What are the cases where the road use fee is waived in Vietnam?

What are the cases where the road use fee is waived in Vietnam? (Internet image)

Regarding this issue, LawNet would like to answer as follows:

1. What are the cases where the road use fee is waived in Vietnam?

Specifically, Article 3 of Circular 70/2021/TT-BTC stipulates that the road use fee is waived for:

- Ambulance.

- Fire engine.

- Funeral vehicles, including:

+ Vehicles specifically structured for funeral (hearse and refrigerated truck for carriage and storage of corpses).

+ Vehicles used only for funeral services (passenger vehicle accompanying the hearse, flower-carrying vehicle, portrait-carrying vehicle) and registered under a funeral service provider. 

The funeral service provider shall give a written undertaking (which specifies the quantity and plate number of the vehicles) to use such vehicles for funeral activities to the registry agency (upon the inspection of the vehicle).

- Vehicles specialized for national defense, which are road motor vehicles carrying a number plate with red background and embossed white numerical and alphabetical characters and fitted with national defense equipment (a tanker vehicle, crane truck, a personnel carrier refers to a passenger automobile with at least 12 seats or a transport truck with seat-fitted covered body, and other specialized vehicles fitted with a red-painted number plate).

- Security vehicles of police forces including:

+ Traffic cars of the traffic police, which have the following traits: a rotary strobe is fitted on the cars’ roof and the word “CẢNH SÁT GIAO THÔNG” (TRAFFIC POLICE) is exhibited on both sides of their body.

+ Police cars of the 113 unit, which display the word: "CẢNH SÁT 113" (113 POLICE) on both sides of their body.

+ Mobile police cars that show the word: "CẢNH SÁT CƠ ĐỘNG" (MOBILE POLICE) on both sides of their body.

+ Vans with seat-fitted covered body, which transport police personnel on duty.

+ Prisoner transport vehicles, rescue vehicles.

+ Special-service cars (satellite information vehicles, bulletproof vehicles, anti-terrorism, riot prevention vehicles and other special vehicles of the Ministry of Public Security).

2. Vehicles subject to road use fee in Vietnam

Pursuant to Article 2 of Circular 70/2021/TT-BTC, vehicles subject to road use fee include: 

- Vehicles subject to road use fee are motor vehicles for road transport, which have been registered for operation (with the certificate of vehicle registration and number plate, inspection certificate), including automobiles, tractor units and similar vehicles (hereinafter referred to as automobiles).

- The automobiles defined in Section 1 of Article 2 of Circular 70/2021/TT-BTC shall not incur the road use fee when:

+ Being damaged by an accident or natural disaster.

+ Being seized or stripped of certificate of vehicle registration or number plate.

+ Being rendered inoperative by a serious accident and requiring repair for at least 30 days.

+ Being commercial transport vehicles of transport companies, cooperatives and cooperatives unions (hereinafter referred to as companies), which cease operating in at least 30 consecutive days.

+ Neither entering the traffic flow nor employing the roadways in the road transport system (only obtaining inspection certificate and not obtaining inspection stamp as prescribed by the Ministry of Transport regarding vehicle safety and emission inspection for road motor vehicles), but operating within the land area of a driving test center, station, port, mine, agricultural or forestry zone; construction work (traffic, irrigation, power).

+ Being registered and inspected in Vietnam but operating abroad in 30 consecutive days or more.

+ Being stolen for a minimum period of 30 days.

- The fee shall be exempted in the circumstances defined in Section 2 of this Section if the documents defined in Article 9 of Circular 70/2021/TT-BTC are submitted accordingly. 

The owners of such automobiles for which the road use fee has been paid shall be refunded the fee amount paid (for the inoperative automobiles damaged, seized or stripped of the certificate of vehicle registration or number plate) or receive a deduction to the fee amount payable in the following period (for automobiles in operation) in accordance with the period of time in which the automobiles do not operate on the roads.

- Section 2 of Article 2 of Circular 70/2021/TT-BTC does not apply to the automobiles of national defense forces and police.

- The fee is not levied on the automobiles fitted with a foreign number plate (including those registered and given a temporary plate) which are imported temporarily for a defined period of time before temporary import and re-export under competent authorities’ permission as per the laws.

3. Payer and collector of road use fee in Vietnam

Payer and collector of road use fee are defined in Article 4 of Circular 70/2021/TT-BTC as follows:

- The owner, user or manager of a vehicle (hereinafter referred to as the vehicle possessor) which incurs the fee pursuant to Article 2 of Circular 70/2021/TT-BTC shall be the payer of the road use fee.

- Fee collectors are:

+ Directorate for Roads of Vietnam shall collect fee on automobiles of national defense and police forces.

+ Registry agencies shall collect the fee on the automobiles registered under organizations and individuals in Vietnam (except the automobiles of police and national defense forces specified in point a of Section 2 Article 4 of Circular 70/2021/TT-BTC ) and remit the fee to the Vietnam Register for further declaration and remittance as prescribed in Article 8 of Circular 70/2021/TT-BTC.

Ho Quoc Tuan

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