Notable documents of Vietnam in the previous week (from May 22 to May 28, 2023)

1. Vietnam to amend several regulations on issuance of certificates of land use rights

On May 15, 2023, the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment of Vietnam promulgated Circular No. 02/2023/TT-BTNMT on amendments to Circular No. 23/2014/TT-BTNMT on certificates of land use rights, house ownership, and property on land and Circular No. 24/2014/TT-BTNMT on cadastral dossiers.

According to the Circular, amendments to Circular No. 23/2014/TT-BTNMT on certificates of land use rights are as follows:

- Amendments to Article 14 (the signing of certificates and ordinal numbers in certificate issuing record);

- Amendments to Clause 3 Article 17 (cases of verification of changes to issued certificates when registering for land-related changes and property on land);

- Amendments to Article 19 (authorities verifying changes in issued certificates);

Circular No. 02/2023/TT-BTNMT of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment of Vietnam comes into force as of May 20, 2023.

2. Maximum interest rates of deposits in Vietnam Dong from May 25, 2023

On May 23, 2023, the State Bank of Vietnam promulgated Decision No. 951/QD-NHNN 2023 on maximum interest rates of deposits in Vietnam Dong of organizations and individuals at credit institutions and foreign bank branches according to Circular No. 07/2014/TT-NHNN.

According to the Decision, regulations on maximum interest rates of deposits in Vietnam Dong of organizations (except for credit institutions and foreign bank branches) and individuals at credit institutions and foreign bank branches according to Circular No. 07/2014/TT-NHNN are as follows:

- The maximum interest rate applicable to demand deposits and deposits with a term below 1 month is 0,5% per year.

- The maximum interest rate applicable to deposits with a term from 1 to below 6 months is 5,0% per year. Particularly, regarding People's Credit Funds and microfinance institutions, the maximum interest rate applicable to deposits with a term from 1 to below 6 months is 5,5% per year.

Decision No. 951/QD-NHNN of the State Bank of Vietnam comes into force as of May 25, 2023 and replaces Decision No. 575/QD-NHNN dated March 31, 2023.

3. Vietnam to amend regulations on determination of university admission target for distance education model

On April 28, 2023, the Minister of Education and Training of Vietnam promulgated Circular No. 10/2023/TT-BGDDT on amendments to Circular No. 03/2022/TT-BGDDT on the determination of admission targets for university, master, doctoral, and college-level of Preschool Education.

Criteria for the number of students per lecturer in distance university education in specific training fields:

Multipliers based on academic levels and titles of the lecturers, including visiting lecturers shall equal those applicable to full-time lecturers for the purpose of determining training qualifications according to Article 5 of Circular No. 03/2022/TT-BGDDT;

(Previously, according to Circular No. 03/2022/TT-BGDDT, the multipliers varied according to admission targets).

Criteria for the number of students in distance university education per managerial official, employee in charge of distance education (per educational institution):

Multipliers based on academic levels and titles of managerial officials, employees in charge of distance education shall equal those applicable to full-time lecturers for the purpose of determining training qualifications according to Article 5 of Circular No. 03/2022/TT-BGDDT;

(Previously, according to Circular No. 03/2022/TT-BGDDT, the multipliers also varied according to admission targets).

Circular No. 10/2023/TT-BGDDT of the Ministry of Education and Training of Vietnam comes into force as of June 13, 2023.

4. Vietnam to disclose list of 524 enterprises with invoice risks

On May 16, 2023, the General Department of Taxation of Vietnam promulgated Official Dispatch No. 1798/TCT-TTKT on review and handling of illegal invoices.

According to the Official Dispatch, the Tax Departments shall focus on reviewing sales invoices of 524 enterprises specified in Appendix No. 1 enclosed with the Official Dispatch.

- If any enterprise is detected to have used invoices of an enterprise among the mentioned 524 enterprises, its supervisory tax authority shall request it to provide an explanation for using such invoices for VAT deduction/refund, inclusion in taxable expenses, or legalization of smuggled goods or goods with unidentified origins, etc.

Tax Departments are requested to, based on the actual violations and regulations in legislative documents, promptly handle tax-related violations as per regulation or consolidate documents and send them to Public Security Agencies for handling as prescribed by laws.

- Supervisory Tax Departments of the enterprises included in the list of 524 enterprises shall conduct a review process. If any enterprise in the mentioned list is detected to have provided local enterprises with sales invoices issued in 2020, 2021, and 2022 that are not included in the database on e-invoices of the General Department of Taxation of Vietnam, Tax Departments shall promptly send written notifications to relevant tax authorities for verification on the software program.  

Official Dispatch No. 1798/TCT-TTKT of the General Department of Taxation of Vietnam was promulgated on May 16, 2023.

>> CLICK HERE TO READ THIS ARTICLE IN VIETNAMESE