CIRCULAR

STIPULATING FEES FOR HANDLING OF COMPETITION CASES, COLLECTION, TRANSFER, MANAGEMENT AND USE THEREOF

Pursuant to the Law on fees and charges dated November 25, 2015;

Pursuant to the Law on state budget dated June 25, 2015;

Pursuant to the Competition Law dated June 12, 2018;

Pursuant to the Government's Decree No. 120/2016/ND-CP dated August 23, 2016 detailing and guiding the implementation of a number of articles of the Law on fees and charges;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 87/2017/ND-CP dated July 26, 2017 defining functions, tasks, powers and organizational structure of the Ministry of Finance;

For implementation of the Directive No. 11/CT-TTg dated March 04, 2020 of the Prime Minister on urgent objectives and solutions for assisting businesses facing difficulties and assurance of social welfare amid Covid-19 pandemic;

At the request of the Director of the Tax Policy Department;

The Minister of Finance promulgates a Circular stipulating fees for handling of competition cases, collection, transfer, management and use thereof.

Article 1. Scope and regulated entities

1. This Circular stipulates the fees for handling competition cases, and collection, transfer, management and use thereof, including: fees for handling independent claims of persons having related rights and obligations, and fees for appraising applications for exemption when handling competition cases.  

2. This Circular applies to:

a) Organizations and individuals that have independent claims handled by competent authorities as persons having related rights and obligations, or applications for exemption appraised when handling competition cases.  

b) Competent authorities handling independent claims of persons having related rights and obligations and those appraising applications for exemption when handling competition cases. 

c) Other organizations and individuals involved in collection and transfer of fees for handling independent claims of persons having related rights and obligations, and fees for appraising applications for exemption when handling competition cases.

Article 2. Payers 

Payers under this Circular include:

1. Persons filing independent claims in competition cases in the capacity of persons with related rights and obligation as prescribed in Article 72 of the Competition Law.

2. Applicants for exemption from prohibition on anti-competitive agreements as prescribed in Article 16 of the Competition Law.

Article 3. Collectors

Authorities competent to handle independent claims of persons with related rights and obligations and appraise applications for exemption when handling competition cases, affiliated to the Ministry of Industry and Trade (including Vietnam Competition and Consumer Authority, and National Competition Commission) shall collect fees in accordance with regulations hereof.

Article 4. Fees

1. The following fees shall apply from the effective date of this Circular to December 31, 2020 inclusively:

a) Fee for handling independent claims of persons having related rights and obligations: VND 5,000,000/ case.

b) Fee for appraising applications for exemption in competition cases: VND 25,000,000/ application.
2. Fees applied from January 01, 2021 onwards:

a) Fee for handling independent claims of persons having related rights and obligations: VND 10,000,000/ case.

b) Fee for appraising applications for exemption in competition cases: VND 50,000,000/ application.
Article 5. Fee declaration and transfer 

1. Payers shall pay fees as follows:

a) Persons filing independent claims in competition cases in the capacity of persons having related rights and obligations shall pay an advance equaling 100% of the fee prescribed in Article 4 hereof.  Persons filing independent claims shall pay fees if such claims are rejected by competent authorities.   The fees paid in advance shall be return to persons whose independent claims are accepted by competent authorities.

b) When submitting applications for exemption from prohibition on anti-competitive agreements, applicants shall pay 100% of the fee prescribed in Article 4 hereof which shall not be returned in any cases.

2. Collectors shall declare and transfer the amounts of collected fees as follows:

a) Not later than the 05th day of every month, each collector must transfer total amount of the fees collected in the previous month to the designated state budget account opened at the State Treasury.

b) Collectors shall make monthly declaration and annual statement of collected fees in accordance with Clause 3 Article 19 and transfer collected fees in accordance with Clause 2 Article 26 of the Circular No. 156/2013/TT-BTC dated November 06, 2013 by Minister of Finance providing guidance on a number of articles of the Law on tax administration, the Law on amendments to the Law on tax administration and the Government's Decree No. 83/2013/ND-CP dated July 22, 2013.

Article 6. Fee management and use 

1. Each collector shall pay total amount of collected fees to state budget according to the list of current state budget entries. Expenses incurred when rendering services and collecting fees shall be covered by funding derived from state budget and included in the collector’s expenditure estimate according to policies and levels of state budget expenditures as regulated by law.

2. If the collector is provided with a predetermined funding for covering its operating expenditures in accordance with Article 4 of the Government's Decree No. 120/2016/ND-CP dated August 23, 2016, it may retain 90% of total amount of collected fees to cover its expenditures and expenses incurred when collecting fees as regulated in Article 5 of the Government's Decree No. 120/2016/ND-CP dated August 23, 2016. The remaining amount, i.e. 10% of collected fees, must be paid to state budget according to the list of current state budget entries.

Article 7. Implementation

1. This Circular comes into force from July 27, 2020 and supersedes the Circular No. 251/2016/TT-BTC dated November 11, 2016 of the Minister of Finance stipulating fees for handling competition cases, and collection, transfer, management and use thereof.

2. Other contents relating to the fee collection, transfer, management and use, which are not provided for in this Circular, shall be performed in accordance with regulations of the Law on fees and charges, the Government's Decree No. 120/2016/ND-CP dated August 23, 2016, the Circular No. 156/2013/TT-BTC dated November 06, 2013 by Minister of Finance, and the Circular No. 303/2016/TT-BTC dated November 15, 2016 by Minister of Finance.

3. If any legislative documents referred to in this Circular are amended, supplemented or replaced, the new ones shall apply.

4. Payers and relevant agencies are responsible for the implementation of this Circular. Difficulties that arise during the implementation of this Circular should be promptly reported to Ministry of Finance for consideration./.

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