05 notable policies effective from the beginning of May 2018

Fining Insurance Companies VND 100 million for Forcing Life Insurance Purchases

Decree 48/2018/ND-CP amends Decree 98/2013/ND-CP regarding administrative penalties in the field of insurance and lottery business.

It specifies fines for coercing organizations or individuals to buy life insurance or health insurance in any form as follows:- For individual violators: A fine ranging from VND 40 to 50 million;- For organizational violators: A fine ranging from VND 80 to 100 million.

Organizations include life insurance companies, non-life insurance companies, health insurance companies, reinsurance companies, insurance brokerage companies, branches of foreign non-life insurance companies, etc.

Decree 48/2018/ND-CP takes effect from May 10, 2018.

Multi-Level Marketers Must Have a Commitment to Get Membership Cards

This is a new content highlighted in Decree 40/2018/ND-CP regarding the management of multi-level marketing activities, effective from May 2, 2018, replacing Decree 42/2014/ND-CP.

Multi-level marketing enterprises are only allowed to issue Membership Cards to individuals who have completed basic training and submitted a commitment form (Form No. 13 attached - previously there was no requirement for this commitment).

According to regulations, Membership Cards are issued free of charge to participants in multi-level marketing, containing the following information:

- Name of the enterprise;- Contact information of the enterprise;- Photo of the participant;- Participant information including: Name, ID/Passport number, membership ID or card number, date of issue, place of issue.

Details of the commitment content can be found in Decree 40/2018/ND-CP.

Fining Up to VND 5 Million for Using Pre-Signed Accounting Documents

the Government of Vietnam issued Decree 41/2018/ND-CP stipulating administrative fines in the field of accounting and independent auditing as follows:

- A fine ranging from VND 3 to 5 million for:- Erasing, correcting accounting documents;- Signing documents with red ink, fading ink, or using pre-signed stamps.

- A fine ranging from VND 5 to 10 million for:- Signing with signatures not matching the registered signature sample;- Failing to translate foreign language documents into Vietnamese;- Lacking required signatures by titles on the document.

- A fine ranging from VND 20 to 30 million for:- Forging, falsely declaring accounting documents;- Not creating accounting documents when economic/financial transactions arise;- Making payments without complete signatures on the payment vouchers.

For details, see Decree 41/2018/ND-CP, which takes effect from May 1, 2018.

Forms Used in Printing and Photocopying Activity Declarations and Reports

the Government of Vietnam issued Decree 25/2018/ND-CP, amending and supplementing several articles of Decree 60/2014/ND-CP regulating printing activities.

Attached are forms (including applications, declarations, lists, permits, confirmations, etc.) for administrative procedures and information reporting in printing activities. Examples include:- Application for a printing operation permit (Form No. 01);- Curriculum vitae of the head of the printing facility (Form No. 03);- Application for using color photocopiers, multifunctional color printers (Form No. 05);- Print order form (Form No. 10);- Printing activity report (Form No. 16);- Photocopy service activity report (Form No. 18).

Decree 25/2018/ND-CP officially applies from May 1, 2018.

New Points in Deductible and Non-Deductible Expenses for Corporate Income Tax Calculation

Circular 25/2018/TT-BTC, effective from May 1, 2018, guiding Decree 146/2017/ND-CP and amending Circular 78/2014/TT-BTC, 111/2013/TT-BTC.

It amends and supplements several regulations related to deductible and non-deductible expenses for calculating corporate income tax (CIT) as follows:

For deductible expenses:- Adds cases where enterprises transfer part or all of another enterprise, if assets are transferred, the receiving enterprise is only allowed to depreciate the fixed assets into deductible expenses for transferred assets that meet depreciation conditions according to the remaining value on the transferor’s accounting books.- Increases the deductible amount up to a maximum of VND 3 million/month/person for contributions to voluntary retirement funds, voluntary pension insurance, life insurance for employees.

For non-deductible expenses: The expense for purchasing life insurance for employees exceeding the regulated limit or not specifying the entitlement conditions in the documents will not be deductible when calculating CIT.

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