Law 56/2024/QH15 amend Law on Securities, Accounting Law, Law on Independent Audit, Law on the State Budget, Law on Management and Use of Public Property, Law on Tax Administration, Law on Personal Income Tax, Law on the National Reserve and Law on Handli

LAW

Amending and Supplementing a Number of Articles of the Law on Securities, Accounting Law, Law on Independent Audit, Law on the State Budget, Law on Management and Use of Public Properties, Law on Tax Administration, Law on Personal Income Tax, Law on National Reserves, and Law on Handling of Administrative Violations^[1]

Pursuant to the Constitution of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam;

The National Assembly promulgates Law No. 54/2019/QH14 Amending and Supplementing a Number of Articles of Securities Law No. 54/2019/QH14; Accounting Law No. 88/2015/QH13, which has a number of articles amended and supplemented under Law No. 38/2019/QH14; Law No. 67/2011/QH12 on Independent Audit, which has a number of articles amended and supplemented under Law No. 97/2015/QH13; Law No. 83/2015/QH13 on the State Budget, which has a number of articles amended and supplemented under Law No. 59/2020/QH14; Law No. 15/2017/QH14 on Management and Use of Public Properties, which has a number of articles amended and supplemented under Law No. 64/2020/QH14, Law No. 07/2022/QH15, Law No. 24/2023/QH15, Law No. 31/2024/QH15 and Law No. 43/2024/QH15; Law No. 38/2019/QH14 on Tax Administration; Law No. 04/2007/QH12 on Personal Income Tax, which has a number of articles amended and supplemented under Law No. 26/2012/QH13, Law No. 71/2014/QH13, Law No. 31/2024/QH15 and Law No. 43/2024/QH15; Law No. 22/2012/QH13 on National Reserves, which has a number of articles amended and supplemented under Law No. 21/2017/QH14; and Law No. 15/2012/QH13 on Handling of Administrative Violations, which has a number of articles amended and supplemented under Law No. 54/2014/QH13, Law No. 18/2017/QH14, Law No. 67/2020/QH14, Law No. 09/2022/QH15 and Law No. 11/2022/QH15.

Article 1. To amend and supplement a number of articles of the Law on Securities

1. To add Clause 49 below Clause 48, Article 4 as follows:

“49. Manipulating the securities market means the commission of one of the following acts:

a/ Using one or more than one trading account of one’s own or others or colluding with others to continuously buy or sell a security in order to create sham supply and demand;

b/ Placing orders to buy and sell a security on the same trading day or colluding with others to buy or sell a security without actually transferring the ownership or with ownership rotated among group members only in order to create sham supply and demand;

c/ Continuously buying or selling securities in a dominant volume at the market opening or closing time in order to manipulate securities prices;

d/ Trading securities in the form of colluding with or enticing others to continuously place securities buying or selling orders, greatly affecting the supply-demand for, and prices of securities and manipulating securities prices;

dd/ Giving opinions directly or indirectly through the mass media about a security or an issuing organization in order to affect the price of that security after trading in and holding a position in that security;

e/ Using other methods or conducting other trading acts or spreading untruthful rumors or providing false information to the public in order to create sham supply and demand and manipulate securities prices.”.

2. To amend and supplement Point d, Clause 1, Article 9 as follows:

“d/ To manage, inspect, examine and supervise securities operations of the Vietnam Stock Exchange and its subsidiary companies, and the Vietnam Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation and its subsidiary companies; to approve operational regulations of the Vietnam Stock Exchange and the Vietnam Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation; to request the Vietnam Stock Exchange and the Vietnam Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation to revise their operational regulations; to suspend or cancel decisions related to operations of the Vietnam Stock Exchange and its subsidiary companies, and the Vietnam Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation and its subsidiary companies; to direct the Vietnam Stock Exchange and its subsidiary companies, and the Vietnam Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation and is subsidiary companies in performing tasks related to their operations in case of necessity to protect lawful rights and interests of investors;”.

3. To add a number of points and clauses to Article 11 as follows:

a/ To add Point e below Point dd, Clause 1 as follows:

“e/ Foreign investors being individuals holding foreign citizenship or organizations established and operating under foreign laws that carry out business investment activities in Vietnam.”;

b/ To add Clauses 1a and 1b below Clause 1 as follows:

“1a. Professional securities investors that are organizations specified in Clause 1 of this Article may purchase, trade in, and transfer privately placed corporate bonds.

1b. Professional securities investors being individuals specified in Clause 1 of this Article may purchase, trade in, and transfer privately placed corporate bonds in either of the following cases:

a/ Privately placed corporate bonds with credit ratings and collateral;

b/ Privately placed corporate bonds with credit ratings and payment guarantee from credit institutions.”.

4. To add Article 11a below Article 11 as follows:

“Article 11a. Responsibilities of organizations and individuals concerning dossiers and reporting documents

1. Organizations and individuals engaged in the process of making dossiers and reporting documents relating to activities concerning securities and the securities market shall be held responsible before law for the lawfulness, accuracy, honesty and completeness of dossiers and reporting documents. Organizations and individuals engaged in confirmation of dossiers and reporting documents shall be held responsible before law within the scope of their engagement in these dossiers and reporting documents. Information provided in dossiers and reporting documents must be clear, not cause misunderstanding, and include all important contents affecting decision-making of agencies, organizations and investors.

2. Agencies, organizations and individuals competent to receive, process and approve dossiers and reporting documents shall base on the provided dossiers and reporting documents to consider the validity of these dossiers and reporting documents; and not be held responsible for violations committed by organizations and individuals before and after submitting valid dossiers and reporting documents. Valid dossiers and reporting documents are those containing sufficient documents and these documents are fully filled in as prescribed by law.

3. Institutions providing dossier consultancy and practitioners engaged in dossier consultancy have the following responsibilities:

a/ Institutions providing dossier consultancy and practitioners engaged in dossier consultancy must be honest and prudent, and fully comply with law in dossier consultancy;

b/ Institutions providing dossier consultancy shall review and check information in dossiers, ensuring that the analysis and assessment are carried out reasonably and prudently on the basis of provided information, data and documents, and be held responsible before law within the scope of the consultancy related to dossiers and reporting documents.

4. Accredited audit firms and certified auditors, persons who sign or review audit reports must comply with the law on independent auditing; comply with auditing standards when auditing financial statements and shall be held responsible for their opinions on the truthfulness and reasonability of audited reports and figures; comply with standards on assurance service contracts and shall be held responsible for their opinions on synthesis of financial information under conventional rules.”.

5. To amend and supplement Clause 3, Article 12 as follows:

“3. Committing the act of manipulating the securities market.”.

6. To amend and supplement a number of points and clauses of Article 15 as follows:

a/ To amend and supplement Point d, Clause 2 as follows:

“d/ For a public offering of stocks for the purpose of mobilizing capital to implement a project of the issuing organization, the volume of stocks to be sold to investors must reach at least 70% of the volume of stocks expected to be offered, except cases of offering to existing shareholders based on their holding rates. The issuing organization must formulate a plan to make up for the deficit in the capital amount expected to be mobilized to implement its project.”;

b/ To amend and supplement Point g, Clause 3 as follows:

“g/ Complying with the Government’s regulations on representatives of bond owners, debt ratio, issuance value to equity and credit rating;”.

7. To amend and supplement a number of points and clauses of Article 18 as follows:

a/ To add Point k below Point i, Clause 1 as follows:

“k/ A report on charter capital contributed as of the time of registration of initial public offering of stocks, audited by an independent audit firm according to the Minister of Finance’s regulations.”;

b/ To add Point i below Point h, Clause 3 as follows:

“i/ Contract between the issuing organization and representatives of bond owners.”.

8. To amend and supplement a number of points and clauses of Article 28 as follows:

a/ To add Points d and dd below Point c, Clause 1 as follows:

“d/ After the public offering of a stock ends and the stock has not been listed or registered for trading, it is detected that the offering violates Clause 1, Article 27 of this Law;

dd/ After the public offering of a bond or covered warrant ends, it is detected that the offering violates Clause 1, Article 27 of this Law.”;

b/ To add Clause 2a below Clause 2 as follows:

“2a. After being publicly offered, stocks or stocks converted from convertible bonds or stocks purchased from warrants that have been listed or registered for trading shall not be cancelled.”.

9. To amend and supplement a number of points and clauses of Article 31 as follows:

a/ To amend and supplement Points a, b and c, Clause 1 as follows:

“a/ The Shareholders’ General Meeting has issued a decision approving a plan on issuance and use of proceeds from the private placement, and clearly identifying eligible investors; and number of stocks, stock price offered under the private placement or principles of identifying the stock price;

b/ Subjects participating in the private placement include only strategic investors and professional securities investors specified in Clause 1, Article 11 of this Law, for private placements of stocks and convertible bonds, or strategic investors and professional securities investors specified in Clauses 1a and 1b, Article 11 of this Law, for private placements of bonds accompanied with warrants;

c/ Privately placed stocks, convertible bonds or bonds accompanied with warrants purchased are subject to trading or transfer restriction for at least 3 years, for strategic investors, or at least 1 year, for professional securities investors, after the private placement is completed, except the case of trading and transfer among professional securities investors specified at Point b of this Clause or under a legally effective court judgment or ruling or an arbitral award or in case of inheritance in accordance with law;”;

b/ To amend and supplement Points b and c, Clause 2 as follows:

“b/ Subjects participating in the private placement include institutional professional securities investors.

For privately placed bonds falling into the cases specified at Point a or b, Clause 1b, Article 11 of this Law, subjects participating in the private placement include institutional and individual professional securities investors;

c/ Privately placed bonds may only be traded and transferred among professional securities investors under Clauses 1a and 1b, Article 11 of this Law, except cases of trading or transfer of bonds under a legally effective court judgment or ruling or an arbitral award or in case of inheritance in accordance with law;”.

10. To add Articles 31a and 31b below Article 31 in Chapter II as follows:

“Article 31a. Suspension of private placement of securities

1. The State Securities Commission has the right to suspend a private placement of securities already registered with the State Securities Commission for a maximum of 60 days in the following cases:

a/ The dossier of registration for private placement of securities contains incorrect information, omits important contents that are likely to affect the making of investment decision and cause damage to investors;

b/ The distribution of securities fails to comply with law.

2. Within 7 working days after the private placement of securities is suspended, the issuing organization must announce the suspension of the private placement of securities by the method specified in Clause 3, Article 25 of this Law, and recall the issued securities if so requested by investors, and refund money to investors within 15 days from the date of receiving these requests.

3. When the shortcomings that lead to the suspension of the private placement of securities are remedied, the State Securities Commission shall issue a notice of cancellation of the suspension and the private placement of securities may resume.

4. Within 7 working days after the notice of cancellation of the suspension is issued, the issuing organization must announce the cancellation of suspension by the method specified in Clause 3, Article 25 of this Law.

Article 31b. Cancellation of private placement of securities

1. The State Securities Commission shall decide to cancel a private placement of securities already registered with the State Securities Commission in the following cases:

a/ Past the suspension period specified in Clause 1, Article 31a of this Law, the issuing organization still fails to remedy the shortcomings that lead to the suspension of the private placement of securities;

b/ The private placement is detected as having violated Clause 1, Article 31a of this Law after it ends and the stock has not been listed or registered for trading, for private placements of stocks;

c/ The private placement is detected as having violated Clause 1, Article 31a of this Law after it ends, for private placements of bonds.

2. In addition to the cases specified in Clause 1 of this Article, a private placement of securities shall be cancelled under a legally effective court judgment or ruling or an arbitral award or a competent agency’s decision in accordance with law.

3. After being privately placed, if stocks or stocks converted from convertible bonds or stocks purchased from warrants have been listed or registered for trading, they shall not be cancelled.

4. Within 7 working days after a private placement of securities is cancelled, the issuing organization must announce the cancellation of the private placement of securities by the method specified in Clause 3, Article 25 of this Law and must recall the issued securities and refund the money to investors within 15 days after the private placement is cancelled. Past this period, the issuing organization must compensate investors for damage according to its commitments to investors.”.

11. To amend and supplement a number of points and clauses of Article 32 as follows:

a/ To amend and supplement Point a, Clause 1 as follows:

“a/ Has a contributed charter capital of at least VND 30 billion or an equity of at least VND 30 billion and at least 10% of its voting stocks held by at least 100 investors other than majority shareholders;”;

b/ To add Clause 4 below Clause 3 as follows:

“4. The Minister of Finance shall specify the registration of public companies and procedures for registration of public companies.”.

12. To amend and supplement a number of points and clauses of Article 33 as follows:

a/ To amend and supplement Point dd, Clause 1 as follows:

“dd/ The latest year’s financial statement, audited by an independent audit firm, for joint-stock companies. In case the company increases its charter capital after the latest annual accounting period ends, it shall also submit the audited or reviewed financial statement of the latest accounting period;”;

b/ To add Point g below Point e, Clause 1 as follows:

“g/ A report on contributed charter capital as of the time of registration as public company that is audited by an independent audit firm according to the Minister of Finance’s regulations.”.

13. To amend and supplement Clause 6, Article 36 as follows:

“6. For companies that redeem stocks from their own employees under their employee stock issuance regulations:

a/ The total number of stocks redeemed from employees must be reported at the latest annual Shareholders’ General Meeting;

b/ It is not required to carry out procedures for decrease of charter capital for the number of redeemed stocks.”.

14. To amend and supplement Clause 7, Article 37 as follows:

“7. Public companies may not offer stocks to increase charter capital within 6 months after completing the redemption of stocks, except public companies that redeem stocks from employees who leave their jobs under their employee stock issuance programs and securities companies that redeem their own stocks to correct trading errors.”.

15. To amend and supplement a number of clauses of Article 38 as follows:

a/ To amend and supplement Clauses 1 and 2 as follows:

“1. A public company shall have its public company status cancelled when falling into one of the following cases:

a/ No longer satisfying one of the conditions for being treated as a public company specified at Point a, Clause 1, Article 32 of this Law;

b/ Failing to disclose information on audited annual financial statements in 2 consecutive years;

c/ Failing to disclose information on resolutions of annual Shareholders’ General Meetings in 2 consecutive years;

d/ Failing to register stocks at the Vietnam Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation or make registration of securities listing or securities trading on the Stock Exchange within 1 year after the State Securities Commission certifies the completion of registration as public company or after the public offering ends.

2. Within 15 days since the date it no longer meets one of the conditions specified at Point a, Clause 1, Article 32 of this Law, the public company shall submit a reporting document to the State Securities Commission.

After 1 year since the date it no longer meets the conditions specified at Point a, Clause 1, Article 32 of this Law, if the company still fails to satisfy the conditions for being treated as a public company, it must submit a dossier for cancellation of public company status to the State Securities Commission for consideration of cancellation of public company status.

In case the public company fails to submit the dossier or reporting document to the State Securities Commission as specified in this Clause, the State Securities Commission shall consider cancelling the company’s public company status based on the list of the company’s shareholders provided by the Vietnam Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation or the company’s latest audited annual financial statement.”;

b/ To amend and supplement Clause 5 as follows:

“5. The Minister of Finance shall specify the cancellation of public company status, procedures for cancellation of public company status and the cancellation of public company status of enterprises that no longer satisfy the conditions for being treated as public companies due to reorganization, dissolution or bankruptcy.”.

16. To amend and supplement Clauses 3 and 4, Article 39 as follows:

“3. A list of shareholders of the public company no longer satisfying the conditions concerning structure of shareholders provided by the Vietnam Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation or made by the public company in case the company has yet to register securities at the Vietnam Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation;

4. The latest audited annual financial statement or the letter of confirmation of equity made by an accredited audit firm in case the public company no longer satisfies the conditions concerning contributed charter capital or equity. In case the company increases its charter capital after the latest annual accounting period ends, it shall also submit the audited or reviewed financial statement of the latest period.”.

17. To add Clause 4 below Clause 3, Article 55 as follows:

“4. The Vietnam Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation shall decide to establish subsidiary companies, and organize and assign subsidiary companies to perform of a number of its rights and obligations specified in this Law after obtaining the Ministry of Finance’s approval.”.

18. To amend and supplement Point a, Clause 4, Article 56 as follows:

“a/ To conduct clearing and settlement of securities traded in the securities trading system. Particularly for derivatives, clearing members being commercial banks or foreign bank branches may only conduct clearing and settlement for themselves;”.

19. To amend and supplement Clause 1, Article 63 as follows:

“1. Clearing and determination of the obligation to pay money and securities shall be carried out via the Vietnam Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation or its subsidiary companies.”.

20. To annul a number of points and clauses, add a number of phrases to a number of articles, clauses and points as follows:

a/ To annul Article 23; Clause 3, Article 48; and Clauses 4 and 5, Article 135;

b/ To add the phrase “and its subsidiary companies” behind the phrase “the Vietnam Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation” at Point dd, Clause 1, Article 7; Clause 3, Article 52; and Article 68.

Article 2. To amend and supplement a number of articles of the Accounting Law

1. To amend and supplement Clause 1, Article 3 as follows:

“1. Financial statement means the economic and financial information system of an accounting unit that is made and presented as prescribed by accounting standards and accounting regimes.”.

2. To amend and supplement Clause 3, Article 7 as follows:

“3. The Ministry of Finance shall prescribe Vietnam’s accounting standards and code of ethics for professional accountants on the basis of international accounting standards as suitable to Vietnam’s specific conditions; guide subjects, scope, forms, and roadmap of, and other contents related to, the application of international accounting standards.”.

3. To amend and supplement Clause 1, Article 11 as follows:

“1. The language used in accounting is Vietnamese. In case a foreign language is required in financial statements in Vietnam, the Vietnamese and the foreign language shall be used simultaneously. Accounting documents in foreign languages must be translated into Vietnamese when so requested by competent state agencies.”.

4. To amend and supplement Clause 4, Article 12 as follows:

“4. In case the first annual accounting period or the last annual accounting period is composed of no more than 3 consecutive monthly accounting periods, it may be added to the subsequent annual accounting period or the preceding annual accounting period and counted as an annual accounting period; the first or last annual accounting period must not exceed 15 months.”.

5. To amend and supplement the title and Clause 4 of Article 19 as follows:

a/ To amend the title of Article 19 as follows:

“Article 19. Signing and certification of accounting documents”;

b/ To amend and supplement Clause 4, Article 19 as follows:

“4. Electronic documents must contain electronic signatures or other forms of electronic certification in accordance with the law on e-transactions.”.

6. To amend and supplement Clause 1, Article 29 as follows:

“1. Financial statements of accounting units shall be used for summarizing and describing the financial situation and performance results of accounting units. Financial statements of an accounting unit must be made and presented as prescribed by the accounting standards and accounting regimes applied by the unit. Financial statements include:

a/ Statement of financial situation;

b/ Statement of performance results;

c/ Cash flow statement;

d/ Explanation on the financial statement;

dd/ Other statements specified by law.”.

7. To amend and supplement Clause 2, Article 51 as follows:

“2. An accountant has the right to be professionally independent; reserve his/her professional opinions in writing when these opinions are divergent from those of the decision maker; report in writing to the chief accountant or legal representative of the accounting unit when detecting violations of finance and accounting regulations in the unit; in case the accountant has to comply with a decision, he/she shall report thereon to the superior person of the decision maker or a competent state agency and not be held responsible for consequences resulting from the implementation of such decision.”.

8. To amend and supplement a number of points and clauses of Article 71 as follows:

a/ To amend and supplement Point b, Clause 2 as follows:

“b/ To formulate legal documents on accounting and submit them to the Government for promulgation, or promulgate them according to its competence, except the regulations specified in Clause 2a of this Article;”;

b/ To add Clause 2a below Clause 2 as follows:

“2a. The State Bank of Vietnam shall promulgate the accounting regime or legal documents on accounting applicable to credit institutions and foreign bank branches within the scope of their management, ensuring compliance with accounting standards.”.

9. To annul Point d, Clause 1, Article 16.

Article 3. To amend and supplement a number of articles of the Law on Independent Audit

1. To amend and supplement Point i, Clause 2, Article 11 as follows:

“i/ To prescribe the registration and management of audit practice; to prescribe the suspension of audit practice, revocation of audit practice registration certificates; to prescribe the publicization of the list of audit firms, Vietnam-based branches of foreign audit firms and certified public accountants;”.

2. To amend and supplement Article 16 as follows:

“Article 16. Persons ineligible for registering for audit practice or ineligible for practicing audit

1. Persons ineligible for registration for audit practice include:

a/ Cadres and civil servants prescribed by the law on cadres and civil servants; public employees prescribed by the law on public employees; officers and professional army men, national defense workers and public employees in agencies and units of the People’s Army; professional officers and non-commissioned officers, technical officers and non-commissioned officers, public security workers, and public employees in agencies and units of the People’s Public Security forces;

b/ Persons who are currently banned from practicing audit under legally effective court judgments or rulings; persons currently examined for penal liability; persons who are convicted of any offenses against the economic management order or position-related crimes related to finance, accounting or auditing but have not yet had their criminal records expunged; persons who are currently subject to the administrative handling measure of education at commune, ward or township or confinement to compulsory drug rehabilitation or compulsory educational establishment;

c/ Persons who have been convicted for the offences against the economic management order at serious or higher degree.          

2. Persons ineligible for further practicing audit include:

a/ The persons specified at Point b, Clause 1 of this Article;

b/ Persons whose audit practice registration certificates have expired or are no longer invalid according to the Ministry of Finance’s regulations.”.

3. To amend and supplement a number of clauses of Article 29 as follows:

a/ To add Clause 1a below Clause 1 as follows:

“1a/ To maintain the conditions specified in Article 21 of this Law during operation.”;

b/ To add Clause 1b below Clause 1a as follows:

“1b. Audit firms that have branches must meet the conditions specified in Clause 1a of this Article and have at least 5 auditors registering for practicing audit at the head office, excluding auditors registering for practicing audit at the branches.”;

c/ To add Clause 2a below Clause 2 as follows:

“2a. Not to appoint a certified public accountant to sign audit reports for an auditee for more than 5 consecutive years. The Ministry of Finance shall specify the pending time before a certified public accountant is allowed to continue signing audit reports for the same auditee.”.

4. To amend and supplement a number of points and clauses of Article 37 as follows:

a/ To add Point dd below Point d, Clause 1 as follows:

“dd/ Other large-scale enterprises whose annual financial statements must be audited according to the Government’s regulations.”;

b/ To amend and supplement Clause 4 as follows:

“4. Other enterprises and organizations in accordance with relevant laws or those willing to be audited.”.

5. To amend and supplement Clause 8, Article 39 as follows:

“8. In case of signing an audit contract with an audit firm or a foreign audit firm’s branch in Vietnam for more than 5 consecutive years, to request the audit firm or the foreign audit firm’s branch in Vietnam to change the certified public accountant signing auditor’s reports.”.

6. To amend and supplement Clause 1, Article 58 as follows:

“1. Audit firms and Vietnam-based branches of foreign audit firms may not appoint a certified public accountant to perform the audit of a public interest entity for more than 5 consecutive years. The Ministry of Finance shall specify the pending time before a certified public accountant is allowed to continue performing the audit of the same public interest entity.”.

7. To amend and supplement Article 60 as follows:

“Article 60. Handling of violations of the law on independent audit

1. Organizations and individuals that commit violations of this Law shall, depending on the nature and severity of their violations, be sanctioned for administrative violations, examined for penal liability or subject to other state management measures in accordance with this Law; if causing damage, they shall pay compensations in accordance with law.

 2. The maximum fine for administrative violations in the field of independent audit is VND 2 billion, for organizations, or VND 1 billion, for individuals. The statute of limitations for sanctioning of administrative violations in the field of independent audit is 5 years.

3. The Government shall prescribe the handling of violations of the law on independent audit.”.

Article 4. To amend and supplement a number of articles of the Law on the State Budget

1. To amend and supplement Clause 10 and add Clause 10a below Clause 10, Article 8 as follows:

a/ To amend and supplement Clause 10 as follows:

“10. The making of investment decision and payment of investment expenditures for state budget-funded programs, tasks and projects must comply with the Law on Public Investment and relevant laws. Programs, tasks and projects that are not included in medium-term public investment plans for which funds are allocated from the sources of increased revenues, expenditure savings, and annual state budget’s contingencies must comply with Articles 10 and 59 of this Law.

The Government shall prescribe the order and procedures for investment in, and implementation of, programs, tasks and projects in a strict and effective manner and for proper purposes.”;

b/ To add Clause 10a below Clause 10 as follows:

“10a. State budget expenditure tasks that are arranged from two sources (public investment expenditure and recurrent expenditure): procuring, repairing, renovating and upgrading properties and equipment; hiring goods and services; repairing, renovating, upgrading, expanding, and constructing new work items under invested and constructed projects, and other necessary tasks.

The Government shall detail this Clause.”.

2. To add Point d below Point c, Clause 9, Article 9 as follows:

“d/ Using development investment capital from local budgets for infrastructure construction investment projects in the localities which fall under the expenditure tasks of the direct higher-level budget; supporting other localities to invest in the construction of key projects and works that create regional, national or international linkages, have spillover effects, and create momentum for socio-economic development, and other important tasks within their budget-balancing capacity and without affecting the implementation of tasks under the responsibility of local budgets.

The Government shall detail this Point.”.

3. To amend and supplement a number of points and clauses of Article 19 as follows:

a/ To amend and supplement Point a, Clause 5 as follows:

“a/ The total central budget expenditures, including those allocated in detail and those not yet allocated in detail; development investment expenditure for each sector; recurrent expenditure for each sector; national reserve expenditure, interest payment expenditure, aid expenditure; transfer to the financial reserve fund; and budget contingency;”;

b/ To add Clause 5a below Clause 5 as follows:

“5a/ To assign the Government to allocate and assign estimates for expenditures not yet allocated in detail specified at Point a, Clause 5 of this Article, ensuring timeliness, thrifty, efficiency and compliance with law; to report to the National Assembly Standing Committee on a quarterly basis and to the National Assembly at the subsequent session.”.

4. To amend and supplement a number of points and clauses of Article 30 as follows:

a/ To amend and supplement Point a, Clause 2 as follows:

“a/ Total budget estimates, including those allocated in detail and those not yet allocated in detail; development investment expenditure and recurrent expenditure for each sector; transfers to local financial reserve funds; and budget contingency;”;

b/ To add Clause 2a below Clause 2 as follows:

“2a/ To assign same-level People’s Committees to allocate and assign estimates for expenditures not yet allocated in detail specified at Point a, Clause 2 of this Article, in a prompt, economical and effective manner and in accordance with law; to quarterly report to the Standing Bodies of the People’s Councils and report to the same-level People’s Councils at their next session.”;

c/ To add Point i below Point h, Clause 9 as follows:

“i/ To decide on aid expenditure.

The Government shall detail this Point.”.

5. To amend and supplement Point a, Clause 1, Article 36 as follows:

“a/ Investment in programs, projects, tasks and other public investment objects of ministries, ministerial-level agencies, government-attached agencies, other central state agencies and state enterprises in accordance with the law on public investment;”.

6. To amend and supplement a number of points and clauses of Article 38 as follows:

a/ To amend Point a, Clause 1 as follows:

“a/ Investing in locally managed programs, projects, tasks and other public investment objects in accordance with the law on public investment and performing the spending tasks specified at Point d, Clause 9, Article 9 of this Law;”;

b/ To add Point b1 below Point b, Clause 1 as follows:

“b1/ Making up for interest-rate differences and charge for management and provision of entrusted loans via the policy bank to implement local socio-economic policies;”

c/ To add Clause 4a below Clause 4 as follows:

“4a. Aid expenditure.”.

7. To amend and supplement Clause 1, Article 49 as follows:

“1. After being assigned budget estimates by the Government or People’s Committees, level-I budget-estimating units at central and local levels shall allocate and assign budget estimates to their attached budget-using units and units assigned to manage infrastructure properties in accordance with the law on management and use of public properties, units assigned to manage operation and maintenance of infrastructure properties, units assigned to perform tasks according to the Government’s regulations, and units of the lower-level budgets which are authorized to perform spending tasks of these budget-estimating units, and send these budget estimates to the finance agencies of the same level and concurrently to the State Treasury offices where transactions are made for implementation. The allocation and assignment of estimates must meet the deadline and requirements specified in Article 50 of this Law.”.

8. To amend and supplement Clause 1, Article 74 as follows:

“1. The Government shall, in pursuance to this Law, prescribe the management and use of the budget for a number of activities of the Communist Party of Vietnam, a number of activities in the fields of national defense, security, and foreign affairs, and a number of specific finance-budget mechanisms and policies for Ho Chi Minh City, a number of provinces and centrally run cities, and special administrative-economic units, and report them to the National Assembly Standing Committee for opinion before  implementation, and report thereon to the National Assembly at the subsequent session.”.

Article 5. To amend and supplement a number of articles of the Law on Management and Use of Public Property

1. To amend and supplement Clause 2, Article 17 as follows:

“2. Based on the provisions of this Law and the Government’s regulations on power delegation, provincial-level People’s Councils shall decide, or delegate the power to decide on the management and use of public property falling under the management of localities to district- and commune-level People’s Councils, People’s Committees at all levels, chairpersons of People’s Committees at all levels, heads of specialized agencies under provincial-level People’s Committees or heads of agencies, organizations or units to make decisions.”.

2. To amend and supplement Article 39 as follows:

“Article 39. Maintenance and repair of public property at state agencies

1. State agencies assigned to manage and use public property or agencies or units managing and operating public property shall conduct property maintenance and repair according to the regimes, standards, techno-economic norms and expenditure norms for public property maintenance and repair issued by competent agencies or persons specified in Clause 3 of this Article.

2. The State shall ensure funds for the maintenance and repair of public property at state agencies according to the regimes, standards, techno-economic norms and expenditure norms for public property maintenance and repair.

3. The competence to promulgate the regimes, standards, techno-economic norms and expenditure norms for public property maintenance and repair is prescribed as follows:

a/ Line ministries shall specify or propose competent authorities to specify the regimes, standards and techno-economic norms for the maintenance and repair of property under their state management;

b/ For public property for which the regimes, standards and techno-economic norms have not been specified under Point a of this Clause, based on the manufacturers’ instructions and actual use of the property, ministers or heads of central agencies or provincial-level People’s Committees shall specify or delegate the power to specify the regimes, standards, techno-economic norms for maintenance and repair, and maintenance and repair expenditure norms applicable to public property at agencies under their management;

c/ For public property for which the regimes, standards, techno-economic norms for maintenance and repair, and maintenance and repair expenditure norms have not been specified under Point a or b of this Clause, heads of the state agencies assigned to manage and use the public property or heads of the agencies or units assigned to manage and operate the public property shall specifically decide on the maintenance and repair and maintenance and repair expenditure norms of the public property assigned to them for the management, use or operation.”.

3. To add Clause 2a below Clause 2, and amend and supplement Clause 3, Article 40 as follows:

a/ To add Clause 2a below Clause 2 as follows:

“2a. Transfer to localities for management and handling.”;

b/ To amend and supplement Clause 3 as follows:

“3. Sale, which shall not be applied to public property being land and assets attached to land, except land and assets attached to land of foreign-based Vietnamese agencies and land eligible for sale in accordance with other relevant laws.”.

4. To amend and supplement Clause 4, Article 41 as follows:

“4. Confiscated public property shall be handled in the following forms:

a/ Assignment to agencies, organizations or units for management and use under Article 29 of this Law;

b/ Transfer under Article 42 of this Law;

c/ Sale or liquidation under Articles 40, 43 and Article 45 of this Law;

d/ Destruction under Article 46 of this Law;

dd/ Assignment to fund development organizations for management and exploitation in accordance with the land law;

e/ Assignment to organizations having the functions of housing management and trade for management and exploitation according to the Government’s regulations;

e/ Other forms as decided by the Prime Minister.”.

5. To add Article 42a below Article 42 as follows:

“Article 42a. Transfer of public property to localities for management and handling

1. The form of transfer of public property to localities for management and handling shall apply to public property being working offices and available assets at such working offices which are no longer needed by the state agencies assigned to manage and use them.

2. The transfer, management and handling of public property after being transferred to localities must comply with the Government’s regulations.”.

6. To amend and supplement Point a, Clause 2, Article 45 as follows:

“a/ Demolition and destruction. Usable materials and supplies recovered from the demolition and destruction shall be transferred, sold or further used if needed;”.

7. To amend and supplement Clause 2, Article 56 as follows:

“2. The competence to approve schemes on use of public property for business purposes is prescribed as follows:

a/ Ministers and heads of central agencies shall issue, or delegate the power to issue, decisions approving schemes on use of public property at public non-business units under the management of the ministries or central agencies to heads of agencies or units attached to the ministries or central agencies or heads of public non-business units;

b/ Provincial-level People’s Councils shall issue, or delegate the power to issue, decisions approving schemes on use of public property at public non-business units under the management of localities to district- or commune-level People’s Councils, People’s Committees at all levels, chairpersons of People’s Committees at all levels, heads of specialized agencies under provincial-level People’s Committees or heads of the public non-business units under the management of the localities.”.

8. To amend and supplement Clause 2, Article 57 as follows:

“2. The competence to approve schemes on use of public property for lease must comply with Clause 2, Article 56 of this Law.”.

9. To amend and supplement Clause 2, Article 58 as follows:

“2. The competence to approve schemes on use of public property for the purpose of establishing joint ventures or business affiliates must comply with Clause 2, Article 56 of this Law.”.

10. To amend and supplement Article 61 as follows:

“Article 61. Depreciation and wear and tear of fixed assets at public non-business units

1. It is permitted to calculate wear and tear for fixed assets at public non-business units, except the cases specified in Clause 2 of this Article.

 2. The setting aside of funds for depreciation of fixed assets at public non-business units shall be carried out for:

a/ Fixed assets at public non-business units applying the self-covered recurrent expenditures and investment expenditures, except cases in which the law-prescribed public non-business service prices are not inclusive of depreciation expenses;

b/ Fixed assets at public non-business units which are required to include depreciation expenses in service prices in accordance with law;

c/ Fixed assets of public non-business units other than those specified at Points a and b of this Clause which are permitted to be used for business, lease or establishment of joint ventures or business affiliates in accordance with law.

3. Fixed asset depreciation expenses must be allocated to each non-business activity, business activity, lease, or establishment of joint ventures or business affiliates for accounting as expenses for each corresponding activity and product and service price.

4. The allocations for fixed asset depreciation expenses shall be used to repay loans and capital mobilized for investment and procurement of fixed assets (if any). The remainder shall be transferred to the funds for development of non-business activities; for units without the funds for development of non-business activities, such amount shall be managed and used according to the financial mechanism applicable to the units.”.

11. To amend and supplement a number of points and clauses of Article 65 as follows:

a/ To amend and supplement Point d, Clause 2 as follows:

“d/ Not to use special assets and special-purpose assets for the business purposes, lease, establishment of joint ventures or business affiliates and other forms of business, except cases of using national defense and security land in combination with production and economic development activities, and dual-use works in accordance with the land law, and the law on management and protection of national defense works and military zones;”;

b/ To amend and supplement Clause 3 as follows:

“3. The contents on formation, management, use and handling of special assets and special-purpose assets at units of the people’s armed forces which are not specified in Clause 2 of this Article must comply with relevant provisions in Section 3 of this Chapter; for public non-business units under the people’s armed forces, relevant provisions in Section 4 of this Chapter shall apply. The use of national defense and security land in combination with production and economic development activities must comply with the land law; the formation, management and use of dual-use works must comply with the law on management and protection of national defense works and military zones.”.

12. To amend and supplement Clause 1, Article 66 as follows:

“1. The formation, management, use and handling of assets serving the management work at units of the people’s armed forces must comply with Section 3 of this Chapter; the formation, management, use and handling of assets serving the management work at public non-business units of the people’s armed forces must comply with Section 4 of this Chapter. The use of national defense and security land in combination with production and economic development activities must comply with the land law; the formation, management and use of dual-use works must comply with the law on management and protection of national defense works and military zones.”.

13. To amend and supplement Clause 3, Article 78 as follows:

“3. It is permitted to calculate wear and tear and set aside depreciation funds for infrastructure assets that are fixed assets in accordance with law.”.

14. To amend and supplement Clauses 2 and 3, Article 80 as follows:

“2. Based on the requirements for socio-economic development, management and exploitation capacity, and particularities of each type of infrastructure assets and the method specified in Clause 1 of this Article, the entity assigned to manage an infrastructure asset shall formulate a scheme on exploitation of such infrastructure asset for submission to the competent agency or person for approval. For infrastructure assets which are used for public-utility purposes without generating revenues from asset exploitation and in other cases as specified by the Government, it is not required to formulate schemes on infrastructure asset exploitation.

3. The organization of exploitation of infrastructure assets must comply with Articles 81, 82, 83 and 84 of this Law.”.

15. To amend and supplement Point b, Clause 1, Article 81 as follows:

“b/ Other cases as specified by the Government.”.

16. To add Clause 2a below Clause 2, Article 87 as follows:

“2a. Transfer to localities for management and handling.”.

17. To add Clause 89a below Article 89 as follows:

“Article 89a. Transfer of infrastructure assets to localities for management and handling

1. Infrastructure assets transferred to localities for management and handling are those which are no longer needed by the entities assigned to manage and use them.

2. The transfer, management and handling of the assets after being transferred to localities must comply with the Government’s regulations.”.

18. To amend and supplement a number of clauses of Article 109 as follows:

a/ To amend and supplement Clause 4 as follows:

“4. To remit into the state budget:

a/ Vietnam dong amounts;

b/ Foreign currencies.”;

b/ To amend and supplement Clause 6 as follows:

“6. To sell the property other than those specified in Clause 1; Point a, Clause 4; and Clause 5, of this Article, and the property which are specified in Clauses 2 and 3 of this Article and to which the forms of assignment and transfer and other forms of handling are not applied.

The sale of property for which entire-people ownership has been established must comply with the law on asset auction; particularly the form of direct sale shall apply to the following property:

a/ Perishable goods and items;

b/ Property of small value according to the Government’s regulations;

c/ Foreign currencies, unless otherwise provided by the law on foreign exchange.”;

c/ To add Clause 7 below Clause 6 as follows:

“7. Other forms of handling in accordance with law.”.

19. To amend and supplement Article 110 as follows:

“Article 110.  Order and procedures for handling of property for which entire-people ownership has been established

1. The order and procedures for handling of property for which entire-people ownership has been established are prescribed as follows:

a/ To formulate a plan on handling of assets;

b/ To approve the plan;

c/ To organize the implementation of the plan.

2. The Government shall detail this Article.”.

20. To add Clauses 4 and 5 below Clause 3, Article 113 as follows:

“4. In case land and assets attached to land are public property subject to land recovery in accordance with the Land Law, the recovery and handling of the land and assets attached to land upon land recovery must comply with the land law.

5. After land and assets attached to land are transferred or assigned in accordance with the law on management and use of public property, changes in land information shall be registered in accordance with the land law.”.

21. To add Clause 3 below Clause 2, Article 120 as follows:

“3. Other contents on management, use and exploitation of financial resources from natural resources must comply with the law on resources and other relevant laws.”.

22. To add or annul a number of phrases to/at a number of points and clauses as follows:

a/ To add the phrase “the Vietnam Fatherland Front,” before the phrase “socio-political organizations” in Clause 5, Article 2; Clause 3, Article 3; Clause 1, Article 4; Clause 5, Article 21; Clause 3, Article 34; Clause 2, Article 42; and Article 68;

b/ To add the phrase “, directly manage and handle certain types of public property” after the phrase “perform the state management of public property” in Clause 4, Article 19;

c/ To add the phrase “It is not required to rearrange houses and land in accordance with the law on management and use of public property” after the phrase “relevant laws.” in Clause 1, Article 98 and Clause 2, Article 99;

d/ To annul the phrase “asset depreciation fund” at Point b, Clause 1, Article 50.

Article 6. To amend and supplement a number of articles of the Law on Tax Administration

1. To amend and supplement Clause 2, Article 5 as follows:

“2. Tax administration offices and other state agencies assigned to manage tax revenues shall perform tax administration in accordance with this Law and other relevant laws, ensuring publicity, transparency and equality and guaranteeing lawful rights and interests of taxpayers.

Civil servants performing tax administration shall process tax dossiers within the scope of dossiers, documents and information provided by taxpayers, databases of tax administration offices, taxpayer-related information provided by competent state agencies, and results of risk management in tax administration, ensuring adherence to regulations on their responsibilities and tasks and compliance with the law on tax administration and other relevant tax laws.”.

2. To amend and supplement Clause 1, Article 11 as follows:

“1. Tax administration activities shall be modernized in terms of management methods, administrative procedures, organizational apparatus, contingent of civil servants and public employees, and extensive application of information technology and modern techniques on the basis of ensuring accurate information and data on taxpayers and results of data examination, supervision and analysis in order to control all taxable objects and tax bases; provide fast and accurate estimation of state budget revenues; detect and timely handle problems and violations of the tax laws; raise the effect and effectiveness of tax administration activities; and use databases on e-invoices and e-documents to organize measures for managing the fulfillment of tax obligations.

The State shall ensure financial resources for implementation of the contents specified in this Clause, prioritizing medium-term and annual state budget funds for performance of tasks concerning modernization, including information technology systems, digital transformation, e-invoices, e-documents, physical foundations, equipment serving customs inspection, supervision and control, classification analysis and development of digital customs and smart customs, and other specialized tasks serving the tax administration work.”.

3. To amend and supplement Clause 8, Article 16 as follows:

“8. To receive compensations for damage caused by tax administration offices or tax administration officers in accordance with the law on the State’s compensation liability.”.

4. To amend and supplement Clause 2, Article 17 as follows:

“2. To make accurate, truthful and complete tax declaration and submit tax dossiers on time; to be held responsible before law for the accuracy, truthfulness and completeness of tax dossiers and documents provided to tax offices in the process of handling of tax dossiers in accordance with the tax laws.”.

5. To amend and supplement a number of clauses of Article 42 as follows:

a/ To amend and supplement Clause 4 as follows:

“4. For e-commerce and digital platform-based business activities and other services provided by overseas suppliers, the overseas suppliers shall directly make or authorize others to make tax registration, declaration and payment in Vietnam under the Minister of Finance’s regulations.”;

b/ To add Clause 4a below Clause 4 as follows:

“4a. Organizations that are managers of e-commerce exchanges or digital platforms with payment functions (including domestic and foreign organizations) and other organizations conducting digital economic activities as specified by the Government shall deduct and pay taxes on behalf of, and declare deducted tax amounts for, households and individuals conducting business activities on their e-commerce platforms or digital platforms. Households and individuals conducting business activities on e-commerce platforms and digital platforms that are disallowed to have their taxes deducted and paid by others shall be obliged to register, declare and pay taxes by themselves.

The Government shall specify responsibilities of and methods for organizations managing e-commerce exchanges and digital platforms and other organizations conducting digital economic activities to deduct and pay taxes on taxpayers’ behalf, and declare deducted tax amounts for business transactions on the e-commerce platforms and digital platforms of households and individuals; and specify dossiers and procedures for tax declaration, tax payment and tax refund of households and individuals conducting businesses on e-commerce and digital platforms.”.

6. To amend, supplement or annul a number of clauses of Article 47 as follows:

a/ To amend and supplement Clause 1 as follows:

“1. If a taxpayer detects errors in the tax declaration dossier already submitted to a tax office, it/he/she may make additional declarations in the tax declaration dossier within 10 years after the dossier submission deadline of the tax period seeing errors in the following cases:

a/ Before a tax office or competent agency announces the tax examination or tax inspection decision;

b/ Its/his/her dossier does not fall in the inspection and examination scope or period stated in the tax examination or inspection decision.

For the contents falling within the examination and inspection scope, the taxpayer may supplement an explanation dossier in accordance with the tax laws, the law on inspection, and provisions on cases subject to compliance with competent specialized agencies’ conclusions or regulations related to the determination of tax obligations of taxpayers.”;

b/ To annul Clauses 2 and 3.

7. To amend and supplement Point b, Clause 2, Article 59 as follows:

“b/ Late-payment interest shall be calculated consecutively for the period from the day following the last day of the the tax payment time limit, the extended time limit for tax payment, the time limit stated in the tax administration office’s notice, the time limit stated in the tax assessment decision or violation-handling decision of a tax administration office to the day preceding the day when the tax arrears, to-be-retrieved refunded tax amount, increased tax amount, assessed tax amount or late-remitted tax amount are/is paid or remitted into the state budget.”.

8. To amend and supplement Clause 2, Article 61 as follows:

“2. In case a taxpayer’s paid tax amount, late-payment interest or fine is larger than the tax amount, late-payment interest or fine determined under the competent agency’s complaint settlement decision or court judgment or ruling, the taxpayer will be refunded the overpaid tax amount, late-payment interest or fine.”.

9. To amend and supplement Clause 1, Article 66 as follows:

“1. Business individuals, business household owners, individuals who are legal representatives of enterprises, cooperatives and cooperative unions who are subject to coercive enforcement of tax administration-related administrative decisions, Vietnamese who leave the country for permanent residence abroad, overseas Vietnamese and foreigners shall fulfill the tax payment obligation before leaving Vietnam; those who fail to fulfill the tax payment obligation with regard to the amount of tax arrears and the debt period according to the threshold prescribed by the Government shall be suspended from exit in accordance with the law on entry and exit. The tax administration offices shall notify taxpayers in advance of the application of the exit suspension measure.”.

10. To amend and supplement Point a, Clause 1, Article 72 as follows:

“a/ Taxpayer-managing tax offices shall receive tax refund dossiers from taxpayers eligible for tax refund in accordance with the tax laws; apply risk management, issue internal procedures, and deploy information technology application to classify tax refund dossiers into those entitled to tax refund before examination or examination before tax refund and handle tax refund dossiers according to regulations. Revenue-managing tax offices shall receive dossiers of request for refund of overpaid amounts; in case of request for refund of overpaid amounts under enterprise income tax account-finalizations or personal income tax account-finalizations, the tax offices that have received taxpayers’ enterprise income tax or personal income tax account-finalization dossiers shall receive dossiers of request for refund of overpaid amounts;”.

11. To amend and supplement Clause 1, Article 76 as follows:

“1. The General Director of Taxation, directors of provincial-level Tax Departments, heads of district-level Tax Branches or heads of regional Tax Branches shall decide on tax refund for cases of tax refund under the tax laws.”.

12. To amend and supplement a number of points of Clause 3, Article 125 as follows:

a/ To amend and supplement Points b and c as follows:

“b/ Tax coercive measures specified at Points d, dd, e and g, Clause 1 of this Article shall be applied one after another; when it is impossible to apply one measure, tax administration offices shall apply the measure specified next to it; the coercive measures specified at Points dd and e, Clause 1 of this Article shall be applied when tax administration offices have sufficient information and conditions for implementation;”;

c/ In case a decision on application of a coercive measure has not yet expired and the tax administrative office has sufficient information and conditions for application of another coercive measure specified in Clause 1 of this Article, it may simultaneously apply both of the coercive measures;”;

b/ To add Point d below Point c as follows:

“d/ In case there are sufficient grounds to determine that taxpayers having tax arrears commit acts of dispersing their assets or fleeing away, competent persons may select appropriate coercive measures to promptly collect the tax arrears for remittance into the state budget.”.

13. To annul Clause 3, Article 75 and Clause 7, Article 124.

Article 7. To amend and supplement a number of articles of the Law on National Reserves

1. To amend and supplement Article 3 as follows:

“Article 3. Objectives of national reserves

The State shall form and use national reserves to proactively meet unexpected and urgent requirements in the prevention, combat and remedy of consequences of disasters, catastrophes, fires and epidemics; and to serve national defense and security and external affairs of the Party and the State.”.

2. To add Point d below Point c, Clause 2, Article 13 as follows:

“d/ To decide on central budget-financed purchases to make up for the national reserve commodities delivered in a year from the central budget contingency sources in accordance with the law on the state budget.”.

3. To amend and and supplement Clauses 1 and 2, Article 35 as follows:

a/ To add Point dd below Point d, Clause 1 as follows:

“dd/ Foreign affairs of the Party and the State.”;

b/ To add Point d below Point c, Clause 2 as follows:

“d/ In case of delivering national reserve commodities to serve foreign affairs of the Party and the State, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Public Security, Ministry of National Defense, or ministries or sectors shall, in coordination with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, send a written request to the Ministry of Finance for appraisal and submission to the Prime Minister for decision.”.

4. To annul Point b, Clause 2, Article 12 and Point d, Clause 1, Article 13.

Article 8. To amend and supplement a number of articles of the Law on Personal Income Tax

1. To amend the title of, and add Point a1 below Point a, Clause 1, Article 24 as follows:

a/ To amend the title of Article 24 as follows:

“Article 24. Responsibilities of income-paying organizations and individuals, organizations being managers of e-commerce exchanges and digital platforms with payment functions, and other organizations conducting digital economic activities; and responsibilities of resident taxpayers”;

b/ To add Point a1 below Point a, Clause 1 as follows:

“a1/ Organizations being managers of e-commerce exchanges and digital platforms with payment functions, and other organizations conducting digital economic activities according to the Government’s regulations shall deduct and pay taxes on taxpayers’ behalf, and declare deducted tax amounts for business transactions on e-commerce exchanges and digital platforms of business households and individuals;”.

2. To amend and supplement Article 33 as follows:

“Article 33. Responsibilities of income-paying organizations and individuals, organizations being managers of e-commerce exchanges and digital platforms with payment functions, and other organizations conducting digital economic activities; and responsibilities of non-resident taxpayers

1. Income-paying organizations and individuals shall deduct and remit taxes into the state budget upon each time of payment of taxable income to taxpayers.

2. Organizations being managers of e-commerce exchanges and digital platforms with payment functions, and other organizations conducting digital economic activities according to the Government’s regulations shall deduct and pay taxes on taxpayers’ behalf, and declare deducted tax amounts for business transactions on e-commerce exchanges and digital platforms of business households and individuals.

3. Non-resident taxpayers shall make tax declaration and payment for taxable income in accordance with the law on tax administration.”.

Article 9. To amend and supplement a number of articles of the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations

1. To amend and supplement the second paragraph of Point a, Clause 1, Article 6 as follows:

“The statute of limitations for sanctioning of administrative violations related to taxes and independent audit must comply with the law on tax administration and the law on independent audit;”.

2. To amend and supplement a number of points and clauses of Article 24 as follows:

a/ To annul the phrase “independent audit;” at Point c, Clause 1;

b/ To add the phrase “; independent audit” after the word “competitiveness” in Clause 3.

Article 10. Effect

1. This Law takes effect on January 1, 2025, except the cases specified in Clauses 2, 3, 4 and 5 of this Article.

2. The provisions on professional securities investors engaged in the purchase, trading or transfer of privately placed corporate bonds, which are amended and supplemented under Point b, Clause 3; and Clause 9, Article 1 of this Law; and the provisions on equity specified at Point a, Clause 11, Article 1 of this Law, take effect on January 1, 2026.

3. Point b, Clause 3; and Point a, Clause 4, Article 3 of this Law take effect on January 1, 2026.

4. Article 4 of this Law takes effect from the 2025 budgetary year.

5. Point b, Clause 5, Article 6 of this Law takes effect on April 1, 2025.

Article 11. Transitional provisions

1. The transitional provisions of the provisions amending and supplementing the Law on Securities shall be implemented as follows:

 a/ Corporate bonds privately placed before January 1, 2026, with outstanding debts must continue to comply with Law No. 54/2019/QH14 on Securities and Law No. 59/2020/QH14 on Enterprises which have a number of articles amended and supplemented under Law No. 03/2022/QH15 until the issuing institutions fully pay principals and interests of the corporate bonds;

b/ For private placements of corporate bonds of which the statement of information disclosure prior to placement has been submitted to the Stock Exchange before January 1, 2026, if the bond distribution has not been completed, the corporate bonds shall continue to be distributed in accordance with Law No. 54/2019/QH14 on Securities and Law No. 59/2020/QH14 on Enterprises which have a number of articles amended and supplemented under Law No. 03/2022/QH15; after the distribution of privately placed corporate bonds is completed, this Law shall be applied;

c/ In case dossiers of registration for public offering of securities and dossiers of registration as public companies have been fully and validly submitted to the State Securities Commission before the effective date of this Law, Law No. 54/2019/QH14 on Securities shall continue to be applied;

d/ A public company that has listed or registered stocks for trading before January 1, 2021, and still meets the conditions specified in Law No. 70/2006/QH11 on Securities, which has a number of articles amended and supplemented under Law No. 62/2010/QH12, but, by January 1, 2026, does not meet the conditions specified at Point a, Clause 11, Article 1 of this Law, shall have its public company status cancelled under Clause 15, Article 1 of this Law, except the case in which the General Meeting of Shareholders decides to cancel the public company status before January 1, 2026.

2. Transitional provisions of the contents amending and supplementing the Law on Management and Use of Public Property shall be implemented as follows:

a/ For public property being land and assets attached to land at agencies, organizations and units that have been decided for sale by competent agencies or persons according to the regulations valid before the effective date of this Law with the reserve prices or designated selling prices decided by the competent agencies or persons, the sale of the property shall continue to be carried out in accordance with regulations valid before the effective date of this Law, except the transitional cases specified at Point b of this Clause;

b/ For houses and land of enterprises for which competent agencies or persons have approved their reorganization plans and decided to handle them in the form of recovery and sale of assets on land, transfer of land use rights, and transfer to localities for management and handling before January 1, 2025, if the recovery and sale of property  have not yet been completed, the property shall be further handled in accordance with Law No. 15/2017/QH14 on Management and Use of Public Property, which has a number of articles amended and supplemented under Law No. 64/2020/QH14, Law No. 07/2022/QH15, Law No. 24/2023/QH15, Law No. 31/2024/QH15 and Law No. 43/2024/QH15.

This Law was passed on November 29, 2024, by the 15^th National Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam at its 8^th session.-

Chairman of the National Assembly
TRAN THANH MAN