10 new policies effective from December 2017

(Baonghean.vn) -Tightening regulations on foreign currency loans; Vietnamese people can play casino; Changing land use right certificates; New regulations on betting business… are new policies and outstanding regulations that take effect from December 2017.

1. Regulations on betting business on horse racing, dog racing and international football

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The Minister of Finance issued Circular No. 101/2017/TT-BTC guiding a number of provisions in Decree No. 06/2017/ND-CP dated January 24, 2017 of the Government on betting business on horse racing, dog racing and international football.

Accordingly, businesses that operate horse racing, dog racing and international football betting businesses must separately account for revenues, expenses and profits related to betting business activities. At the same time, these items must be separately monitored in the accounting system and financial statements.

In case the revenue and expenses related to betting business activities are associated with other business activities of the enterprise, they are implemented as follows:

For betting businesses that cannot separately account for revenue from betting business activities from revenue from other business activities, the entire revenue that cannot be separated is the revenue used to calculate special consumption tax on betting business activities;

In case the expenses are both related to betting business activities and other business activities of the enterprise, the expenses must be allocated according to the percentage (%) between the revenue from betting business activities compared to the total revenue of the enterprise.

The Circular takes effect from December 1, 2017.

2. Vietnamese people who want to play in casinos must have an income of 10 million VND or more.

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According to Circular 102, to participate in playing at a Casino Business Point, Vietnamese people must prove their financial capacity. In particular, the documents proving that Vietnamese people have sufficient financial capacity to participate in playing at a Casino Business Point are one of the following types of documents:

Documents proving taxable income from level 3 or higher as prescribed in the Law on Personal Income Tax within 1 year before entering the casino; documents proving regular income from 10 million VND/month or more.

In addition, casino businesses that are allowed to pilot allowing Vietnamese people to play in casinos are responsible for keeping records according to regulations for a minimum period of 5 years from the date of allowing Vietnamese people to play in casinos.

This Circular also stipulates that casino businesses must open a logbook or issue electronic cards to control all subjects allowed to enter and exit the casino business location according to the provisions of Article 14 of Decree No. 03/2017/ND-CP.

The Circular guiding the Decree on casino business takes effect from December 1, 2017 and at this time, Vietnamese people who meet the prescribed conditions will be allowed to play casino.

3. Change of red book from December 5, 2017

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The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment recently issued Circular No. 33/2017/TT-BTNMT detailing Decree No. 01/2017/ND-CP dated January 6, 2017 of the Government amending and supplementing a number of decrees detailing the implementation of the Land Law and amending and supplementing a number of articles of circulars guiding the implementation of the Land Law. This Circular takes effect from December 5, 2017.

Accordingly, for households using land, write "Mr. Household" (or "Mrs. Household"), then write the full name, year of birth, name and number of the identity document of the head of the household as prescribed in Point a of this Clause; permanent address of the household.

In case the head of the household does not have the right to use the common land of the household, the representative must be another member of the household who has the right to use the common land of the household.

In case the head of the household or another representative of the household has a husband or wife who also has the right to use the common land of the household, the full name and year of birth of that husband or wife must be recorded.

Then write “Jointly using land, jointly owning property attached to land (or Jointly using land or Jointly owning property) with … (write in turn the full name, year of birth, name and identity document number of the remaining members of the household sharing the right to use land, ownership of property attached to land)”.

Thus, Circular 33 has added the subject of "remaining members of the household sharing land use rights" to the red book.

4. Crew members must eat at least 3 meals/day.

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The Ministry of Health issued Circular 40/2017/TT-BYT regulating hygiene and safety standards for food, drinking water and meal quantities for crew members working on Vietnamese ships.

Accordingly, the daily energy ration for crew members is specified as follows:

- For male crew members from 2,926 Kcal/day to 3,234 Kcal/day.

- For female crew members from 2,486 Kcal/day to 2,574 Kcal/day.

- Energy from nutritional components protein, lipid, glucid in daily diet accounts for 13-20%, 20-25% and 55-67% respectively.

In addition, there must be at least 3 meals a day (1 snack and 2 main meals) under normal conditions, food selection and food preparation methods must be suitable to the religion, beliefs and culture of the crew. Circular 40 takes effect from December 6, 2017.

5. New regulations on penalties in the field of product quality measurement standards

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Specifically, Decree 119 stipulates a fine of 2-5 million VND for codes and barcodes in the following cases: not paying usage fees; not completing procedures to extend the certificate of right to use; not re-registering with the competent authority when lost or damaged...

Fines from 6 to 10 million VND for one of the following acts: Using codes and barcodes starting with the Vietnamese country code (893) without permission from a competent authority; using revoked codes and barcodes; transferring granted codes and barcodes.

Fines of 10-20 million VND for one of the following acts: Using foreign codes and barcodes to print on products and goods manufactured in Vietnam without approval from a competent foreign agency; using signs that cause confusion with codes and barcodes of state management agencies and international code and barcode organizations.

Fines from 20 to 50 million VND for using codes and barcodes in the following cases: Providing or using incorrect data sources; providing false information about the owner or user...

Decree 119 takes effect from December 15, 2017.

6. Export enterprises are running out of foreign currency loans

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According to Circular 31/2016 of the State Bank, credit institutions and foreign bank branches licensed to conduct foreign exchange activities shall consider and decide to lend foreign currency to resident customers to meet short-term capital needs in the country. Thereby, in order to implement plans for production and trading of export goods.

The above regulation will be implemented until December 31, 2017. Thus, if the State Bank does not extend, exporting enterprises will no longer have the opportunity to enjoy preferential loan policies after this period.

7. Reduced notarization fees for auction property sale contracts

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That is the content mentioned in Circular 111/2017/TT-BTC amending Circular 257/2016/TT-BTC on fees and charges for notarization and certification of contracts, effective from December 11, 2017.

Accordingly, the notarization fee for auction property sale and purchase contracts is reduced as follows:

- For assets worth less than 5 billion VND: 90,000 VND (previously 100,000 VND)

- For assets worth from 5 billion VND to under 20 billion VND: 270,000 VND (previously 300,000 VND)

- For assets worth over 20 billion VND: 450,000 VND (previously 500,000 VND)

8. Reduced registration fees for secured transactions from December 11, 2017

Pursuant to Circular 113/2017/TT-BTC effective from December 11, 2017, the fee for registration of secured transactions has been significantly reduced as follows:

- Fee for registration of notice of handling of secured assets: reduced from 70,000 VND/file to 30,000 VND/file.

- Fee for issuing a copy of the document certifying the content of secured transaction registration: reduced from VND 30,000/case to VND 25,000/case.

9. Conditions for early discharge

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Non-commissioned officers and soldiers are discharged early when one of the following conditions is met:

- The health assessment council from the division level and equivalent or higher or the competent medical assessment council concludes that the person does not meet the health standards for active service according to Joint Circular 16/2016/TTLT-BYT-BQP.

- The People's Committee at the commune level and the Military Command at the district level confirm that the family is in difficult circumstances and is eligible for temporary deferment from military service as prescribed in Point b and c, Clause 1, Article 41 of the 2015 Law on Military Service, specifically as follows:

+ Being the only worker who must directly support relatives who are no longer able to work or have not reached working age; in a family that has suffered serious damage to people and property due to accidents, natural disasters, or dangerous epidemics confirmed by the People's Committee of the commune level;

+ A child of a war invalid or person infected with Agent Orange whose working capacity is reduced from 61% to 80%.

- The People's Committee at the commune level and the Military Command at the district level confirm that the family is in difficult circumstances and is exempt from military service as prescribed in Points a, b, c, Clause 2, Article 41 of the Law on Military Service 2015, specifically as follows:

+ Children of martyrs, children of first-class disabled soldiers; + One brother or sister of a martyr; + One child of a second-class disabled soldier; one child of a sick soldier with a reduced working capacity of 81% or more; one child of a person infected with Agent Orange with a reduced working capacity of 81% or more.

- The Military Security Protection Agency reports to the competent authority to decide that the political standards are not met according to Article 5 of Joint Circular 50/2016/TTLT-BQP-BCA.

Required documents: - Military service record/ - Military service health certificate/ - Military card/ - Work history review.

- Discharge decision: 05 copies (the unit that handles the discharge 01 copy; the financial agency of the unit that handles the discharge 01 copy; the Military Command at the district level where the non-commissioned officer or soldier is discharged 01 copy; the non-commissioned officer or soldier is discharged 02 copies, of which 01 copy is used to submit to the vocational training facility where the non-commissioned officer or soldier goes to learn a trade).

Note: For non-commissioned officers and soldiers with a service period of 01 month or more, if they do not meet the conditions for service in the army, the discharge records shall comply with the provisions of Clause 1 of this Article (demobilization decision clearly stating the reason for discharge) and shall be accompanied by one of the following documents:

+ Health assessment report of the Health Assessment Council from the division level and equivalent or higher or medical assessment report of the competent medical assessment council concluding that the person is not healthy enough to serve in the army according to regulations.

+ Certificate from the People's Committee at the commune level and the Military Command at the district level that the family is in difficult circumstances according to regulations.

+ Document of competent authority concluding that the political standards are not met as prescribed in Point d Clause 3 Article 4 of this Circular.

For non-commissioned officers and soldiers with less than 01 month of active service, if they are not eligible for active service, the unit commander from regimental level and above shall notify in writing and clearly state the reasons for not being eligible for active service, along with the enlistment records and hand them over to the district-level locality where the troops were assigned according to regulations.

- Other relevant documents (if any).

10. The area under the bridge cannot be used for housing, parking lots and other business services.

In Hanoi, many areas under overpasses are being used as parking lots. Photo: IT

- For locations under road bridges that have been approved by competent authorities for use as temporary parking lots before December 1, 2017, when the temporary use period expires, the organization or individual assigned to use the space is responsible for restoring the original condition and handing it over to the road management agency.

The road management agency is responsible for inspecting, supervising and receiving the land handed over by organizations and individuals.

- In case the temporary parking lot expires and the organization or individual assigned to use it temporarily does not return it, the road management agency shall handle it according to its authority and notify the People's Committees at all levels to organize compulsory clearance according to regulations.

Peace

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