Series of economic policies taking effect from May 2023

A series of new policies on nominal interest on government bonds; new regulations on procedures for collecting and paying fines for administrative violations; new regulations on state capital investment in enterprises; amendments and supplements to many regulations guiding the implementation of the Land Law will officially take effect from May 1, 2023.

Photo caption — *Illustration photo: VNA.*

New regulations on nominal interest on Government bonds On February 10, 2023, the Ministry of Finance issued Circular No. 12/2023/TT-BTC amending and supplementing a number of articles of Circular 107/2020/TT-BTC guiding the term repurchase of Government bonds from the temporarily idle state budget of the State Treasury. Circular 12 supplements the provisions on "Nominal interest on Government bonds" (Article 15a) as follows: In case the State Treasury receives nominal interest on Government bonds during the term repurchase of Government bonds, the State Treasury is responsible for refunding the nominal interest amount of Government bonds received to commercial banks according to the Government bond code for which the State Treasury received the nominal interest. The refund of nominal interest on Government bonds is made outside the debt instrument trading system of the Stock Exchange; The time for repayment of nominal interest shall be agreed upon by both parties, but shall not be later than 05 working days from the date of actual payment of bond interest. In case of late transfer of nominal interest, the State Treasury shall be responsible for paying the late payment penalty to the commercial bank for the number of days of late payment at the prescribed late payment penalty interest rate. This Circular shall take effect from May 4, 2023. New regulations on procedures for collection and payment of administrative violation fines

The Ministry of Finance has just issued Circular No. 18/2023/TT-BTC dated March 21, 2023, stipulating the procedures for collecting and paying fines, offsetting the difference in fines, fine receipts and state budget funds to ensure the operation of forces handling administrative violations. Circular 18/2023/TT-BTC clearly states that the form of collecting and paying fines for administrative violations is implemented according to the provisions of Clause 1, Article 20 of Decree No. 118/2021/ND-CP of the Government detailing a number of articles and measures to implement the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations. This Circular provides guidance on determining the time when the violator has fulfilled the obligation to pay fines corresponding to 02 forms of fine payment (cash and bank transfer). In case of paying fines directly in cash, the date of determining that the fine payer has fulfilled the obligation to pay the fine is the date on which the State Treasury or the commercial bank where the State Treasury opens an account or the public postal service provider or the person authorized to collect fines as prescribed in Point c, Clause 1, Article 20 of Decree No. 118/2021/ND-CP confirms on the fine collection and payment voucher. In case of paying fines by bank transfer, the date of determining that the fine payer has fulfilled the obligation to pay the fine is the date on which the fine payer receives a notification of successful receipt of the fine payment from the commercial bank, payment intermediary service provider, or public postal service provider for payment to the state budget. This Circular takes effect from May 5, 2023. New regulations on state capital investment in enterprises The Ministry of Finance has issued Circular No. 16/2023/TT-BTC dated March 17, 2023 amending and supplementing a number of articles of Circular No. 36/2021/TT-BTC guiding a number of contents on state capital investment in enterprises and management and use of capital and assets at enterprises. Circular No. 16/2023/TT-BTC amends the provisions on "Adjustment of charter capital at enterprises in which the State holds 100% of charter capital" (amending Point b, Clause 1, Article 2) as follows: For operating enterprises, the adjustment of charter capital is implemented in accordance with the provisions of Article 11 of Decree No. 91/2015/ND-CP, Clause 4, Article 1 of Decree No. 32/2018/ND-CP and Clause 7, Article 2 of Decree No. 140/2020/ND-CP of the Government. For enterprises that do not need to supplement charter capital or do not have a plan to determine charter capital and sources of investment to supplement charter capital as prescribed in Clause 7, Article 2 of Decree No. 140/2020/ND-CP, the owner's representative agency is responsible for reviewing, deciding and directing the enterprise to pay the difference between the owner's equity and the charter capital to the state budget. Paying this difference does not affect the enterprise's ability to pay and its debt repayment obligations. Within 10 days from the date the owner's representative agency issues the decision, the enterprise is responsible for paying the difference between the owner's equity and the enterprise's charter capital to the state budget. When an enterprise pays the difference between the owner's equity and the charter capital to the state budget, it shall simultaneously account for a reduction according to each corresponding capital component belonging to the owner's equity". The Circular supplements the provision "Profit distribution for joint stock companies and limited liability companies with two or more members having shares and capital contributions from the state" (Article 7a). Accordingly, enterprises shall distribute profits according to the provisions of Clause 17, Article 2 of Decree No. 140/2020/ND-CP dated November 30, 2020 of the Government; in case an enterprise operates under the parent company - subsidiary model, the parent company's separate financial statements shall be used to determine the profit after tax as the basis for distribution. This Circular takes effect from May 8, 2023. New regulations on coastal information services The Ministry of Transport issued Circular 03/2023/TT-BGTVT dated March 30, 2023, detailing the ordering of coastal public information services using the State budget. The Circular clearly states that the Vietnam Maritime Administration is the agency that orders the provision of coastal public information services and the Vietnam Maritime Electronic Information Company Limited (VISHIPEL) is the unit that provides coastal public information services. According to the Circular, based on the prescribed volume of public services, the price of coastal public information services in the most recent year, and expected fluctuations in input cost factors, VISHIPEL is responsible for preparing the funding needs to provide coastal public information services for the following year and sending it to the Vietnam Maritime Administration before May 30 every year. Based on VISHIPEL's proposal, the Vietnam Maritime Administration prepares the state budget expenditure estimate to provide coastal public information services for the following year and sends it to the Ministry of Transport before July 1 every year for the Ministry of Transport to synthesize in the expenditure estimate. State budget sent to the Ministry of Finance according to regulations.

The Circular takes effect from May 15, 2023. Amending and supplementing many regulations guiding the implementation of the Land Law.

On April 3, 2023, the Government issued Decree No. 10/2023/ND-CP amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Decrees guiding the implementation of the Land Law. The Decree has added many important new provisions related to land management and use. The Decree adds Article 17a to Decree No. 43/2014/ND-CP on auctions of land use rights when the State allocates land with land use fees and leases land. Organizations participating in land use rights auctions must meet all the following conditions: Be subject to land allocation and lease by the State according to the provisions of Articles 55 and 56 of the Land Law; satisfy the conditions specified in Clause 3, Article 58 of the Land Law, Clauses 2 and 3, Article 14 of Decree 43/2014/ND-CP; must pay a deposit of 20% of the total value of the land plot or land area calculated at the starting price for auctioning land use rights; not be subject to the prohibition of participation in auctions according to the provisions of law; meet the conditions prescribed by the law on housing and the law on real estate business in cases of auctioning land use rights to implement housing projects and other real estate business projects. Households and individuals participating in auctions of land use rights must meet all the following conditions: Be subject to land allocation or lease by the State and meet other conditions as prescribed. In case households and individuals participate in auctions of land use rights to implement investment projects, they must ensure the conditions prescribed in Article 17a of Decree 43/2014/ND-CP (amended in Decree No. 10/2023/ND-CP). In addition, land put up for auction of land use rights must meet the provisions of Clause 1, Article 119 of the Land Law; The competent state agency has decided on the starting price for auctioning land use rights; the auction of land use rights is conducted for each plot of land; there is a detailed 1/500 plan approved by the competent agency for land used for housing construction investment projects. From the time of announcement of the auction results, the deposit and interest (if any) will be converted into a deposit to ensure the performance of the financial obligations of the land user. In case the auction winner does not pay or does not pay in full the land use rights auction winning money as prescribed in Point d, Clause 5, Article 68 of Decree No. 43/2014/ND-CP, the auction winner will not receive the deposit back. In case the auction winner has paid more than the deposit, the State will refund the difference in amount greater than the deposit amount as prescribed. In addition to the above content, the Decree also supplements the land recovery procedure in case of termination of investment projects according to investment regulations. The Decree also provides detailed regulations on the issuance of land use right certificates (red books) online. Accordingly, people will be able to submit applications for certificates online and receive them by post, without having to go directly to the management agency to do so as before. The Decree takes effect from May 20.