Do I have to pay interest if I'm late in paying traffic fines?
Many people wonder if they will be charged interest if they receive a traffic violation notice but are late in paying the fine.
According to traffic police, regarding interest on late payment of administrative fines (including fines issued after the fact), Clause 1, Article 5 of Circular 18/2023 stipulates that if an individual or organization fails to pay the fine within the deadline for enforcing the administrative penalty decision, the decision will be enforced, and for each day of delay, the offending individual or organization must pay an additional 0.05% of the total unpaid fine.
The number of days of late payment of fines includes holidays and days off as prescribed by regulations, and is calculated from the day following the last day of the deadline for paying the fine until the day before the individual or organization committing the administrative violation pays the fine into the State budget.
Therefore, if an individual or organization fails to pay the fine within 10 days of receiving the administrative penalty decision, enforcement action will be taken, and for each day of delay, the offending individual or organization will have to pay an additional 0.05% of the total unpaid fine.
Regarding the method for determining the time to calculate late payment penalties, Circular 18/2023 clearly states that, in cases where the penalty decision is delivered directly, the date for calculating late payment penalties is 10 days after or after the deadline for enforcement stated in the administrative violation penalty decision, counting from the date of receipt of the penalty decision.
In cases where the penalty decision is sent by registered mail (postal penalty), the late payment penalty calculation date is 10 days after (including holidays and weekends) or after the enforcement deadline stated in the administrative penalty decision, counting from the date the penalty decision is duly delivered as prescribed.
In cases where an individual or organization subject to a penalty does not have confirmation of receipt of the penalty decision, or cannot present a valid receipt date for the penalty decision, but does not intentionally refuse to receive the penalty decision, the calculation of late payment penalties will begin 12 days after the date the penalty decision was issued.
In cases where individuals intentionally refuse to accept the penalty decision, the authority that issued the penalty decision and the authority that enforced the penalty shall notify the State Treasury where the fine is collected of the time considered to have delivered the penalty decision, so that the State Treasury can calculate the late payment penalty.
In cases where individuals or organizations are penalized but intentionally fail to pay the late payment penalty, the competent authority shall collect the administrative penalty as stated in the penalty decision; at the same time, the late payment penalty shall still be calculated and clearly recorded on the penalty payment receipt…
However, Circular 18/2023/TT-BTC also adds cases where late payment penalties for administrative violations are not charged.
Clause 2 of Article 5 of this Circular stipulates that late payment penalties for administrative violations shall not be charged in the following cases: during the period of postponement of the enforcement of the administrative violation penalty decision; and during the period of consideration and decision on reducing, waiving the remaining amount, or allowing payment of the fine in installments.
