Do I have to take an accounting subject when participating in exam for issuance of tax procedure practicing certificates in Vietnam?

Do I have to take an accounting subject when participating in exam for issuance of tax procedure practicing certificates in Vietnam?

Pursuant to Article 7 of Circular 10/2021/TT-BTC stipulating subjects and format of the exam as follows:

1. Contents to be examined to obtain a practicing certificate:

a) Tax law

Contents in the tax law subject: Laws and guiding documents on tax administration, VAT, corporate income tax, special excise duty, personal income tax, resource royalty, other taxes, fees, and charges under state budget.

b) Accounting.

Contents in the accounting subject: Accounting law, accounting standards, accounting system applicable to enterprises and other legal documents on accounting.

2. Format: The exam may be taken on paper or computer in form of written exam or objective exam; the time allotted for each subject depends on the format of exam, from 60 minutes to 180 minutes.

3. The language used in the exam periods is Vietnamese.

Thus, when you take the exam to obtain a tax procedure practicing certificate, you will take the above subjects, including accounting in Vietnam.

How many days before the exam date does the list of examinees for tax procedure practicing certificates post in Vietnam?

According to Article 8 of Circular 10/2021/TT-BTC, holding an exam is as follows:

1. General Department of Taxation shall hold exams on an annual basis, at least 01 exam period in a year. General Department of Taxation shall promulgate a regulation on exam for practicing certificates generally applied to every exam period.

2. The exam council shall be established by General Department of Taxation. The exam council shall be responsible for holding exam periods as prescribed in this Circular and the exam regulation promulgated by General Department of Taxation.

3. The exam council shall:

a) publish an official notice on the website of General Department of Taxation and at least on 01 mean of mass media regarding exam conditions, time, place and other information about the exam period at least 45 days before the exam date;

b) post a list of examinees (full name, date of birth, candidate number, subject exam, exam place) and other related information on the website of General Department of Taxation at least 15 days before the exam date;

c) hold the exam, mark exam papers, review exam results, and report General Department of Taxation to approve the exam scores, revised scores;

d) publish the exam scores, revised scores on the website of General Department of Taxation and send the exam scores, revised scores to the examinees via the registered emails within 30 days after the exam completion date or deadline for submission of requests for exam review;

dd) be responsible for security and safety of the examinees and relevant entities throughout the exam period.

According to this Article, the list of examinees for tax procedure practicing certificates will be posted on the website of the General Department of Taxation at least 15 days before the exam date in Vietnam.

In which cases can examinees of tax procedure practicing certificates have the accounting subject exam exempt in Vietnam?

According to Article 11 of Circular 10/2021/TT-BTC, subject exam exemption is as follows:

1. An examinee may has the tax law subject exam exempt if he/she has worked in the tax field for certain time and also meets the following requirements:

a) Until the time of retirement or resignation, he/she has held the position of tax officer or inspector, lecturer (grade III) for 60 consecutive months and has worked as a tax administration officer or a tax professional lecturer for at least 36 months (calculated cumulatively in 05 working years up to the time of retirement or resignation);

b) He/she has not been disciplined during performance of public duties in form of reprimand or greater within 24 months until the time of retirement or resignation;

c) He/she applies for subject exam exemption within 36 months from the month of retirement or resignation.

2. An examinee may have the accounting subject exam exempt if he/she meets the following requirements:

a) He/she obtains a bachelor's or postgraduate degree in accounting or auditing major and has worked in the accounting or auditing field for at least 60 consecutive months until the date of application for exemption. The working time in the accounting or auditing field begins from the date of the bachelor's or postgraduate degree in accounting or auditing major to the date of application for exemption.

b) He/she has met the requirements of financial accounting, advanced management accounting subject exams, and also during the reservation period of the exam for certificate of accountant and auditor held by the Ministry of Finance.

3. An examinee may has the tax law and accounting subject exams exempt if he/she meets any of the cases mentioned in point a or b below:

a) He/she obtains an auditor's certificate or accountant's certificate issued by the competent authority as prescribed.

b) He/she has worked in the tax field for at least 10 consecutive years until the retirement or resignation time and also meets the following requirements:

b1) He/she has held the position of tax officer or inspector, lecturer (grade III) for at least 10 years or has held at least the position of tax principal officer or principal inspector, principal lecturer (grade II) and has worked as a tax administration officer or a tax professional lecturer for at least 60 months (calculated cumulatively in 10 working years up to the time of retirement or resignation);

b2) He/she has not been disciplined during performance of public duties in form of reprimand or greater within 24 months until the time of retirement or resignation.

b3) He/she applies for subject exam exemption within 36 months from the month of retirement or resignation.

4. General Department of Taxation shall establish a list of positions in tax administration, lecturing of tax practices to be exempt from the subject exams as prescribed in point a clause 1 and point b clause 3 of this Article.

According to this Article, the accounting subject is exempted for examinees if they meet one of the conditions specified above in Vietnam.

Best Regards!