Circular No. 93/2008/TT-BTC dated October 22, 2008 of the Ministry of Finance providing guidelines on allocation between State budget levels of value added tax and corporate income tax which contractors pay to the state budget from activities of exploration, field development and production of oil and gas

CIRCULAR

PROVIDING GUIDELINES ON ALLOCATION BETWEEN STATE BUDGET LEVELS OF VALUE ADDED TAX AND CORPORATE INCOME TAX WHICH CONTRACTORS PAY TO THE STATE BUDGET FROM ACTIVITIES OF EXPLORATION, FIELD DEVELOPMENT AND PRODUCTION OF OIL AND GAS

THE MINISTER OF FINANCE

Pursuant to the Law on State Budget dated 16 December 2002 and its implementing guidelines;
Pursuant to the Law on Petroleum dated 6 July 1993 as amended on 9 June 2000, and its implementing guidelines;
Pursuant to Decree 77/2003/ND-CP of the Government dated 1 July 2003 on functions, duties, powers and organisational structure of the Ministry of Finance;
The Ministry of Finance hereby provides the following guidelines on allocation between State Budget levels of value added tax and corporate income tax which contractors pay to the State Budget from activities of exploration, field development and production of oil and gas.

I. GENERAL PROVISIONS

"Contractor" and "sub-contractor" means any Vietnamese or foreign organization as defined in clauses 8 and 9 respectively of article 3 of the Law on Petroleum1.

II. SPECIFIC PROVISIONS

1. Allocation as between State Budget levels of value added tax and corporate income tax which contractors pay to the State Budget (including taxes which a contractor pays on behalf of a sub-contractor) from activities of exploration, field development and production of oil and gas shall be implemented as follows:

1.1 Items of tax being value added tax and corporate income tax paid to the State Budget by sub-contractors (including where a sub-contractor directly declares and pays tax in Vietnam, and where a contractor pays tax on behalf of a sub-contractor) and arising from activities being exploration and exploitation of oil and gas natural resources shall be accounted for in class 3 of clause 2 of the corresponding chapter, item and sub-item in the current State Budget Table of Contents and shall be 100% allocated to the central State Budget.

1.2. Items of tax being value added tax and corporate income tax paid to the State Budget by sub-contractors and arising from activities being services assisting the work of exploration, field development and production of oil and gas shall not be accounted for in the headings referred to in clause 1.1 above but shall be accounted for in the corresponding chapter, class, clause, item and sub-item in the current State Budget Table of Contents and shall be allocated to all level budgets in accordance with current regulations as a ratio (%) between revenue of the central State Budget, local State Budget and various levels of the local State Budget.

2. Contractors (if they pay tax on behalf of sub-contractors) and sub-contractors shall be responsible to declare and pay value added tax and corporate income tax for the activities stipulated in this Circular.

3. Tax offices shall be responsible to guide contractors (if they pay tax on behalf of sub-contractors) and sub-contractors to declare and record the correct State Budget Table of Contents items in their tax payment vouchers for the activities as stipulated in clauses 1.1 and 1.2 above.

4. The State Treasury shall be responsible to rely on the tax payment vouchers to allocate tax to the appropriate State Budget level in accordance with the Law on State Budget and its implementing guidelines, and this Circular.

III. IMPLEMENTING PROVISIONS

This Circular shall replace Circular 68-2005-TT-BTC of the Ministry of Finance dated 29 August 2005 on allocation between State Budget levels of value added tax and corporate income tax which contractors pay to the State Budget from activities of exploration, field development and production of oil and gas.

This Circular shall be of full force and effect fifteen (15) days after the date of its publication in the Official Gazette. If any difficulties arise during implementation, they should be reported to the Ministry of Finance in order for the Ministry to make appropriate amendments.