Key Document Highlights from March 26 - March 31

1. New Conditions for Issuing Credit Guarantees for SMEs

The Government of Vietnam issued Decree 34/2018/ND-CP on the establishment, organization, and operation of the Credit Guarantee Fund for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).

SMEs will only be considered for credit guarantees if the following conditions are met:

- They have an investment project, and a business plan that is effective and capable of repaying the loan;- The investment project and business plan are assessed and decided upon for a guarantee by the Credit Guarantee Fund;- They have a capital contribution plan for at least 20% of the investment project or business plan at the time the Credit Guarantee Fund evaluates it for granting the guarantee;- At the time of the guarantee request, the enterprise must not have overdue tax debts of ≥ 01 year and bad debts at credit institutions. If the tax debt is due to objective reasons, there must be a confirmation from the direct tax management agency;- They have security measures for the loan guarantee.

Decree 34/2018/ND-CP takes effect from March 8, 2018.

1. Details on Taxable Income from Securities Transfers Subject to Personal Income Tax

The Ministry of Finance issued Circular 25/2018/TT-BTC (effective from May 1, 2018) to provide guidance on Decree 146/2017/ND-CP, and to amend Circular 78/2014/TT-BTC and Circular 111/2013/TT-BTC.

Compared to Point b, Clause 4, Article 2 of Circular 111/2013/TT-BTC, Circular 25 provides more detailed guidance on personal income received from the transfer of securities. Specifically, income from securities transfers includes:

- Income from the transfer of shares, the right to buy shares, bonds, treasury bills, fund certificates, and other types of securities as prescribed in Clause 1, Article 6 of the Securities Law;- Income from the transfer of shares of individuals in joint-stock companies as prescribed in Clause 2, Article 6 of the Securities Law and Article 120 of the Enterprise Law.

1. Guidance on Registering for the Import Tax Incentive Program for Automotive Parts

On March 27, 2018, the General Department of Customs issued Official Dispatch 1636/TCHQ-TXNK guiding the dossier and procedure for registering to participate in the Import Tax Incentive Program for automotive parts. Specifically:

- Regarding the dossier: Enterprises compile the Registration Dossier to participate in the Program according to point a, Clause 3, Article 7a of Decree 125/2017/ND-CP;

- Place to submit the dossier: The Sub-Department of Customs where the enterprise's headquarters is located or where the manufacturing plant is located before importing the first consignment participating in the Program.

- The Sub-Department of Customs receiving the dossier is responsible for:

- Receiving the dossier and responding to the handling of the enterprise's dossier;- Sending a written notice to the General Department of Customs about the list of enterprises registered to participate in the program and publishing it on the General Department of Customs' website.

1. Guidance on Changing Information on Health Insurance Cards

According to Official Dispatch 1677/BYT-BH dated March 28, 2018, during the process of reviewing and synchronizing data to serve the issuance and exchange of health insurance cards according to the new social security number regulations, some information on health insurance cards will be changed. Thus, Vietnam Social Security has regulations:

- In the event that the information on the health insurance card or the information checked via the API provided by the social insurance agency differs from the information searched at the time the health insurance card holder visits the medical facility (excluding discrepancies in the benefit level or the validity period of the health insurance card):

- The medical facility only needs to make 01 Statement of Medical Examination and Treatment Costs (according to the form in Decision 3455/QD-BYT dated October 15, 2013) and 01 electronic file, corrected according to the latest information searched;- Inform the patient or their relative to contact the social insurance agency immediately to change the health insurance card according to the updated information.

- During treatment, if the patient’s health insurance card information is different from the information previously searched, the medical facility shall:

- Prepare the payment dossier based on the administrative information and benefit level of the health insurance card checked at the time the patient arrives for examination;- Simultaneously, create the electronic data record according to the information recorded when the patient arrived for examination as per the regulations in Decree 105/2014/ND-CP.

- In the case that a patient is issued a referral letter within the calendar year that records the health insurance card code different from the one searched in the electronic system, the medical facility and the social insurance agency will still accept and process it in conformity and will not require the patient to request a new referral letter.

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