Circular No. 33/2018/TT-BTC dated March 30, 2018 of the Ministry of Finance on prescribing the rates and the collection, remittance and management of appraisal charges for grant of international tour operator licenses or domestic travel service business licenses; appraisal charges for grant of tour guide’s cards; and fees for grant of licenses for establishment of Vietnam-based representative offices of foreign travel service business enterprises

CIRCULAR

Prescribing the rates and the collection, remittance and management of the appraisal charge for grant of international tour operator licenses or domestic tour operator licenses; appraisal charge for grant of tour guide cards; and fee for grant of licenses for establishment of Vietnam-based representative offices of foreign tour operators^[1]

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

Pursuant to the June 19, 2017 Law on Tourism;

Pursuant to the June 25, 2015 Law on the State Budget;

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. 87/2017/ND-CP of July 26, 2017, defining the functions, tasks, powers and organizational structure of the Ministry of Finance;

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

The Minister of Finance promulgates the Circular prescribing the rates and the collection, remittance and management of the appraisal charge for grant of international tour operator licenses or domestic tour operator licenses; appraisal charge for grant of tour guide cards; and fee for grant of licenses for establishment of Vietnam-based representative offices of foreign tour operators.

Article 1.Scope of regulation and subjects of application

1. This Circular prescribes the rates and the collection, remittance and management of the appraisal charge for grant of international tour operator licenses or domestic tour operator licenses; appraisal charge for grant of tour guide cards; and fee for grant of licenses for establishment of Vietnam-based representative offices of foreign tour operators.

2. This Circular applies to:

a/ Organizations and individuals that submit dossiers requesting state management agencies in charge of tourism to grant international tour operator licenses, domestic tour operator licenses, tour guide cards, or licenses for establishment of Vietnam-based representative offices of foreign tour operators;

b/ Agencies competent to perform the state management of tourism as defined in the Law on Tourism;

c/ Other organizations and individuals involved in the collection, remittance, management and use of the appraisal charge for grant of international tour operator licenses or domestic tour operator licenses; appraisal charge for grant of tour guide cards; and fee for grant of licenses for establishment of Vietnam-based representative offices of foreign tour operators.

Article 2.Charge and fee payers

1. Organizations and individuals that submit dossiers requesting state management agencies in charge of tourism to grant international tour operator licenses, domestic tour operator licenses or tour guide cards shall pay a charge in accordance with this Circular.

2. Foreign tour operators that are granted licenses for establishment of their representative offices in Vietnam shall pay a fee in accordance with this Circular.

Article 3.Charge and fee collectors

Charge and fee collectors defined in this Circular include the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism and provincial-level Departments of Culture, Sports and Tourism or Departments of Tourism.

Article 4.Charge and fee rates

Charge and fee rates are prescribed below:

1. Appraisal charge for grant of international tour operator licenses or domestic tour operator licenses:

a/ Grant of a new license: VND 3,000,000/license;

b/ Renewal of a license: VND 2,000,000/license;

c/ Re-grant of a license: VND 1,500,000/license.

2. Appraisal charge for grant of tour guide cards (including grant of a new card and renewal and re-grant of a card):

a/ For international and domestic tour guides: VND 650,000/card;

b/ For tour guides at tourist sites: VND 200,000/card.

3. Fee for grant of licenses for establishment of Vietnam-based representative offices of foreign tour operators:

a/ Grant of a new license: VND 3,000,000/license;

b/ Renewal, modification or extension of a license: VND 1,500,000/license.

Article 5.Declaration, remittance and management of charges and fees by charge and fee collectors

1. By the 5^thevery month at the latest, charge and fee collectors shall deposit the charge and fee amounts collected in the previous month into an account of charges and fees to be remitted into the state budget, opened at the State Treasury.

2. Charge and fee collectors shall declare and remit the collected charge and fee amounts on a monthly basis and make final accounts on an annual basis in accordance with Clause 3, Article 19, and Clause 2, Article 26, of 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.

3. Charge and fee collectors shall fully remit the collected charge and fee amounts into the state budget according to the corresponding chapters, items and sub-items of the State Budget Index. Expenses for appraisal and charge and fee collection activities shall be included in state budget estimates of charge and fee collectors based on state budget expenditure norms under regulations.

4. For 2018, if charge collectors being state agencies subject to allocation of fixed operating funds from charge revenues under Clause 1, Article 4 of 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, have been allocated by competent authorities the state budget revenue-expenditure estimates for 2018, including charge amounts regulated by this Circular, the charges shall be managed and used as follows:

a/ For the appraisal charge for the grant of international tour operator licenses or domestic tour operator licenses:

Charge collectors may retain 90% of the total collected charge amount for appraisal and charge collection activities and remit the remaining 10% into the state budget. The retained charge amount shall be managed and used under Article 5 of 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. Other expenses related to task performance, service provision and charge collection include also expenses for developing management software and networks, hiring servers and maintaining networks to serve the grant of tour operator licenses and training in tour operator skills.

b/ For the appraisal charge for grant of tour guide cards: Charge collectors may retain the collected charge amount to cover expenses for appraisal and charge collection activities as follows: Provincial-level Departments of Culture, Sports and Tourism or Departments of Tourism may retain 60% of the total collected charge amount, transfer 30% of this amount to the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, and remit the remaining 10% into the state budget according to corresponding chapters, items and sub-items of the State Budget Index.

The Vietnam National Administration of Tourism and provincial-level Departments of Culture, Sports and Tourism or Departments of Tourism shall manage and use the collected charge amounts under Article 5 of 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. Other expenses related to task performance, service provision and charge collection include also expenses for developing management software and networks, hiring servers and maintaining networks to serve the grant of tour guide cards; training in and examination of tour guiding skills, and organization of regular refresher courses for renewal of tour guide cards.

Article 6.Organization of implementation

1. This Circular takes effect on May 14, 2018, and replaces the Minister of Finance’s Circular No. 177/2016/TT-BTC of November 1, 2016, prescribing the rates and the collection, remittance, management and use of the appraisal charge for grant of international tour operator licenses; appraisal charge for grant of tour guide cards; fee for grant of tour guide certificates; and fee for grant of licenses for establishment of Vietnam-based branches and representative office of foreign tourism businesses.

2. Other matters related to the collection, remittance, management and use of charges and fees, charge and fee receipts, and publicity of the regulations on charge and fee collection which are not mentioned in this Circular must comply with the Law on Charge and Fees; 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; 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; the Minister of Finance’s Circular No. 303/2016/TT-BTC of November 15, 2016, guiding the printing, issuance, management and use of different types of receipts of charges and fees belonging to the state budget, and  amending, supplementing or replacing documents (if any).

3. Any problems arising in the course of implementation of this Circular should be promptly reported to the Ministry of Finance for study and additional guidance.-

For the Minister of Finance
Deputy Minister
VU THI MAI