Circular No. 250/2016/TT-BTC dated November 11, 2016 of the Ministry of Finance providing guidance on fees and charges within the jurisdiction of the People’s Council of centrally-affiliated city and province

CIRCULAR

Guiding charges and fees to be decided by People’s Councils of provinces and centrally run cities[1]

Pursuant to the November 25, 2015 Law on Charges and Fees;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 120/2016/ND-CP of August 23, 2016, detailing and guiding the implementation of a number of articles of the Law on Charges and Fees;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 215/2013/ND-CP of December 23, 2013, defining the functions, tasks, powers and organizational structure of the Ministry of Finance;

At the proposal of the Director of the Tax Policy Department,

The Minister of Finance promulgates the Circular guiding charges and fees to be decided by People’s Councils of provinces and centrally run cities.

Article 1. Scope of regulation

This Circular guides the list of charges and fees, principles for determination of charge and fee rates, grounds for determination of charge and fee rates, and exemption, reduction, management and use of charges and fees to be decided by People’s Councils of provinces and centrally run cities (below collectively referred to as provincial-level People’s Councils).

Article 2. List of charges to be decided by provincial-level People’s Councils

1. Charge for selection and recognition of maternal plants, elite plants, forest-plant variety nurseries and variety forests (for selection and recognition carried out by local agencies).

2. Charge for use of infrastructure facilities or service and public-utility works in border-gate areas (including land border-gate areas and seaport border-gate areas).

3. Road toll (for roads managed by local agencies).

4. Charge for temporary use of roadways and pavements.

5. Charge for visiting beauty spots (for those managed by local agencies).

6. Charge for visiting historic relics (for those managed by local agencies).

7. Charge for visiting cultural works and museums (for works managed by local agencies).

8. Appraisal charge for grant of business eligibility certificates for sports facilities and professional sports clubs.

9. Library charge (for libraries managed by local agencies).

10. Charge for appraisal of environmental impact assessment reports and detailed environmental protection projects (for the appraisal carried out by local agencies).

11. Charge for appraisal of environmental rehabilitation and restoration plans and additional environmental rehabilitation and restoration plans (for the appraisal carried out by local agencies).

12. Charge for appraisal of dossiers for grant of land use rights certificates.

13. Charge for appraisal of schemes and reports on exploration and assessment of deposits and exploitation and use of groundwater (for the appraisal carried out by local agencies).

14. Charge for appraisal of dossiers and satisfaction of conditions for groundwater drilling practice (for the appraisal carried out by local agencies).

15. Charge for appraisal of schemes on exploitation and use of surface water and seawater (for the appraisal carried out by local agencies).

16. Charge for appraisal of schemes on discharge of wastewater into water sources and irrigation works (for the appraisal carried out by local agencies).

17. Charge for use of land-related documents.

18. Charge for provision of information on transactions secured with land use rights and land-attached assets.

19. Charge for provision of information on transactions secured with aircraft.

20. Charge for provision of information on transactions secured with seagoing ships.

21. Charge for provision of information on transactions secured with movables other than aircraft and seagoing ships.

22. Charge for registration for secured transactions (for the registration carried out by local agencies).

Article 3. List of fees to be decided by provincial-level People’s Councils

1. Fee for residence registration (for the registration carried out by local agencies).

2. Fee for grant of people’s identity cards (for the grant carried out by local agencies).

3. Civil status fee.

4. Fee for grant of work permits to foreigners working in Vietnam (for permits granted by local agencies).

5. Fees for grant of certificates of land use rights and ownership of houses and land-attached assets.

6. Fee for grant of construction permits.

7. Fee for business registration.

Article 4. Principles for determination of charge and fee rates

The determination of rates of each charge or fee proposed by provincial-level People’s Committees to same-level People’s Councils for decision as prescribed in Clause 1, Article 22 of the Law on Charges and Fees must adhere to the following principles and be based on the following grounds:

1. The principles prescribed in Articles 8 and 9 of the Law on Charges and Fees.

2. The rates of each charge or fee must:

a/ Be based on the current charge or fee rates (if any) as a basis for proposing these rates;

b/ Be suitable to the practical conditions and situation of localities where charge or fee is to be collected;

c/ Ensure the conformity with the charge and fee rates for activities carried out by central agencies, for charges and fees to be decided by both the Ministry of Finance and provincial-level People’s Councils, including charge for selection and recognition of maternal plants, elite plants, forest-plant variety nurseries and variety forests; charge for visiting beauty spots, historic relics, cultural works and museums; library charge; charge for appraisal of environmental impact assessment reports and detailed environmental protection projects; charge for appraisal of environmental rehabilitation and restoration plans and additional environmental rehabilitation and restoration plans; charge for provision of information on secured transactions; charge for registration for secured transactions; fee for grant of work permits to foreigners working in Vietnam.

d/ Refer to the charge and fee rates of localities with similar socio-economic conditions to ensure the harmony and consistency among localities.

Article 5. Grounds for determination of charge and fee rates

Based on practical conditions and situation of a locality where the charge or fee is to be collected, attention should be paid to the following points in order to determinate appropriate charge and fee rates:

1. For charges

a/ Charge for selection and recognition of maternal plants, elite plants, forest-plant variety nurseries and variety forests shall be collected to cover part or the whole of expenses for the selection and recognition of maternal plants, elite plants, forest-plant variety nurseries and variety forests, and for the charge collection;

b/ Charge for use of infrastructure facilities or service and public-utility works in border-gate areas (including land border-gate area and seaport border-gate areas) shall be collected from users of such infrastructure facilities or service and public-utility works in border-gate areas to cover expenses for maintenance or restoration of socio-technical infrastructure facilities, service provision works and public-utility works in border-gate areas.

Based on practical conditions of each locality and level of covering expenses for maintenance or restoration of socio-technical infrastructure facilities, service provision works and public-utility works in border-gate areas, appropriate charge rates shall be prescribed.

Before submitting charge rates to provincial-level People’s Councils for decision, provincial-level People’s Committees shall discuss and coordinate with, and ask for opinions of, neighboring border-gate localities to ensure that such charge rates are similar among their localities, adhering to the principles for determination of charge rates prescribed in Article 8 of the Law on Charges and Fees.

c/ Road tolls

A road toll shall be annually collected for each motorized road vehicle under the Government’s regulations. Road tolls (for roads managed by local agencies) are applicable to motorbikes, three-wheeled motorcycles, mopeds and similar vehicles (below collectively referred to as motorcycles) that are registered for circulation with vehicle registration certificates and number plates.

Provincial-level People’s Councils shall not prescribe road tolls for motorcycles under the Government’s Decree No. 28/2016/ND-CP of April 20, 2016, amending and supplementing a number of articles of Decree No. 56/2014/ND-CP of April 30, 2014, and Decree No. 18/2012/ND-CP of March 13, 2012, on the road maintenance fund.

d/ Charge for temporary use of roadways and pavements shall be collected from those permitted to temporarily use roadways and pavements for their daily life, production and business activities in compliance with the master plans, plans and the State’s regulations on management and use of roadways and pavements.

Based on each locality’s practical temporary management and use of roadways and pavements, appropriate charge rates and collection modes shall be prescribed to be collected per travel time or used road area.

e/ Charge for visiting beauty spots, historic relics, cultural works and museums (prescribed in Clauses 5 thru 7 of Article 2) shall be collected to cover part or the whole of expenses for maintenance, renovation, rehabilitation and management of such beauty spots, historic relics, cultural works, museums, and for the charge collection.

- Based on practical conditions, scale and mode of visiting each beauty spot, historic relic, cultural work and museum, different charge rates shall be prescribed as appropriate, provided that:

+ A charge rate is uniformly applied to Vietnamese and foreign visitors;

+ A higher charge rate may be prescribed for beauty spots, historic relics, cultural works and museums recognized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

+ Charge for visiting beauty spots, historic relics, cultural works and museums is reduced for:

Persons entitled to preferential treatment in cultural enjoyment as specified in Article 2 of the Prime Minister’s Decision No. 170/2003/QD-TTg of August 14, 2003, on the preferential treatment policies on cultural enjoyment. In case it is difficult to determine whether or not persons are entitled to preferential treatment policies on cultural enjoyment specified in Article 2 of Decision No. 170/2003/QD-TTg, certificates of People’s Committees of communes, wards or townships where such persons reside are required.

Persons with serious disabilities specified in Clause 2, Article 11 of the Government’s Decree No. 28/2012/ND-CP of April 10, 2012, detailing and guiding the implementation of a number of articles of the Law on Persons with Disabilities.

The elderly specified in Clause 2, Article 5 of the Government’s Decree No. 06/2011/ND-CP of January 14, 2011, detailing and guiding the implementation of a number of articles of the Law on the Elderly.

+ Charge for visiting beauty spots, historic relics, cultural works and museums shall be exempt for persons with serious disabilities specified in Clause 1, Article 11 of the Government’s Decree No. 28/2012/ND-CP of April 10, 2012, detailing and guiding the implementation of a number of articles of the Law on Persons with Disabilities.

g/ Appraisal charge for grant of business eligibility certificates for sports facilities and professional sports clubs shall be collected to cover part or the whole of expenses for the appraisal for grant of business eligibility certificates for sports facilities and professional sports clubs.

Based on the scale and operation of sports facilities or professional sports clubs, appropriate charge rates shall be prescribed, adhering to the principle of promoting the development of sports activities.

h/ Library charge shall be collected to cover part or the whole of necessary expenses for the operation of a library to provide services and documents to its readers, and for the charge collection.

- Based on practical situation, conditions and methods of operation and provision of services to readers, different charge rates shall be prescribed as appropriate, provided that:

+ The charge rates are reduced for:

Persons entitled to preferential treatment in cultural enjoyment specified in Article 2 of the Prime Minister’s Decision No. 170/2003/QD-TTg of August 14, 2003, on the preferential treatment policies on cultural enjoyment. In case it is difficult to determine whether or not persons are entitled to preferential treatment policies on cultural enjoyment specified in Article 2 of Decision No. 170/2003/QD-TTg, certificates of People’s Committees of communes, wards or townships where such persons reside are required.

Persons with serious disabilities specified in Clause 2, Article 11 of the Government’s Decree No. 28/2012/ND-CP of April 10, 2012, detailing and guiding the implementation of a number of articles of the Law on Persons with Disabilities.

+ Persons with serious disabilities are exempt from library charge under Clause 1, Article 11 of the Government’s Decree No. 28/2012/ND-CP of April 10, 2012, detailing and guiding the implementation of a number of articles of the Law on Persons with Disabilities.

+ For other services, such as: translation, duplication or photocopying of documents, access to and use of domestic and international library information networks, listing of documents by topic, supply of information products already processed at the request of readers, delivery in person or by mail of documents to readers, the charge rates shall be agreed between libraries and readers.

i/ Charge for appraisal of environmental impact assessment reports and detailed environmental protection projects shall be collected to cover part or the whole of expenses for the appraisal of environmental impact assessment reports or detailed environmental protection projects, and for the charge collection.

Based on practical conditions of each locality, charge rates shall be prescribed to suit the size and field of projects or the complexity of the appraisal work.

k/ Charge for appraisal of environmental rehabilitation and restoration plans and additional environmental rehabilitation and restoration plans shall be collected to cover part or the whole of expenses for the appraisal of environmental rehabilitation and restoration plans and additional environmental rehabilitation and restoration plans, and for the charge collection.

l/ Charge for appraisal of dossiers for grant of land use rights certificates shall be collected from those registering or submitting dossiers of application for land use rights certificates that wish or are required to have such dossiers appraised in accordance with law, aiming to cover expenses for the appraisal of dossiers, prerequisites and conditions for the land allocation or lease by a competent state agency, such as conditions on actual state of land use, land use master plans and plans, or on daily-life, production and business activities.

Charge for appraisal of dossiers for grant of land use rights certificates shall be collected in case a state competent agency carried out appraisal for land allocation or lease, and in case of transfer of land use rights and ownership of houses and land-attached assets.

Based on land areas for which land use rights certificates are granted, the complexity of each type of dossier of application for land use rights certificates such as those for certificate grant or re-grant; the use of land for different purposes (for building houses, production or business activities) and specific conditions of localities, different charge rates shall be prescribed as appropriate, adhering to the principle that charge rates applicable to land used for houses are lower than those for land used for production and business purposes.

m/ Charge for appraisal of schemes and reports on exploration and assessment of deposits, and exploitation and use of groundwater; exploitation and use of surface water and seawater; or discharge of wastewater into water sources or irrigation works shall be collected to cover part or the whole of expenses for appraisal of schemes and reports on exploration and assessment of deposits, and exploitation and use of groundwater; exploitation and use of surface water and seawater; or discharge of wastewater into water sources or irrigation works, and for the charge collection;

n/ Charge for appraisal of dossiers and conditions for groundwater drilling practice shall be collected to cover part or the whole of expenses for appraisal of dossiers and conditions for groundwater drilling practice, and for the charge collection;

o/ Charge for use of land-related documents shall be collected from those who wish to use land-related documents of competent state agencies managing land-related dossiers and documents (such as cadastral agencies, People’s Committees of communes, wards, urban districts, rural districts, etc.) to cover expenses for management and provision of services for the use of land-related documents of interested persons, and for the charge collection.

Charge for use of land-related documents covers the provision of land use planning maps, maps on actual land use, special-purpose maps, and cadastral maps.

p/ Charge for provision of information on transactions secured with land use rights and land-attached assets shall be collected from those who wish to be provided with such information by state competent agencies in order to cover expenses for provision of information on transactions secured with land use rights and land-attached assets, and for the charge collection.

Based on practical condition of each locality, appropriate charge rates shall be prescribed to suit the value of the assets which must not exceed the charge rates for provision of information on transactions secured with land use rights and land-attached assets collected by central agencies.

q/ Charge for provision of information on transactions secured with aircraft, seagoing ships or movables other than aircraft or seagoing ships (prescribed in Clauses 19 thru 21, Article 2): The rates, and the collection, remittance, management and use of the charge must comply with the Ministry of Finance’s guiding documents on provision of information carried out by central agencies;

r/ Charge for registration of secured transactions shall be collected from those who register secured transactions with competent state agencies to cover expenses for provision of secured transaction registration services, and for the charge collection.

Based on practical conditions of each locality, appropriate charge rates shall be prescribed, but must not exceed the charge rates for registration of secured transactions collected by central agencies.

2. For fees

a/ Fee for residence registration shall be collected from those who register residence with agencies in charge of residence registration and management in accordance with the law on residence.

- A residence registration fee for the residence registration and management covers:

+ Fee for registration of permanent residence and temporary residence for a household or single person without granting a household registration book or temporary residence book.

+ Fee for grant, re-grant or renewal of a household registration book or temporary residence book for a household or single person.

+ Fee for registration of a change in a household registration book or temporary residence book.

+ Fee for extension of temporary residence duration.

- Based on practical conditions of localities, appropriate charge rates shall be prescribed, adhering to the principle that the fee rates for residence registration in districts of centrally run cities or wards of cities are higher than those of other localities.

b/ Fee for grant of people’s identity cards shall be collected from those granted people’s identity cards by public security offices.

Fee for grant of people’s identity cards (excluding the expense for taking photos of people’s identity card holders) is applicable to grant, re-grant or renewal of people’s identity cards.

Based on practical conditions of localities, appropriate fee rates shall be prescribed, adhering to the principle that the fee rates for grant of people’s identity cards of districts of centrally run cities or wards of provincial cities are higher than those of other localities.

c/ Civil status registration fee shall be collected from those for whom a state competent agency performs civil status-related jobs in accordance with law.

Civil status registration fee at each management level covers the following jobs:

+ For the civil status registration at commune-level People’s Committees, it covers grant of birth certificate (including late registration for birth certificate, re-registration for birth certificate, and registration for birth certificate for persons that already have personal dossiers and papers); grant of death declaration (including late registration for death and re-registration for death declaration); marriage registration (marriage re-registration); recognition of parents or children; change or rectification of civil status registration for under-14 persons residing domestically; addition of civil status registration details for Vietnamese citizens residing domestically; grant of marital status certification; or certification or recording in a civil status book of civil status-related matters; and other civil status registration jobs.

+ For civil status registration at district-level People’s Committees, it covers grant of birth certificate (including timely or late registration for birth certificate, re-registration for birth certificate, and birth certificate registration for those already having personal dossiers and papers);  death declaration (including timely or late declaration of death, and re-registration for death declaration); marriage registration (including marriage registration and re-registration); guardianship and guardianship termination; recognition of parents or children; change or rectification of civil status for under-14 persons residing domestically; redetermination of nationality; change, rectification or addition of civil status registration involving foreign elements; recording in civil status books that the civil status of Vietnamese citizens are already settled by foreign competent agencies; and other civil status registration jobs.

- Based on practical conditions of localities, appropriate fee rates shall be prescribed, adhering to the principle on civil status fee exemption prescribed in Article 11 of the Law on Civil Status for the following cases:

+ Registration of civil status of those in families with meritorious contributions to the revolution; those in poor households; and persons with disabilities.

+ Timely registration for birth certificate and timely death declaration; guardianship registration and termination; marriage registration of Vietnamese citizens residing domestically which are carried out at commune-level People’s Committees; timely registration for birth certificate, timely death declaration, and marriage registration involving foreign elements which are carried out at commune-level People’s Committees in border areas.

d/ Fee for grant of work permits to foreigners working in Vietnam shall be collected from employers who carry out the procedures with Vietnamese state management agencies for grant or re-grant of work permits to foreigners working in their enterprises, agencies or organizations operating in the Vietnam territory.

e/ Fee for grant of certificates of land use rights and ownership of houses and land-attached assets shall collected from organizations, households or individuals that are granted by state competent agencies such certificates.

Fee for grant of certificates of land use rights and ownership of houses and land-attached assets shall be collected for the grant of certificates of land use rights and ownership of houses and land-attached assets; certificates of registration of land changes; and extraction of cadastral maps, documents and data from cadastral dossiers.

- Based on practical conditions of localities and local socio-economic development policies, appropriate fee rates shall be prescribed, adhering to the principles that fee rates for households or individuals in districts of centrally run cities, wards of provincial cities or towns are higher than those in other localities; and fee rates applicable to organizations are higher than those applicable to households or individuals.

g/ Fee for grant of construction permits shall be collected from applicants for construction permits in accordance with law.

h/ Fee for business registration shall be collected from households, cooperatives and cooperative unions granted business registration certificates by state competent agencies.

3. In addition to the charges and fees specified in Clauses 1 and 2 of this Article, environmental protection charges and a number of charges under the competence of the Government shall be decided by the Government. In case the Government’s decrees on environmental protection charges and other decrees assigning provincial-level People’s Councils to promulgate specific provisions on charges and fees, provincial-level People’s Councils shall base themselves on such decrees to prescribe and collect charges and fees.

Article 6. Charge and fee exemption and reduction

1. Provincial-level People’s Councils shall prescribe in detail subjects entitled to charge and fee exemption or reduction, and charge and fee reduction rates to be decided by them, adhering to the principles prescribed in Clause 1, Article 10 of the Law on Charges and Fees.

2. Decisions on charge and fee exemption or reduction must:

a/ Comply with specialized laws and documents detailing and guiding the implementation of relevant regulations on charge and fee exemption or reduction;

b/ Refer to regulations on charge and fee exemption or reduction in legal documents promulgated by competent agencies;

c/ Be in line with the Party’s and State’s policies in each period related to charge and fee exemption or reduction policies.

Article 7. Charge and fee management and use

1. Principles

The determination of retention rates and management and use of charges must adhere to the principles prescribed in Articles 4 and 5 of the Government’s Decree No. 120/2016/ND-CP of August 23, 2016, detailing and guiding a number of articles of the Law on Charges and Fees.

2. Management and use of collected charge and fee amounts

a/ As for charges, provincial-level People’s Councils shall decide on retention rates for charge-collecting agencies to cover expenses for provision of charge collection services, the remainder (if any) shall be remitted into the state budget;

b/ As for fees, fee-collecting agencies shall remit all collected fee amounts into the state budget;

c/ In case provincial-level People’s Councils have not yet prescribed retention rates for charge-collecting agencies, provincial-level People’s Committees shall reach agreement with standing bodies of provincial-level People’s Councils to decide on retention rates of collected charge amounts for charge-collecting agencies and report such to  People’s Councils at coming sessions.

Article 8. Organization of implementation

1. The charges and fees on the list promulgated together with the Law on Charges and Fees to be decided by provincial-level People’s Councils shall be carefully and practically studied by provincial-level People’s Councils before issuing appropriate documents on charge and fee collection, refraining from issuing documents on collection of charges and fees on the list of charges and fees which are considered unnecessary and with insufficient conditions for collection.

2. Charge and fee collection; scope of regulation, charge and fee payers, those entitled to charge and fee reduction or exemption; rates and collection, remittance, management and use of the charges and fees specified in Articles 2 and 3 of this Circular shall be decided by provincial-level People’s Councils, suitable to local conditions and referring to other localities’ charges and fees, in order to ensure consistency among localities as well as fairness, transparency, publicity and equality of citizens’ rights and obligations.

3. Charges converted into prices prescribed by the State in Appendix 2 to the Law on Charges and Fees must comply with the Law on Price; the Government’s Decree No. 177/2013/ND-CP of November 14, 2013, detailing and guiding a number of articles of the Law on Price; and Decree No. 149/2016/ND-CP of November 11, 2016, amending and supplementing a number of articles of Decree No. 177/2013/ND-CP, and relevant guiding documents.

Article 9. Effect

1. This Circular takes effect on January 1, 2017; and replaces the Minister of Finance’s Circular No. 02/2014/TT-BTC of January 2, 2014, guiding charges and fees to be decided by provincial-level People’s Councils; Circular No. 179/2015/TT-BTC of November 13, 2015, and Circular No. 94/2016/TT-BTC of June 27, 2016, amending and supplementing Circular No. 02/2014/TT-BTC of January 2, 2014, guiding charges and fees to be decided by provincial-level People’s Councils.

2. Other contents related to the collection and remittance of charges and fees which are not guided in this Circular must comply with the Law on Charges and Fees; the Government’s Decree No. 120/2016/ND-CP of August 23, 2016, detailing and guiding a number of articles of the Law on Charges and Fees; the Minister of Finance’s Circular No. 156/2013/TT-BTC of  November 6, 2013, guiding the implementation of a number of articles of the Law on Tax Administration, the Law Amending and Supplementing a Number of Articles of the Law on Tax Administration, and the Government’s Decree No. 83/2013/ND-CP of July 22, 2013; and the Minister of Finance’s circulars on printing, issuance, management and use of documents for charge and fee revenues of the state budget and other amending, supplementing or replacing documents (if any).

3. Charge and fee payers and related agencies shall implement this Circular. Any problem arising in the course of implementation should be promptly reported to the Ministry of Finance for consideration and guidance.-

For the Minister of Finance
Deputy Minister
VU THI MAI