Laws of Vietnam

THE PRIME MINISTER

DECIDES:

Article 1.- Position and functions

The General Department of Tax is an organization under the Ministry of Finance which performs the function of State management over domestic revenues, including taxes, charges, fees and other State budget revenues (hereinafter referred collectively to as taxes) according to law provisions.

Article 2.- Tasks and powers

The General Department of Tax shall perform the tasks and exercise the powers according to the provisions of tax laws and other relevant law provisions as well as the following specific tasks and powers:

1. To submit to the Minister of Finance development strategies and plannings as well as long-term, five-year and annual plans of the tax service;

2. To submit to the Minister of Finance legal documents prescribing the management of tax collection; to propose, and participate in, the elaboration, supplementation or amendment of legal documents on tax;

3. To make annual estimates of tax revenues according to the provisions of the State Budget Law;

4. To organize the implementation of laws, ordinances and other legal documents on tax, annual tax revenue estimates as well as development strategies, plannings and plans of the tax service after they are approved;

5. To provide professional guidance on tax declaration, tax calculation, tax-notice issuance, tax-collection order, tax collection and remittance procedures as well as other relevant operations, and organize the uniform implementation thereof in the entire service;

6. To propagate, educate and mobilize organizations and individuals to fulfil the tax obligations strictly according to law provisions; to conduct activities in support of the tax-paying organizations and individuals;

7. To submit to competent authorities for decision or decide according to its competence the exemption, reduction, reimbursement and/or collection of tax arrears according to the law provisions on tax; to decide on authorizing agencies and/or organizations to directly collect several types of taxes;

8. To be entitled to request business establishments to provide accounting books, invoices, vouchers as well as other dossiers and documents related to the tax calculation and payment; to be entitled to request credit institutions as well as other relevant organizations and individuals to provide documents and coordinate with the tax bodies in tax collection; to handle according to its competence or request competent bodies to handle organizations or individuals that fail to fulfil the obligations or responsibilities to provide documents or fail to coordinate with the tax bodies in tax collection as prescribed by law;

9. To be entitled to set taxes according to the provisions of tax laws; take coercive measures to implement tax legislation; to be entitled to publicly announce on the mass media cases of violating the tax legislation;

10. To compile and negotiate international treaties and bilateral or multilateral agreements on tax under the Finance Minister's authorization and organize the implementation of international cooperation treaties, agreements, projects and activities on tax according to law provisions;

11. To inspect, examine and control tax declaration, reimbursement, exemption, reduction, payment and settlement as well as the observance of tax policies and legislation by the tax-paying organizations and individuals, tax collection-managing organizations and individuals, and organizations authorized to collect taxes; to handle tax-related administrative violations and decide on the sanctioning of tax law violations according to its competence; to make dossiers proposing the prosecution of organizations and/or individuals that violate the tax legislation; to settle tax- related complaints and denunciations according to law provisions;

12. To organize the implementation of tax accounting and statistics as well as financial-reporting regime according to regulations;

13. To manage tax dossiers, documents and prints; to archive and use data and documents provided by business establishments and other subjects according to the prescribed regime;

14. To organize the management and application of information technology to the tax service's activities; to modernize material and technical foundations of the tax service's system;

15. To manage organizational apparatuses, payrolls, officials, employees and laborers in the tax service's organizational system; to organize training and fostering of tax officials and employees according to law provisions and the Finance Minister's management decentralization;

16. To manage the State budget allocations and assigned assets according to law provisions; to implement the mechanism of funding package assignment prescribed by the Prime Minister;

17. To perform the tasks of administrative reforms according to the objectives of raising operation quality, publicizing procedures, improving professional processes and providing information in order to create favorable conditions for organizations and individuals to implement tax policies and legislation;

18. To perform other tasks assigned by the Finance Minister.

Article 3.- Organizational structure of the General Department of Tax

1. The General Department of Tax shall be organized on the principles of concentration and uniformity into a vertical system from the central to the local levels according to administrative units as follows:

a/ Apparatuses assisting the General Director:

1. The Legal-Policy Board;

2. The Board for Tax-Revenue Estimation;

3. The Board for Management of Taxes from State Enterprises;

4. The Board for Management of Taxes from Foreign-Invested Enterprises;

5. The Board for Management of Taxes from Private Enterprises and Other Enterprises;

6. The Board for Management of Personal Income Tax;

7. The Board for Management of Asset Tax and Other Revenues;

8. The International Cooperation Board;

9. The Board for Propagation and Support of Tax Payers;

10. The Inspection Board;

11. The Board for Organization and Personnel;

12. The Finance-Administration Board;

13. The Office;

14. The General Tax Department's representative office in Ho Chi Minh city.

b/ Dependent non-business units:

1. The Informatics and Statistics Center;

2. The Center for Fostering Tax Operations;

3. The Tax Review.

Other non-business units under the General Department of Tax shall be decided by the Minister of Finance according to law provisions.

c/ The Tax Departments in the provinces and centrally-run cities (hereinafter referred collectively to as the provincial Tax Departments) under the General Department of Tax.

d/ The Tax Sub-Departments in the rural and urban districts as well as provincial towns and cities (hereinafter referred collectively to as the district Tax Sub-Departments) under the provincial Tax Departments.

In case of necessity, The Minister of Finance may set up Tax Sub-Departments in industrial parks, export-processing zones, open economic zones or economic zones under the provincial Tax Departments.

The definition of the functions, tasks, powers and organizational structures of the units under the General Department of Tax shall comply with the Finance Minister's regulations.

2. The General Department of Tax shall have the legal person status and be entitled to use its seal bearing the national emblem.

The provincial Tax Departments and the district Tax Sub-Departments shall have the legal person status and their own seals.

3. Tax employees shall be provided attires, insignia, rank badges, numerical signs and working facilities according to the Prime Minister's regulations.

Article 4.- Leadership of the General Department of Tax

The General Department of Tax shall be composed of its General Director and deputy-general directors; the number of deputy-general directors shall be agreed upon by the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Home Affairs. The General Director of Tax shall be appointed and dismissed by the Prime Minister at the proposal of the Minister of Finance, and held responsible before the Minister of Finance for the entire operation of the General Department of Tax.

Deputy-general directors of the General Department of Tax shall be appointed and dismissed by the Minister of Finance at the proposal of the General Director of Tax and held responsible before the General Director of Tax for the assigned working fields.

Article 5.- Local tax bodies' responsibilities in coordination with the People's Committees of all levels as well as organizations and individuals

1. The local tax bodies shall have to report to the People's Committees of the same levels on the undertakings and measures to enhance the management of tax collection and the situation on implementation of tax revenue estimates; closely coordinate with the finance bodies of the same levels and other agencies in managing tax collection, providing information and data related to budget management in their respective localities.

2. Within the ambit of their powers prescribed by law, the People's Committees of all levels shall have to coordinate with one another in directing, examining, and creating conditions for, the tax bodies in their respective localities to implement the tax policies and legislation; direct relevant functional agencies to coordinate with the tax bodies in well managing tax collection in their respective localities.

3. The local tax bodies shall have to coordinate with organizations and individuals that collaborate with them in implementing tax legislation, making comments for building the tax service; settle organizations' or citizens' complaints and denunciations against the wrong doings of officials and employees under their respective management according to law provisions.

Article 6.- Payroll

The payroll of the General Department of Tax shall be decided by the Minister of Finance within the total payroll of the Ministry of Finance.

Article 7.- Implementation effect

This Decision takes effect 15 days after its publication in the Official Gazette.

Article 8.- Implementation responsibilities

The Minister of Finance, the ministers, the heads of the ministerial-level agencies, the heads of the agencies attached to the Government, the presidents of the provincial/municipal People's Committees and the General Director of Tax shall have to implement this Decision.

Prime Minister
PHAN VAN KHAI