Which ministries shall be merged in Vietnam? Do Vietnamese officials pay personal income tax?

Which ministries shall be merged in Vietnam?

Pursuant to Subsection 2, Section 3 of Resolution 18-NQ/TW in 2017, it clearly states as follows:

TASKS AND SOLUTIONS

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2- Specific tasks and solutions

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2.2- For the organizational system of the State at the Central level

- Implement increasing the percentage of full-time National Assembly deputies according to set goals; research on rationally reducing the number of National Assembly deputies who concurrently hold positions in executive agencies. Regulate the number and reasonable ratios between leaders, standing members, and full-time members of the Ethnic Council and the committees of the National Assembly towards reducing the number of deputies and standing members. Reorganize, restructure the internal organization of the National Assembly Office towards streamlining and efficient operation.

- The Government of Vietnam, the ministries and central authorities continue to implement innovation, strengthen, and rearrange the organizational apparatus towards focusing on macro management, developing strategies, planning, plans, laws, mechanisms, policies; enhancing the capacity to direct, manage and effectively organize implementation; strengthening the inspection and supervision of compliance.

- Urgently review, steadfastly amend, supplement, and perfect functions, tasks, powers, responsibilities, and working relationships between the ministries and central authorities and their subordinate organizations; thoroughly overcome overlaps or duplication of functions and tasks so that one organization can handle multiple tasks, but one task is only led and primarily responsible for by one organization. Review, rearrange towards reducing inter-sectoral coordinating organizations, especially those with specialized assisting departments.

- The ministries and central authorities, agencies under the Government of Vietnam proactively review, rearrange, streamline internal head units, basically reduce the number of general departments, departments, divisions, offices; do not establish new organizations, do not establish divisions in departments, except in special cases decided by authorized levels. Minimize project management board. Decisively merge, rearrange, and reorganize public service providers to compact head units and reduce staffing levels; implement funding package mechanism according to assigned tasks and output products. Transfer some tasks and public administrative services that the State does not necessarily have to perform to be handled by enterprises, social organizations.

- Review tasks and authorities to strongly and reasonably decentralize between the Government of Vietnam and the ministries and central authorities; between the Government of Vietnam, the ministries and central authorities and local governments to contribute to streamlining the apparatus, reducing staffing, enhancing operational effectiveness and efficiency; promote initiative, creativity, enhance the spirit of responsibility of each level, each sector associated with the power control mechanism. Review, supplement, perfect the Law on Organization of Local Government, clearly stipulate the tasks, powers, and responsibilities of the provincial, district, and commune level administrations; clearly stipulate the mechanisms of decentralization, authorization and implementation of tasks and authorities when decentralized, authorized among levels of local government.

- Accelerate administrative reform, especially the reform of administrative procedures closely linked with strengthening the organization, reducing head units, eliminating intermediary levels, streamlining staff of the ministries and central authorities, agencies under the Government of Vietnam, ensuring democracy, openness, transparency, professionalism, and serving the people.

- For certain sectors organized by vertical industries, such as: Tax, customs, state treasury, social insurance... continue to reorganize at inter-provincial or inter-district levels to streamline head units, streamline staff. Continue to research and develop an organizational apparatus suitable for the decentralization of state budget, promoting the leading role of the central budget and the initiative of local budgets.

- The Central Military Party Committee, the Central Public Security Party Committee build separate proposals to review, streamline, rearrange the organizational apparatus to meet requirements for the construction of the military, police towards being revolutionary, regular, elite, and gradually modern; ensuring absolute, direct leadership in all aspects of the Communist Party over the armed forces, suitable with the general regulations of the political system and the particularities of each force.

- Continue to research and clarify the theoretical and practical basis regarding the multi-sectoral, multi-field management scope of some ministries and central authorities, especially those ministries and central authorities with similar, overlapping functions and tasks to have appropriate solutions and implement the strengthening, organization, and streamlining of head units in the upcoming term, such as: Transportation - Construction; Finance - Planning and Investment; Ethnic - Religion fields...

- Continue to research and gradually rearrange the organizational structure of the investigative agencies to meet requirements for criminal investigation work, crime prevention and combat, and in line with the organization and operation of the people's procuracies and people's courts in spirit of judicial reform.

Review, amend, supplement, and perfect regulations on functions, tasks, powers, responsibilities, scope of activities, and working relationships of the State Audit and the inspection, supervision agencies at all levels to prevent overlap in performing tasks.

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Thus, one of the specific tasks and solutions for the State's organizational system at the Central level, as proposed by Resolution 18-NQ/TW in 2017, is to continue researching and clarifying the theoretical and practical basis regarding the multi-sectoral, multi-field management scope of some ministries and central authorities, especially those with similar, overlapping functions and tasks to have appropriate solutions and implement the strengthening, organization, and streamlining of head units in the upcoming term.

It is anticipated that ministries such as: Transportation - Construction; Finance - Planning and Investment; Ethnic - Religion fields... will be merged.

At the first session of the 15th National Assembly in July 2021, the Government of Vietnam proposed to the National Assembly, to “maintain stability in the naming, organizational structure, and number of ministries and equivalent agencies of the Government of Vietnam for the 2021 - 2026 term as in the 14th term," which was approved by the National Assembly. Therefore, currently, the merger of ministries and agencies equivalent to ministries has not yet been carried out.

Which ministries shall be merged in Vietnam? (Image from the Internet)

Vietnam: What are the specific goals from 2024 to 2030 in Resolution 18?

Based on Subsection 2, Section 2 of Resolution 18-NQ/TW in 2017, the specific goals are clearly stated as follows:

(1) Complete the study and organization of an overall organizational model of the political system suitable to the requirements and specific conditions of our country in the new phase; reduce staffing;

(2) Clearly define the functions, tasks, and powers of each agency and organization, overcome overlaps, duplications, or omissions of functions and tasks among agencies and organizations in the political system;

(3) Continue to specify, institutionalize the resolutions, decisions, and conclusions of the Communist Party regarding innovation and rearrangement of the organizational apparatus through regulations of the Communist Party and State laws;

(4) Clearly delineate and implement the models of rural, urban, island governments and special administrative-economic units;

(5) Basically complete the rearrangement and streamlining of administrative units at district, commune, and village levels according to set standards.

For public service providers from now until 2030: Effectively implement according to the roadmap, goals, and solutions of the 12th Communist Party Central Committee's Resolution 6 on "Continuing innovation of organizational systems and management, enhancing quality and effectiveness of the operations of public service providers."

Which officials are tax payers in Vietnam?

Recently, there was good news for officials when the statutory pay rate increased from 1.8 million VND per month to 2.34 million VND per month from July 1, 2024, according to Decree 73/2024/ND-CP.

However, the actual salary increase is not significant because, with the increase in salary, there will be more tax to pay as the personal and family deductions remain unchanged.

According to Article 19 of the Personal Income Tax Law 2007 (amended by Clause 4, Article 1 of the Amendment to the Personal Income Tax Law 2012 and Article 1 of Resolution 954/2020/UBTVQH14), it states:

From July 01, 2024, officials and public employees with a total income from salary, wages over 11 million VND per month (132 million VND per year) after deducting mandatory insurance contributions as regulated and contributions without dependents will need to pay PIT.