Controlling the income of officials

According to the draft plan for controlling the income of officials and those in positions of power, recently released by the Government Inspectorate for public comment, all income from salaries, bonuses, capital transfers, securities, real estate, lottery winnings, etc., will be controlled by the state. Unexplained assets whose origin cannot be explained may be confiscated immediately.

The focus will be on researching and revising legal regulations on transparency of assets and income, and on payment transactions through banks - Photo: Ngoc Thang

Speaking to Thanh Nien newspaper on December 22nd, Mr. Pham Trong Dat, Director of the Anti-Corruption Department of the Government Inspectorate, said that the draft plan had just been submitted to the Politburo for consideration and feedback. “If the Politburo agrees to allow the Government to implement it, we will begin developing a specific and detailed roadmap for controlling the income of all officials and those in positions of power as stipulated,” Mr. Dat said.

Build a database of assets and income.

According to the Government Inspectorate, transparency of assets and income is considered a key and central solution in preventing corruption, but it currently has many limitations; regulations on asset and income declaration by those obligated to declare under the Law on Prevention and Combat of Corruption are still largely formalistic and do not effectively control the assets, income, and consumption of those holding positions of power and authority.

The Government Inspectorate (TTCP) noted that another important reason for the limitations in income control is that the Vietnamese economy still primarily uses cash. Therefore, the draft proposal aims to research and build a database on the assets and income of officials and those in positions of power from the time of their election, recruitment, or appointment until five years after their retirement, containing a wide range of information, including: information on asset and income declarations of officials and those in positions of power; information on income from the state budget; information on taxable personal income (PIT)...

To lay the groundwork for building the database, the draft suggests that it is necessary to quickly finalize legal regulations on declaration, explanation, verification, and handling of individuals who make dishonest declarations and those whose income cannot be explained by its legitimate source.

According to the draft, income subject to control includes dozens of categories stipulated in Articles 3 and 4 of the Personal Income Tax Law: income from bonuses, capital transfers, real estate, securities, winnings (casino, betting, lottery), state compensation, compensation from life insurance contracts, etc. Undeclared or incompletely declared income, when discovered and unable to provide an explanation of its origin upon request, will be considered illegal income. The Ministry of Public Security will study and propose adding the crime of illegal enrichment to the Criminal Code and conduct investigations and prosecutions aimed at recovering assets and income of unexplained origin from individuals in positions of power and authority.

Without complete control, it's easy for the items to be embezzled.

The draft outlines a fairly specific implementation roadmap. Accordingly, in phase 1 (2014 - 2016), the focus will be on researching, reviewing, amending, and perfecting legal regulations on asset and income transparency, bank payment transactions, personal income tax, regulations on receiving and returning gifts, and controlling spending by officials and those in positions of power. During this phase, the Government Inspectorate will coordinate with relevant ministries and agencies to focus on controlling the income of officials and those in positions of power at the local level from the deputy chairman of the district level and equivalent upwards; and at the central level from the deputy director level and equivalent upwards.

After summarizing and evaluating the advantages and disadvantages of the implementation in phase 1, phase 2 (2017-2020) will begin with the most important goal being to expand income control to those obligated to declare assets and income, so that by phase 3 (after 2020) all income of those holding positions of power and authority will be controlled.

In addition to controlling expenditures, the State Bank of Vietnam is tasked with developing a plan to upgrade the technical infrastructure to support the implementation of payment methods through bank accounts for all funds from the state budget to individuals holding positions of power and authority.

According to Mr. Pham Trong Dat, controlling income cannot be done quickly "overnight," but must be a process, carried out step by step, because there are currently too many obstacles to overcome. Mr. Dat said that in the initial phase, the focus will be on requiring income declarations and establishing mechanisms to verify and assess the honesty of those declarations. "There will be a mechanism to allow the immediate confiscation of unexplained assets whose origin cannot be proven," Mr. Dat affirmed.

Associate Professor Bui Thi An, Director of the Institute of Resources, Environment and Community Development, believes that the key factor determining the success or failure of the project lies in whether or not it is possible to control all the assets of those in positions of power and authority. Currently, almost the entire economy uses cash, and while converting to bank transfers is difficult, it is even more challenging because there are many types of assets, including land, houses, stocks, investments, boats, cars, gold, diamonds, etc. “If we cannot control all of these assets, it is very easy for them to convert them into other forms. Furthermore, setting an implementation roadmap that is too long could easily encourage wealthy officials to quickly transfer their assets,” Professor An expressed her concern.

Who is subject to income control?

The draft states that those holding positions of authority as stipulated in Clause 2, Article 1 of the Law on Prevention and Combat of Corruption are subject to income control: cadres, civil servants, and public employees; officers, professional soldiers, and defense workers in agencies and units of the People's Army; professional officers and non-commissioned officers, and technical officers and non-commissioned officers in agencies and units of the People's Public Security; leaders and managers in state-owned enterprises; leaders and managers who represent the state's capital contribution in enterprises; and individuals assigned to perform duties and public service with authority while performing those duties and public service. These individuals must declare their income periodically (quarterly, annually) and are responsible for the accuracy of the declared information.

According to Thanh Nien newspaper.