Decree. To cancel the granting of charge exemption cards.

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a/ Exemption from bridge, land road tolls and boat and ferry fares for:

- Ambulances, including vehicles of other kinds carrying victims to first-aid places;

- Fire engines;

- Agricultural and forestrial machinery, including mechanical ploughs, rakes, hoers, weeding machines, paddy pluckers;

- Dike maintenance vehicles; vehicles on emergency duty in service of flood and storm combat;

- Special-use vehicles in service of defense and security, including tanks, armored vehicles, artillery-hauling vehicles, vehicles carrying armed soldiers in operation;

- Hearses and vehicles in funeral processions;

- Motorcades with escort or leading cars ;

- Where traffic jams have not yet been settled, bridge and land road tolls shall be temporarily not collected for two-wheeled and three-wheeled motorcycles and mopeds.

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The Ministry of Finance shall specify the types of bridge and land road tolls, boat and ferry fares as well as the regime on the management and use thereof to suit the practical situation; coordinate with the Ministry of Communications and Transport in instructing concretely the places where bridge and land road tolls shall be temporarily not collected for two-wheeled and three-wheeled motorcycles and mopeds.

c/ Exemption from or reduction of school fees for a number of subjects, to be specified by the Government in a governmental document on school fees;

d/ Exemption from or reduction of hospital fees for a number of subjects, to be specified by the Government in a governmental document on hospital fees;

e/ Exemption from or reduction of irrigation charges in some certain cases, to be specified by the Government in a governmental document on irrigation charges;

3. Where exemption and reduction of charges and/or fees are truly needed due to the socio-economic development requirements and the situation and characteristics of each period, the Ministry of Finance shall submit these cases to the Prime Minister for consideration and decision.

4. The cases of charge or fee exemption and reduction prescribed in this Article must be publicized and post up at the charge-and fee-collecting places.

Chapter IV

FINANCE AND ACCOUNTING

Article 15.- Charge- and/or fee-collecting organizations and individuals must issue receipts to the charge and fee payers under the guidance of the Ministry of Finance.

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Article 16.- Charge- and/or fee-collecting organizations and individuals shall have the responsibility to:

1. Keep accounting records strictly according to the State-prescribed accounting regime to monitor and reflect the collection, remittance, management and use of the collected charge and fee amounts under the provisions of Chapter III of this Decree.

2. Periodically report on the settlement of the collection, remittance and use of the collected charge and fee amounts according to the State’s regulations on each type of charge or fee; in cases where different charges and/or fees are collected, each of them must be monitored, accounted and settled separately.

3. Abide by the financial publicity regime as prescribed by law.

Article 17.

1. Charges and fees belonging to the State budget as prescribed in Clauses 2 and 3, Article 11 of this Decree shall not be taxed.

2. Charges not belonging to the State budget and collected by organizations and individuals as prescribed in Clause 1, Article 11 of this Decree shall be taxed under the State’s current regulations.

Chapter V

IMPLEMENTATION PROVISIONS

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To repeal the Government’s Decree No. 04/1999/ND-CP of January 1, 1999 on charges and fees belonging to the State budget. The previous regulations on charges and fees in other documents which are contrary to this Decree are all be repealed.

Article 19.- Organization of implementation with respect to current charges and fees

1. For charges and fees named in the detailed list of charges and fees, issued together with this Decree, if relevant guiding documents have been issued, they shall continue to be collected till new guiding ones are issued.

2. For charges and fees named in the detailed list of charges and fees, issued together with this Decree, if no guiding documents have been issued, their collection shall not be allowed yet.

3. For charges and fees not named in the detailed list of charges and fees, issued together with this Decree, their collection shall not be allowed. Those organizations and individuals that have imposed such charges and fees shall have to issue documents on their own to cancel them. Charges and fees cancelled under Clause 3 of this Article shall not be refunded.

The Ministry of Finance shall specify the time limit for cancellation of the granting of charge exemption cards and the time for the granted ones to cease to be effective.

Those organizations and individuals that collect charges and fees not named in the detailed list of charges and fees, or impose charges or fees beyond their competence as prescribed in Chapter II of this Decree, shall be regarded as having committed law violations and be handled according to the provisions in Article 34 of the Ordinance on Charges and Fees.

Article 20.- The Minister of Finance shall guide the implementation of this Decree.

Article 21.- The ministers, the heads of the ministerial-level agencies, the heads of the agencies attached to the Government and the presidents of the People’s Committees of the provinces and centrally-run cities shall have to implement this Decree.

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ON BEHALF OF THE GOVERNMENT
PRIME MINISTER




Phan Van Khai

OF CHARGES AND FEES
(Issued together with the Government’s Decree No. 57/2002/ND-CP of June 3, 2002)

A. LIST OF CHARGES

Ordinal number

Name of charge

Prescribing agency

Ordinal number

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Prescribing agency