What acts are prohibited in state audit? What are the regulations on the legal validity of audit reports in Vietnam?
What are the prohibited acts in state audit?
According to the provisions of Article 8 of the 2015 Law on State Audit Office of Vietnam (a phrase replaced by Point a, Clause 15, Article 1 of the 2019 Law on Amendments to Law on State Audit Office of Vietnam) on prohibited acts as follows:
The following acts of State Audit Office of Vietnam (SAV), state auditors, and collaborators:
- Harassing, causing difficulties to audited units;
- Illegally intervening normal operation of audited units;
- Giving bribes, taking bribes, and/or brokering bribery;
- Making false or insufficient audit reports;
- Misuse of power and/or position for self-seeking purposes;
- Revealing state secrets or trade secrets of audited units;
- Revealing information about the audit progress and result that are not officially published.
The following acts of audited units and entities relevant to governmental auditing activities are prohibited:
- Refusing to provide information, documents serving the audit at the request of SAV and state auditors;
- Obstructing the work of SAV and state auditors;
- Making false, untruthful, insufficient, unpunctual reports, or failure to provide objective information about the audit carried out by SAV;
- Giving bribes to state auditors and collaborators;
- Shielding violations against regulations of law on public finance and/or public property.
Every organization and individual is prohibited to illegally intervene the audit and audit result of SAV, state auditors, and collaborators.
What acts are prohibited in state audit? What are the regulations on the legal validity of audit reports in Vietnam?
What are the regulations on the legal validity of audit reports in Vietnam?
According to the provisions of Article 7 of the 2015 Law on State Audit Office of Vietnam on this content as follows:
- Audit reports made by SAV are binding upon audited units after they are published in terms of management and use of public finance and/or public property.
- Audit reports of SAV are the basis for:
+ The National Assembly to use during the process of considering, deciding, and supervising: the implementation of long-term and annual socio-economic development policies and objectives; policies on investment in National target programs and projects of national importance; basic policies on national finance; imposition, adjustment, or cancellation of taxes; decision on dividing revenues and obligatory expenditures between central government budget and local government budgets; limits on safety limits of national debt, public debts, government debts; making of state budget estimate and allocation of central government budget; approval for state budget statements;
+ The Government, regulatory agencies, other agencies and organizations of the State to use during their managerial tasks and performance of their duties and entitlements;
+ The People’s Councils to use during the process of considering, deciding estimates and allocation of local government budgets; approving local government budget statements; supervising the management and use of public finance and/or public property; performance of their duties and entitlements;
+ Audited units to exercise their right to lodge complaints.
Can the audited entity file complaints when it believes that the audit conclusion or requests infringes on its lawful rights and interests?
According to the provisions of Article 69 of the 2015 Law on State Audit Office of Vietnam (amended by Clause 13, Article 1 of the 2019 Law on Amendments to Law on State Audit Office of Vietnam), this content is as follows:
- The audited unit or entity relevant to governmental auditing activities is entitled to file complaints (hereinafter referred to as “the complainant”) about acts of the chief of the audit delegation, team leader or member of the audit delegation, auditor’s assessment, confirmation, conclusions and requests specified in the audit report, audit result notification, notification of SAV’s opinions if there are grounds for presuming that such acts, assessment, confirmation, and opinions are illegitimate and negatively affect its the lawful rights and interests.
- The prescriptive period for filing a complaint is 30 days from the date on which the complainant receives the audit report, audit result notification or notification of SAV’s conclusions and requests or acts of the chief of the audit delegation, team leader or member of the audit delegation are discovered. If the entity relevant to governmental auditing activities files a complaint about tax liabilities specified in the notification of SAV’s conclusions and requests, the prescriptive period for filing the complaint is 30 days from the receipt of the notification of tax liabilities specified in Point b Clause 2 Article 21 of the Law on Tax Administration No. 38/2019/QH14.
If the complainant fails to exercise its/his/her right to file complaints within the prescriptive period due to illness, disasters, conflicts, travel for business trips or study or other objective obstacles, the period over which such objective obstacles occur shall not be added to the prescriptive period for filing complaints.
- Complaints about governmental auditing activities shall be settled as follows:
+ The time limit for settling a complaint must not exceed 30 days from the date on which it is accepted; the time limit for handling a complicated complaint may be extended but must not exceed 45 days from the date on which it is accepted. The time limit for settling a complaint in a remote or isolated area shall not exceed 45 days from the date on which the complaint is accepted; The time limit for handling a complicated complaint in such area may be extended but must not exceed 60 days from the date on which it is accepted;
+ During the complaint settlement, if the State Auditor General deems that the compliance with part or all of SAV’s conclusions and requests against which the complaint is filed results in adverse consequences, he/she shall issue a decision to suspend the compliance with part or all of conclusions and requests. The suspension decision issued by the State Auditor General expires from the decision to settle complaints about governmental auditing activities takes effect;
+ Within the time limit for complaint settlement, the State Auditor General shall issue a decision to settle complaints about governmental auditing activities.
- The decision to settle complaints about governmental auditing activities takes effect from the date on which it is signed and shall be immediately sent to the complainant and relevant entities for their compliance.
- In the case of amendments to or invalidation of part or all of the auditor’s assessment, confirmation, conclusions and requests according to Clause 8 of this Article, the State Auditor General shall adjust the audit report and send the adjusted audit report, audit result notification and notification of conclusions and requests to the complainant and relevant entities within 10 working days.
- During the complaint filing, the complainant shall still sufficiently and promptly comply with SAV’s conclusions and requests, except for the case in which the State Auditor General issues a decision to suspend the compliance with SAV’s conclusions and requests.
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