Principles of control and payment of regular expenditures through the State Treasury of Vietnam from May 1, 2024

Principles of control and payment of regular expenditures through the State Treasury of Vietnam from May 1, 2024 (Image from the internet)

On March 14, 2024, the Minister of Finance of Vietnam issued Circular 17/2024/TT-BTC on the elaboration of the control and payment of regular expenditures through the State Treasury of Vietnam.

Principles of control and payment of regular expenditures through the State Treasury of Vietnam from May 1, 2024

(1) The State Treasury of Vietnam shall control and make payments as prescribed in Clause 5, Article 56 of the State Budget Law 2015, specifically:

- State budget expenditures are only carried out when they are included in the allocated budget estimates, except as prescribed in Article 51 of the State Budget Law 2015; have been approved by the head of the budget-using unit, the investor, or the authorized person, and the unit's account balance is sufficient to cover the expenditure.

- The State Treasury of Vietnam shall verify the legality of expenditure vouchers and accompanying documents related to the administrative procedures sent to the State Treasury of Vietnam as prescribed in the Government's Decrees. In cases where expenditure vouchers and accompanying documents sent by the budget-using unit to the State Treasury of Vietnam are intentionally falsified or substituted, the budget-using unit shall be held accountable according to the law.

For documents not related to administrative procedures sent to the State Treasury of Vietnam as prescribed in the Government's Decrees, the budget-using unit shall be responsible for controlling the payment content and payment dossiers in accordance with the law.

- The State Treasury of Vietnam shall control the expenditure limits (expenditure levels) as prescribed in legal normative documents. If agencies, units are allowed by competent authorities to implement autonomy mechanisms, the control shall ensure compliance with internal spending regulations and align with the allocated autonomous budget estimates.

(2) Expenditures shall follow the advance payment principle as prescribed in Clause 5, Article 34 of Decree 163/2016/ND-CP.

(3) Advances and cash payments must be made in accordance with the Circular guiding cash revenue and expenditure management through the State Treasury of Vietnam system of the Ministry of Finance.

(4) In cases where state budget expenditures are made electronically through the State Treasury of Vietnam's public service portal, the State Treasury of Vietnam's control and payment shall adhere to electronic transaction regulations in the State Treasury of Vietnam's operating activities at: Decree 165/2018/ND-CP; Decree 11/2020/ND-CP; Decree 45/2020/ND-CP; Circular 87/2021/TT-BTC.

(Article 2 of Circular 17/2024/TT-BTC)

Forms of control and payment of regular expenditures through the State Treasury of Vietnam

The State Treasury of Vietnam shall control and make payments for regular expenditures from the state budget through the State Treasury of Vietnam in the following forms:

- Payment before control:

+ Payment before control is a form of payment applied to each payment of contracts with multiple payments, except for the final payment. Upon receiving fully legitimate and valid dossiers, the State Treasury of Vietnam shall complete payment procedures for the beneficiaries within 01 working day; simultaneously, send a debit note to the unit confirming payment execution, and a credit note to the unit if the beneficiary opens an account at the State Treasury of Vietnam.

+ Within 01 working day from the payment date, the State Treasury of Vietnam shall control the dossier as per the stipulated policies.

+ If, after control, it is found that the expenditure does not comply with the stipulated policies, the State Treasury of Vietnam shall issue a control result notice (according to Form No. 01 attached to Circular 17/2024/TT-BTC) to the budget-using unit; thereafter, handle the reduction of the payable value in the next immediate payment, if the next immediate payment does not have sufficient completed quantities/estimates to reduce, then follow Clause 2, Article 4 of Circular 17/2024/TT-BTC.

- Control before payment:

Control before payment is a form of payment applied to all expenditures, in which the State Treasury of Vietnam shall control and make payments within the time prescribed in Decree 11/2020/ND-CP upon receiving fully legitimate and valid dossiers as prescribed.

Detailed content may be found in Circular 17/2024/TT-BTC effective from May 1, 2024, and replacing Circular 62/2020/TT-BTC dated June 22, 2020.

Ho Quoc Tuan

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