Notable documents of Vietnam in the previous week (from August 7 to August 13, 2023)

1. Amendments to regulation on electricity retail tariff to be submitted to the Prime Minister of Vietnam in August 2023

On August 7, 2023, the Government of Vietnam promulgated Resolution No. 124/NQ-CP on the periodic meeting session of the Government of Vietnam in July.

Specifically, the Government of Vietnam requests the Ministry of Industry and Trade to urgently request the Prime Minister of Vietnam, within August 2023, to amend Decision No. 24/2017/QD-TTg and Decision No. 28/2014/QD-TTg, conduct studies to consider adding additional subjects of "tourism accommodation facilities" applying electricity retail prices equal to the electricity retail prices in production.

Additionally, the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Vietnam shall take charge and cooperate with agencies and local authorities in focusing on:

- Presenting the plan to perform tasks of ensuring the supply of energy from coal, oil, and liquefied natural gas, the plan to perform the Electricity Planning VIII to the Government and Prime Minister of Vietnam, ensuring punctuality under directives of the Prime Minister of Vietnam in August 2023.

- Urgently proposing several energy projects for the pilot implementation of the Political Announcement on Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) and submitting reports to competent authorities for consideration and decisions no later than September 2023.

- Continuing on promoting the Vietnamese People Prioritizing Vietnamese Goods Campaign and programs and activities that promote trade, connecting supply and demand to develop the domestic market, expanding demand boost operations, and improving the effectiveness of the management of markets and prevention of smuggling, commercial frauds, and counterfeit goods.

See more details in Resolution No. 124/NQ-CP of the Government of Vietnam dated August 7, 2023.

2. General Department of Taxation of Vietnam requests local authorities to accelerate processing of VAT refund applications

On August 9, 2023, the General Department of Taxation of Vietnam promulgated Official Telegram No. 07/CD-TCT on accelerating the settlement of VAT refund applications.

According to the Official Telegram, to accelerate inspection and verification serving processing of VAT refund applications of export enterprises in specific provinces, the General Department of Taxation of Vietnam urgently requests the implementation of the following tasks:

- For VAT refund applications have undergone inspection and found to be eligible for refund by Tax Authorities, tax refund shall be immediately given.

- For tax refund applications of export enterprises that are still undergoing inspection have fallen behind schedule, if no tax frauds are detected heretofore, Tax Authorities shall, based on the applications and enclosed documents provided by enterprises, determine the refundable amount and settle the refund as per regulation.

If an enterprise is found to have incorrectly claimed tax refund, it shall return the over-refunded amount, pay late payment interests under regulations, and take legal responsibility for such a violation.

- For suspicious tax refund applications, Tax Authorities shall prepare documents to transfer such applications to public security agencies for investigation, send written notifications to the claiming enterprises, and handle such enterprises according to the conclusions of the investigation agencies under regulations.  

See more details of Official Telegram No. 07/CD-TCT of the General Department of Taxation of Vietnam dated August 9, 2023.

3. New regulation of Vietnam on cases where aviation employees are immediately suspended from operations from September 1, 2023

On July 17, 2023, the Minister of Transport of Vietnam promulgated Circular No. 23/2023/TT-BGTVT on specific labor policies and discipline for aviation employees.

Specifically, aviation employees shall be immediately suspended from operations when they:

- Violate labor regulations, causing incidents or accidents that threaten aviation safety and security;

- Are undergoing inspection or prosecution in criminal cases;

- Deliberately leave their working positions;

- Use alcohol during operations or have blood/breath alcohol concentration (BAC) during their task performance;

- Steal or illegally appropriate assets of organizations and/or individuals;

- Take advantage of their working positions to smuggle or illegally transport persons, assets, or goods;

- Use or test positive for banned drugs or stimulants according to regulations;

- Gamble or cause incidents, resulting in insecurity and disorder in the workplace.

The immediate suspension shall be given verbally by employers or authorized persons at the time of detecting the violations mentioned above.

The suspension period shall be in compliance with Clause 2 Article 128 of the Labor Code, starting from the time of verbal implementation.

Circular No. 23/2023/TT-BGTVT of the Ministry of Transport of Vietnam comes into force as of September 1, 2023.

4. 14 forms of electronic civil registration documents of Vietnam from August 2, 2023

On August 2, 2023, the Minister of Justice promulgated Circular No. 03/2023/TT-BTP on amendments to Circular No. 01/2022/TT-BTP elaborating on several articles and implementation measures of Decree No. 87/2020/ND-CP.

According to the Circular, from August 2, 2023, additional forms of electronic civil registration documents prescribed in Appendix 3 enclosed with Circular No. 03/2023/TT-BTP are as follows:

- Electronic Birth Certificate;

- Electronic Marriage Certificate Excerpt;

- Electronic Death Declaration Excerpt;

- Electronic Guardian Registration Excerpt;

- Electronic Guardian Termination Registration Excerpt;

- Electronic Parentage Acknowledgement Registration Excerpt;

- Electronic excerpts of changes, rectification, and/or revision of civil status information and re-verification of ethnic groups;

- Electronic excerpts of recording of birth registration in civil status books

- Electronic Marriage Record Excerpt;

- Electronic Divorce Record Excerpt;

- Electronic excerpts of recording of civil status affairs in civil status books;

- Electronic Marital Status Certificate;

- Electronic Civil Status Information Confirmation;

- Electronic Death Certificate.

Circular No. 03/2023/TT-BTP of the Ministry of Justice of Vietnam comes into force as of August 2, 2023.

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