Highlight of Key Legal Documents in the Fields of Tax, Salary, and Land

1. Amendment to Regulations on Officials' Salaries

Decree 117/2016/ND-CP amended Decree 204/2004/ND-CP regarding salary policies for officials and public employees and armed forces, effective from September 15, 2016.

The salaries of officials have some new points as follows:

- Increase the highest salary level of cryptographic personnel in cryptographic organizations to be equivalent to the rank of Lieutenant General (currently regulated to be equivalent to the rank of Major General);- Add regulations on the duration for considering salary increases for military ranks/ranks for Generals, Colonels, and Captains to be 04 years; for First Lieutenants to be 03 years;- Add position-based allowance coefficients for leadership in departments under Ministries: Director (0.6), Deputy Director (0.4), Head of Division (0.3), Deputy Head of Division (0.2).

1. Continue Applying 0.05%/Day Interest Rate for Late Tax Payments

According to Official Dispatch 10315/BTC-TCT guiding the Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Value-Added Tax, the Law on Special Consumption Tax, and the Law on Tax Administration, the 0.05%/day interest rate will continue to apply from the due date until June 30, 2016 when:

- Taxpayers (NNT) declare less tax money for the tax period before July 1, 2016, but after July 1, 2016, the competent state authority discovers or NNT self-discover.

Additionally, a 0.03%/day rate will apply to the amount of tax declared less from July 1, 2016, until NNT pays into the state budget.

For the case of tax liabilities incurred before July 1, 2016, but not yet paid by July 1, 2016, the 0.03%/day late payment interest rate will apply from July 1, 2016.

1. Amendment of 04 Decrees on Taxes According to Decree 100/2016/ND-CP

Decree 100/2016/ND-CP guiding the implementation of a number of articles of the Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Value-Added Tax, the Law on Special Consumption Tax, and the Law on Tax Administration has amended and supplemented 04 Decrees on taxes. Specifically:

- Decree 209/2013/ND-CP guiding the Law on Value-Added Tax;- Decree 108/2015/ND-CP guiding the Law on Special Consumption Tax and the amended Law on Special Consumption Tax;- Decree 83/2013/ND-CP guiding the Law on Tax Administration and the amended Law on Tax Administration;- Decree 129/2013/ND-CP on sanctioning administrative violations in the field of taxation and enforcing the implementation of administrative decisions on taxation.

Decree 100/2016/ND-CP is effective from July 1, 2016 (Clause 2, Article 3 of Decree 100 is effective from September 1, 2016).

1. List of Mortgaged Real Estate Projects in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City

Recently, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment of Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) and Hanoi announced the List of projects registered for mortgaging land use rights and assets attached to land to be formed in the future. Accordingly:

- As of June 8, 2016, there are 77 housing projects in HCMC mortgaged by investors at banks;- As of July 29, 2016, there are 34 housing projects in Hanoi mortgaged by investors at banks.

See the detailed list of housing projects in HCMC currently mortgaged in Official Dispatch 7067/TNMT-VPDK dated July 14, 2016, and the list of housing projects in Hanoi currently mortgaged here.

1. New Regulations on Passport Issuance Time

According to Circular 29/2016/TT-BCA guiding the issuance, amendment, and supplementation of ordinary passports in the country for Vietnamese citizens (CDVN) effective from August 20, 2016, the validity period of passports issued to CDVN:

- 10 years for citizens aged 14 years and above except for:- CDVN returning to the country using a passport issued by a Vietnamese representative agency abroad, not eligible for passport reissuance, will be considered for issuing a passport valid for no more than 01 year to return abroad;- Cases not yet allowed to exit if permitted to exit by the Minister of Public Security.- 05 years for children from 09 to under 14 years old (age not eligible to be included in the parent's passport) and passports issued jointly for CDVN and their children under 09 years old.

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