Circular No. 229/2016/TT-BTC dated November 11, 2016 of the Ministry of Finance on the rate, collection, submission and management of the charges for registration and license plate of motorized land vehicles

THE MINISTRY OF FINANCE

Circular No.229/2016/TT-BTC dated November 11, 2016 of the Ministry of Finance on the rate, collection, submission and management of the charges for registration and license plate of motorized land vehicles

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. 86/2014/ND-CP dated September 10, 2014 on road transportation business and relevant requirements;

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 and management of charges for registration and license plate of motorized land vehicles:

Article 1. Scope of adjustment and subject of application

1. This Circular stipulates the rate, collection, submission, exemption and management of charges for registration and license plate of motorized land vehicles (referred to as the vehicles).

2. This Circular applies to the payers and collectors of the charges for registration and license plates of the vehicles, and other organizations and individuals concerning the collection, submission, exemption and management of charges for registration and license plate of the vehicles.

3. This Circular does not govern specialized vehicles operating on the road (as licensed by traffic authorities) and motorized military vehicles for national defense.

Article 2. Payer

Organizations and individuals shall incur charges defined in this Circular upon obtaining the vehicle registration paper and license plate from the relevant police department.

Article 3. Collection of charges

The police department granting registration and issuing vehicle license plate shall collect the charges defined in this Circular.

Article 4. Terminology

In this Circular, the following phrases are construed as follows:

1. Vehicles include:

a) Automobiles, tractors, trailers or semi-trailers pulled by automobiles and tractors, and equivalents to which license plates are issued (referred to as automobiles). Of which small cars refer to passenger automobiles with less than 10 seats (including the driver’s), except auto rickshaw.

b) Motorcycles, motor tricycles, motorized cycles and equivalents, including motorized vehicles for the disabled (referred to as motorcycles).

2. The cities and towns defined in this Circular shall be specified by administrative division as follows:

a) Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh city and other central-affiliated cities including all districts, whether urban, suburban or rural.

b) Provincial cities and towns including all wards and communes, whether urban or suburban.

3. The granting of initial registration and license plate to the vehicles registered in Vietnam for the first time (including those used, registered abroad or confiscated into the state budget) shall be subject to the Ministry of Public security s regulations.

4. The granting, revision and reissuance of registration paper or license plate (referred to as the granting and revision of registration paper and license plate) are composed of:

a) The granting of registration paper and license plate upon: the registration of transfer of a vehicle in the same province or central-affiliated cities or from a different province.

b) The revision of registration paper or license plate upon: the repainting or changing of paint color; damage, tearing, discoloring of the registration paper or license plate; or changing of the owner’s information.

c) The reissuance of registration paper or license plate upon the loss of the registration paper or license plate.

5. Zone: Zone I is composed of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. Zone II is composed of central-affiliated cities (except Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh city), provincial cities and towns. Zone III is composed of other areas not included in Zone I and Zone II.

Article 5. Rate of charge

1. The rate of charges for registration and license plate of the vehicles is defined below:

Unit: VND/time/vehicle

2. Pursuant to Section I of this schedule, the People’s Councils of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh city shall specify the rate of charges commensurate with local circumstances.

3. An organization or individual shall pay charges for registration and license plate of a vehicle at the rate defined for the zone where they currently reside. The organization shall pay charges according to the zone where its headquarter defined in the registration certificate is based while the individual shall pay charges according to his permanent address.

The charges on security-dedicated police automobiles and motorcycles registered in Zone I or with the Traffic Police Department shall adopt the rate imposed in Zone I. The granting of new registration and license plate shall be charged at the minimum rate defined in Section I of the schedule.

4. Certain criteria defined in the schedule of charges for vehicle registration and license plate apply in the following manner:

4.1. Small cars for passenger transport business:

a) Small cars of an organization or individual conducting the passenger transport business pursuant to the road passenger transport business license issued by a competent authority. In this case, the passenger transport organization or individual, when registering the cars, shall present to the registration agency:

- The letter of introduction by the organization or the request letter of the individual. Such letter has to specify the quantity and type of the cars under registration.

- The copy, certified or uncertified with the original, of the license of road transport business (in which the permission for passenger transport must be indicated) from a competent authority.

b) Small cars on financial lease to an organization or individual licensed by a competent authority for road transport business. The financial leasing company, when registering the cars, shall present to the registration agency:

- The letter of introduction by the financial lessor, which specifies the quantity and types of the cars being registered for financial leasing.

- The financial lease contract between the renter, which is the passenger transport company, and the financial lessor, indicating: The quantity of small cars on lease and the lease duration (the copy of such contract, if submitted, has to be notarized or certified).

The rate of charges for registration and license plate in such circumstances (a and b) shall be equal to that defined in Point 1, Section I of the schedule defined in Section 1 of this Article.

4.2. The rate of charges on a small car not used for passenger transport business or a motorcycle relocated to a zone whose charges are higher than those of the previous zone (regardless the change of the owner), upon the revision of registration or license plate, shall be equal to that for new registration as defined in Point 2 (for automobiles) and Point 4 (for motorcycles), Section I of the schedule defined in Section 1 of this Article, except for the circumstance specified in Point 4.3 of this Section.

Example 1: Mr. A s permanent address is in the city of Hanoi. He obtained the registration paper and license plate of his vehicle from the police department of Hanoi. He later sold the vehicle to Mr. B, who also lives in Hanoi. Mr. B only incurs the charge for reissuance or revision of the registration paper and license plate at the rate defined in Section II of the schedule defined in Section 1 of this Article.

Example 2: Mr. H resides in Luc Ngan district, Bac Giang province. The police department of Bac Giang province granted the registration paper and license plate of his vehicle (car or motorcycle). Mr. H later sold the vehicle to Mr. B who lives in Hanoi. When applying for registration, Mr. B shall incur the charge for new registration of the vehicle in Hanoi according to Point 2 (for small car) or according to Point 4 (for motorcycle) in Section I of the schedule defined in Section 1 of this Article.

4.3. The rate of charges on an individual s automobile or motorcycle registered and plated in a zone whose mandatory charges are lower than the zone to which the vehicle is relocated due to job relocation or change of permanent address shall be equal to that for revision of registration and license plate according to Section II of the schedule defined in Section 1 of this Article provided that the vehicle owner does not change and the formalities defined by police authorities are fulfilled upon registration.

Example 3: Mr. C s permanent address was in Bac Giang province. The police department of Bac Giang province granted the registration paper and license plate of his vehicle (automobile or motorcycle). Mr. C later relocated his permanent address to Hanoi. When applying for vehicle registration, Mr. C incurs the charge for revision of registration and license plate in Hanoi according to Point 1a (for automobile) or according to Point 1c (for motorcycle) in Section II of the schedule defined in Section 1 of this Article.

4.4. The value of the motorcycle, as the basis of the rate of charges for registration paper and license plate, shall be the base price from which the registration fee is determined upon vehicle registration.

Article 6. Exemption of charges

Charges are waived in the following circumstances on the principle of reciprocity:

1. Diplomatic missions, consular offices and representative agencies of the United Nations’ international organizations.

2. Diplomatic officials, consular officials, administrative and technical coordinators of foreign diplomatic missions and consular offices, members of the United Nations’ international organizations, and their family members who do not hold Vietnamese citizenship or permanent residency and are given a diplomatic, official or consular identity card by the Ministry of Foreign affairs of Vietnam or local external affair agencies authorized by the Ministry of Foreign affairs.

In this circumstance, the applicant has to present the registration agency, upon vehicle registration, the (red) diplomatic identity card or the (yellow) official identity card as per the Ministry of Foreign affairs’ regulations.

3. Other foreign organizations and individuals (representative offices of intergovernmental organizations outside the United Nations system, representative offices of non-government organizations, associations of international organizations, members of other bodies and organizations) not included in Section 1 and Section 2 of this Article shall be exempted from or be not subjected to the charges for registration and license plate according to the international treaties to which Vietnam is a signatory or to the agreements between the government of Vietnam and foreign bodies. In this circumstance, the relevant person has to present to the registration agency:

- The letter of request for exemption from the charges for registration and license plate, which bears the writer s signature and full name and the official seal (of the relevant organization, if applicable).  

- The copy of the treaty or agreement between the government of Vietnam and the foreign government, which is presented in Vietnamese and is notarized by a state notary or bears the signature and official seal of the main investor of the relevant program or project).

Article 7. Fee declaration and submission

The collection agencies shall declare and finalize the charges 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 8. Administration of charges

The collection agencies shall submit 100% of the charges collected to the state budget by chapter and sub-section of the current state budget index. The expenditure for the collection of charges for registration and license plate of the vehicles shall be sourced from the state budget apportioned in the collection agency’s financial estimate pursuant to the regime and norm of state budget spending defined in legal regulations.

Article 9. Implementation effect

1. This Circular takes effect on January 01, 2017. It replaces the Circular No. 127/2013/TT-BTC dated September 06, 2013 by the Minister of Finance on the collection, submission, administration and use of charges for registration and license plate of motorized road vehicles and the Circular No. 53/2015/TT-BTC dated April 21, 2015 by the Minister of Finance on amendments to the Circular No. 127/2013/TT-BTC.

2. Other matters related to the collection, submission, administration, use, receipt and disclosure of the charges, if 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 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, the Government s Decree No. 83/2013/ND-CP dated July 22, 2013 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. Any difficulties arising in the course of implementation shall be reported to the Ministry of Finance for review, guidance and amendment./.

For the Minister

The Deputy Minister

Vu Thi Mai