Financial and Land Policies Effective from Mid-March 2018

1. Determining Land Rent in Case of SDL Extension

This is a newly added content in Circular 11/2018/TT-BTC amending and supplementing Circular 77/2014/TT-BTC guiding Decree 46/2014/ND-CP on land rent, water surface rent. Accordingly:

- Land users (SDL) who are subject to land rent payment when extending SDL will have land rent determined based on the policy and land price at the time of extension;- In case of renting land with annual land rent payment, the stable cycle of land rent unit price is calculated from the time the state agency issues the decision to extend the land rental period;- In cases where the land lease period expires but no extension decision has been made, the SDL must pay annual land rent from the time the land lease period expires until the extension decision is made.

Circular 11/2018/TT-BTC takes effect from March 20, 2018.

2. Determining SDL Fees When Reissuing Invalid GCN

This is a new point in Circular 10/2018/TT-BTC amending Circular 76/2014/TT-BTC guiding Decree 45/2014/ND-CP on collecting SDL fees.

When reissuing the Certificate (GCN) that was issued not conformable to law (as stipulated in Clause 41 Article 2 Decree 01/2017/ND-CP), SDL fees are determined as follows:

- If the issued GCN is not conformable due to an error of the state agency, the SDL fees upon reissuing GCN will be determined based on the policy and land price at the time the GCN was previously issued;- If the issued GCN is not conformable due to an error of the SDL, the SDL fees upon reissuing the GCN will be determined based on the policy and land price at the time of reissuing the SDL certificate.

Note:

- If the SDL has not paid the SDL fees when previously issued GCN or the amount paid is less than the reevaluated SDL fees, the SDL must pay the missing amount;- If the previously paid SDL fees are more than the reevaluated SDL fees, the SDL will be refunded the excess amount.

Circular 10/2018/TT-BTC takes effect from March 20, 2018.

3. Reduction of Protection Fees for Forest Plant Varieties

The Ministry of Finance issued Circular 14/2018/TT-BTC amending and supplementing Circular 207/2016/TT-BTC on the rate, policy, collection, payment, management and use of fees in the field of cropping and forest plant varieties.

From March 26, 2018, the protection fees for forest plant varieties are reduced from 150,000 - 350,000 VND. Specifically:

- Recognition of selected forest section: From 750,000 VND reduced to 600,000 VND per variety;- Recognition of seed orchard: From 2,750,000 VND reduced to 2,400,000 VND per seed orchard;- Recognition of the origin of seed lots, seedling lots: From 750,000 VND reduced to 600,000 VND per seed lot.

In addition, Circular 14 also stipulates new fees for the assessment of conditional business activities in the field of agriculture for fertilizers.

4. Electronic Declaration of Registration Fees Through the Tax Department’s Website

From March 16, 2018, the pilot electronic declaration and payment of registration fees for cars and motorcycles will be implemented in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City according to Circular 05/2018/TT-BTC.

When declaring electronic registration fees on the General Department of Taxation's e-portal (referred to as the Website):

- Organizations and individuals managed by the tax authority with unused cars or motorcycles (excluding cars and motorcycles inherited or gifted), including organizations declaring on behalf of others as prescribed by law, must submit their declaration dossier on the Website;- Fee payers declare the technical safety and environmental protection quality certification number or type quality certification number and other information in the registration fee declaration form (following Form No. 02 in Decree 140/2016/ND-CP). The Website will automatically generate a registration fee code.

The procedure for electronic registration fee payment can be done electronically via banks or intermediary payment service providers or through the Website.

Additionally, Thu Ky Luat also updates some new legal documents in the field of social order and safety, and litigation such as:

1. Circular 05/2018/TT-BCA on collecting documents, creating dossiers to request the application of administrative handling measures for compulsory detoxification, effective from March 26, 2018;
2. Joint Circular 02/2018/TTLT-BCA-VKSNDTC-TANDTC-BQP on the order, procedures, time limits, places for the accused or legal representatives of commercial legal entities to read, copy defense documents, related to indictment, defense, or other related documents to advocacy, effective from March 18, 2018;
3. Joint Circular 03/2018/TTLT-BCA-VKSNDTC-TANDTC-BQP on guidelines for audio or video recording with sound; use, preservation, storage of audio or video recordings with sound during the investigation, prosecution, trial, effective from March 18, 2018.

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