Laws of Vietnam

A. NOTARIZATION AND AUTHENTICATION FEES

I. FEE PAYERS AND LEVELS

1. Vietnamese and foreign individuals and organizations that request public notary offices to perform the notarization or the People?s Committees of rural districts, urban districts, provincial towns, provincially-run cities (hereinafter referred collectively to as district-level People?s Committees), or the People?s Committees of communes, wards, district townships (hereinafter referred collectively to as commune-level People?s Committees) to perform the authentication (such public notary offices and People?s Committees are hereinafter referred collectively to as notarization and authentication bodies) of contracts, transactions, papers, signatures, ... (hereinafter referred collectively as papers) according to the provisions of law shall have to pay notarization and authentication fees prescribed in this Circular.

In cases where an international treaty, which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam has signed or acceded to, contains provisions on notarization and authentication fees at variance with those of this Circular, the provisions of such international treaty shall apply.

2. Issued together with this Circular are tables of notarization and authentication fee levels to be uniformly applied throughout the country (in Appendices 1, 2 and 3), regardless of whether notarized and authenticated papers are written in Vietnamese or foreign languages.

Notarization and authentication fees shall be collected in Vietnamese dong at the prescribed fee levels.

3. For individuals who have registered their permanent residence in mountainous, deep-lying or remote communes meeting with great difficulties under the Prime Minister?s Decision No.135/1998/QD-TTg of July 31, 1998 ratifying the program for socio-economic development of mountainous, deep-lying or remote communes meeting with great difficulties, the applicable fee levels shall be equal to 50% of the notarization and authentication fee levels prescribed in the tables issued together with this Circular (hereinafter referred to as the fee level reduction).

Individuals eligible for fee level reduction mentioned at this Point shall have to submit applications therefore certified by the People?s Committees of the communes, where such individuals have their permanent residence registration (for cases where such authentication fee reduction eligible subjects request that the authentication is made right at the People?s Committees of communes where they have their permanent residence registration, no application is required) and produce their identity cards or household registration books to the notarization or authentication bodies.

Heads of public notary offices, presidents of the district-level People?s Committees or persons authorized to perform the authentication, and presidents of the commune-level People?s Committees shall consider and give fee level reduction on a case-by-case basis, and inscribe such reduction in the applications of notarization or authentication requesters. After giving the fee level reduction, the notarization or authentication bodies shall have to keep the applications and record such reduction in notarization or authentication books for monitoring. Papers, which have compulsorily been produced, shall be returned to the notarization or authentication requesters. For cases where no application is required, authentication performers shall only have to make a note of the fee level reduction in the authentication books for monitoring.

II. ORGANIZATION OF FEE COLLECTION, REMITTANCE AND USE MANAGEMENT

1. The notarization and authentication bodies that concurrently conduct the collection of fees prescribed in this Circular shall have to:

a/ Publicly post up the notarization or authentication fee levels at their offices where the fees are collected.

b/ Register and declare the notarization or authentication fees with tax offices in localities where they are headquartered.

c/ Organize the collection and remittance of notarization or authentication fees and open accounts for temporary deposit of collected notarization or authentication fee amounts at State treasuries in localities where they are headquartered. Depending on whether the collected fee amounts are large or small, the notarization and authentication bodies shall make inventory lists of and deposit collected fee amounts into accounts opened at the State treasuries once every day (for public notary offices in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City) or at least once every ten days (for other notarization and authentication bodies).

d/ When collecting notarization or authentication fees, the bodies performing the notarization or authentication shall have to give to fee payers notarization or authentication fee collection receipts issued by the Finance Ministry (the General Tax Department). Receipts shall be delivered at the local tax departments and managed and used according to the Finance Ministry?s regulations.

2. The use of notarization and authentication fee amounts collected by public notary offices and district-level People?s Committees shall be managed as follows:

2.1. Public notary offices and district-level People?s Committees shall temporarily make deduction according to the following percentages (%) of the total collected notarization or authentication fee amounts before remitting them into the State budget

- For public notary offices No.1 and No.2 in Ho Chi Minh City: 15% (fifteen percent);

- For other public notary offices and district-level People?s Committees: 20% (twenty percent); particularly for People?s Committees of mountainous, deep-lying and remote districts: 30% (thirty percent).

The money amounts temporarily deducted according to the above-said percentages (%) shall be used for spending tasks in service of the fee collection work, as follows:

a/ Payment of remunerations to officials, public servants and employees who assume the fee collection job beyond their assigned functions and tasks (including extra-hour work).

b/ Payment of remunerations and allowances (if any) to laborers employed from outside (including experts, consultants and staff members not on the units? payrolls). Heads of notarization or authentication bodies shall base themselves on the size of notarization or authentication fee sources and work requirements to decide appropriate levels of payments to laborers under the labor contract regime.

c/ Expenses for regular repairs of machinery and equipment (computers, printers, etc.) in direct service of notarization or authentication work and fee collection.

d/ Expenses for printing (purchase) of declaration forms and assorted seals in service of the fee collection.

e/ Expenses for professional training and fostering.

f/ Other expenses directly related to the fee collection work.

g/ Setting up of reward fund for officials and public employees of notarization or authentication bodies that collect fees. The reward fund deduction level per year per head shall not exceed 3 (three) months? actually paid wages.

Notarization or authentication bodies must use the whole notarization or authentication fee amounts, which are temporarily deducted as prescribed above, for the right purposes and with lawful vouchers according to the prescribed regime and annual settlements. If such amounts are not used up, the remainder shall be remitted into the State budget according to the provisions at Point 2.2 of this Section.

2.2. The total collected fee amounts, after subtracting the temporarily deducted amounts according to the percentages prescribed at Point 2.1 above, shall be remitted into the State budget.

Monthly, the public notary offices and district-level People?s Committees shall have to declare and remit money into the State budget (corresponding chapter, category and item, section 046 of the current State budget index) within the time limit and according to the procedures prescribed in the Finance Ministry?s Circular No.54/1999/TT-BTC of May 10, 1999 guiding the implementation of the Government?s Decree No.04/1999/ND-CP of January 30, 1999 on fees and charges belonging to the State budget.

3. Authentication fee amounts collected by the commune-level People?s Committees must be fully remitted into the commune budgets according to the corresponding chapter, category and item, section 046 of the current State budget index, and the commune-level People?s Committees shall have to manage the use of such authentication fee amounts in strict compliance with the guidance in the Finance Ministry?s Circular No.118/2000/TT-BTC of December 22, 2000 prescribing the management of commune budgets and other financial activities in communes, wards and district townships, and at the same time ensure the defrayal of expenses for authentication activities and organization of authentication fee collection.

4. Drafting and implementation of revenue-expenditure estimates of notarization or authentication fees:

a/ Annually, basing themselves on the notarization or authentication fee levels, spending contents guided in this Circular and the current financial expenditure regime, the notarization or authentication bodies shall draft revenue-expenditure estimates of notarization or authentication fees in detail according to the current State budget index, then submit them to their managing agencies for consideration, approval and sum-up before they are submitted to the competent finance bodies of the same level for ratification.

b/ Basing themselves on the annual revenue-expenditure estimates already approved by the competent agencies, the notarization or authentication bodies shall draft quarterly revenue-expenditure estimates in detail according to the current State budget index, then submit them to their managing agencies, State treasuries where transactions are conducted and finance bodies of the same level for use as basis for controlling revenues-expenditures.

5. Revenue-expenditure settlement of notarization or authentication fees:

a/ The notarization or authentication bodies shall have to open accounting books to record, account and make revenue-expenditure settlement of collected fees under the Finance Minister?s Decision No.999/TC/QD/CDKT of November 2, 1996 promulgating the system of administrative and non-business accounting regimes; conduct the settlement of collection vouchers, fee amounts already collected and remitted into the State budget with their direct managing tax agencies, submit reports on annual settlement of collected and remitted notarization or authentication fee amounts to the latter before the last day of February of the year following the reporting year, and fully remit the outstanding fee amounts into the State budget within 10 days after the submission of reports.

b/ The superior managing agencies shall have to examine and certify revenue-expenditure settlements of notarization or authentication fees of their attached notarization or authentication bodies, and integrate such reports into annual settlement reports to be submitted to the finance agencies for assessment and notification of settlement approval together with annual settlements of the managing agencies according to the provisions of the current State budget legislation.

B. SERVICE CHARGES

I. SCOPE OF CHARGE APPLICATION AND LEVELS

1. Organizations and individuals that request and are provided by notarization or authentication bodies with services of contract compilation, transaction, translation, edition, typing, copying and other related services, shall have to pay service charges to the notarization or authentication bodies.

2. Service charge levels prescribed by the People?s Committees of the provinces and centrally-run cities shall be payable rates having included the value added tax. Provincial/municipal Finance and Pricing Services shall have to coordinate with the Justice Services in determining charge levels on the basis of reasonable necessary expenses and local market prices, and proposing them to the People?s Committees of the provinces and centrally-run cities for decision on uniform application in their localities.

II. MANAGEMENT OF USE OF COLLECTED SERVICE CHARGES

Notarization or authentication bodies that collect charges for their services shall have to:

1. Collect service charges at the collection levels prescribed by the People?s Committees of the provinces and centrally-run cities. When providing services, they shall have to observe the invoice and voucher regime prescribed by law. In cases where they provide services with value below the prescribed level, they shall not have to bill invoices. If service provision requesters ask for invoices, they shall have to bill invoices, or draw up lists as prescribed to serve as basis for tax calculation.

2. Open accounting books for monitoring and separately accounting expenses and turnover of service charges according to the legislation on accounting and statistics.

3. The remainder of the charge amounts collected from service activities of notarization and authentication bodies, after minusing the reasonable necessary expenses (including remuneration for laborers employed from outside, if any) in direct service of the service activities (with lawful expense invoices and vouchers), the full payment of value added tax and enterprise income tax into the State budget as prescribed by law, shall be added to the development investment fund for procurement and repair of machinery, equipment and facilities in service of regular activities of the notarization or authentication bodies.

C. ORGANIZATION OF IMPLEMENTATION

1. Tax Departments and Justice Services of the provinces and centrally-run cities shall have to guide and inspect the public notary offices and district-level and commune-level People?s Committees in observing the regime of collection, remittance and management of notarization and authentication fees; the regime of management and use of receipts, invoices and vouchers; the regime of accounting book-keeping and statistics and the regime of financial reports according to the current regulations.

2. Educational institutions, which issue copies of diplomas and/or certificates and certify other papers in the education field, shall be entitled to collect fees specified at Point 17 of Appendix 1 and Point 12 of Appendix 2 issued together with this Circular. Educational institutions shall also be entitled to apply the regime of temporary deduction according to certain percentages (%) of the total collected fee amount to cover expenses for the issuance of copies of diplomas and/or certificates and certify other papers in the education field as provided for district-level People?s Committees at Point 2.1, Section II, Part A of this Circular.

3. This Circular takes effect 15 days after its signing and replaces Joint Circular No.84/TT-LB of December 18, 1992 of the Finance Ministry and the Justice Ministry prescribing the regime of collection of the notarization fees and Joint Circular No.81/TT-LB of September 29, 1993 of the Finance Ministry and the Justice Ministry amending the notarization fee levels.

Particularly, the notarization fee collected by the Vietnamese diplomatic missions abroad shall comply with the guidance in the Finance Ministry?s Circular No.64/2000/TT-BTC of July 3, 2000 guiding the regime of collection and remittance of fees applicable to Vietnamese diplomatic missions and consular offices abroad, and the Finance Ministry?s Circular No.90/2000/TT-BTC of September 1, 2000 supplementing and readjusting a number of points in above-said Circular No.64/2000/TT-BTC of July 3, 2000.

Any problems arising in the course of implementation should be promptly reported by the concerned agencies, organizations and individuals to the Finance Ministry and the Justice Ministry for study and solution.

For the Minister of Finance
Vice Minister
VU VAN NINH

For the Minister of Justice
Vice Minister
HA HUNG CUONG