CIRCULAR

AMENDMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTS TO CERTAIN ARTICLES OF CIRCULAR NO. 265/2016/TT-BTC DATED NOVEMBER 14, 2016 OF MINISTER OF FINANCE, REGULATING AMOUNT, REGIME FOR COLLECTION, PAYMENT, MANAGEMENT AND USE OF RADIO FREQUENCY SPECTRUM LICENSING AND USAGE FEES

Pursuant to the Law on Fees and Charges dated November 25, 2015;

Pursuant to the Law on Radio Frequency dated November 23, 2009;

Pursuant to the Law on Tax Administration dated June 13, 2019;

Pursuant to the Government's Decree No. 120/2016/ND-CP dated August 23, 2016, elaborating and providing guidance on implementation of a number of articles of the Law on Fees and Charges;

Pursuant to the Government's Decree No. 126/2020/ND-CP dated October 19, 2020, elaborating on certain articles of the Law on Tax Administration;

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

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The Minister of Finance herein promulgates the Circular on amendments and supplements to certain Articles of the Circular No. 265/2016/TT-BTC dated November 14, 2016 of the Minister of Finance, laying down the amount, regime for collection, payment, management and use of radio frequency spectrum licensing and usage fees.

Article 1. Amendments and supplements to certain Articles of the Circular No. 265/2016/TT-BTC dated November 14, 2016 of the Minister of Finance, regulating the amount, regime for collection, payment, management and use of radio frequency spectrum licensing and usage fees

1. Amending and supplementing clause 2 of Article 4 as follows:

“2. Licensing fee is charged for each unit of license for use of radio frequency spectrum.

a) Fee for renewal and reissuance of a license: It is equal to 20% of the fee for issuance of the license.

b) Fee for changes in a license: It is equal to the fee for issuance of the license. If any change in the license does not entail the act of re-assigning the radio frequency or requires the act of re-assigning the radio frequency in accordance with regulations laid down in specialized legislative documents: The fee is equal to 20% of the fee for issuance of the license”.

2. Amending and supplementing Article 5 as follows:

“Article 5. Fee exemption cases

1. The fee payer may be exempted from payment of the fee for issuance of the license to use the radio frequency with:

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b) the satellite terminals made for tracking and locating fishing vessels under way.

2. The fee payer may be exempted from payment of the radio frequency usage fee when using radio frequency with the following devices:

a) Radios of diplomatic missions, consular posts of foreign countries; representative agencies of international organizations in Vietnam; foreign senior delegations visiting Vietnam that are granted diplomatic privileges and immunities.

b) Radios directly serving national security and defence purposes only that use radio frequencies for such purposes, subject to Article 45 in the Law on Radio Frequency.

c) Radios intended for natural disaster and flood control purposes that use radio frequencies for running natural disaster or flood management information networks.

d) Radios using emergency, security, victim search and rescue spectra in accordance with regulations.

d) Radios directly serving emergency search and rescue purposes in the Victim Search and Rescue Management Systems of Ministries, central authorities and local authorities.

e) Radios of charity organizations providing humanitarian aid.

g) Radios of special telegraphic networks of CPV and Government bodies.

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i) Wireless radio stations of communes.

k) Transmitters broadcasting essential political and propaganda radio and television programs with the maximum capacity of 100w in poor districts or districts with high rate of poor households as regulated by the Government.

l) Standby transmitters sharing the same spectrum, antenna position and having the transmission capacity ERP less than or equal to that of the licensed main signal transmitters”.

3. Amending and supplementing several points of Article 6 as follows:

a) Amending and supplementing clause 1 of Article 6 as follows:

"a) Entities and persons can receive permits only after they fully pay fees for issuance, renewal, reissuance or modification of content of licenses, and fully pay the first bill for usage of radio frequencies in accordance with point b of this clause".

b) Amending and supplementing point b of clause 2 of Article 6 as follows:

“b. Fee collection agencies report on collected fees on a monthly basis and complete full-year accounts of these collected fees in accordance with regulations set forth in the Law on Tax Administration and the Government’s Decree No. 126/2020/ND-CP dated October 19, 2020, elaborating on several articles of the Law on Tax Administration”.

4. Amending and supplementing Article 7 as follows:

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1. Entities or persons that cease to use radio frequencies and radios before the deadlines specified in permits for usage of radio frequency may claim partial refunds of the fees for usage of radio frequencies charged for days left to the expiry dates shown on permits in the following cases:

a) The number of days left to the expiry date of the permit for usage of radio frequency that is suspended due to a spectrum auction or any change in the spectrum planning proposal is 30 or more.

b) The number of days left to the expiry date in other cases is 90 days or more.

2. The number of days left to the expiry date of a permit starts from the day on which the holder (as an entity or person) officially stops using the radio frequency, but not from any day before the Authority of Radio Frequency Management receives the Notification of Termination of use of radio frequency”.

5. Amending and supplementing clause 4 of Article 9 as follows:

“4. Other matters related to collection, reporting and payment of fees not covered by this Circular shall be subject to the Law on Fees and Charges; the Law on Tax Administration; the Decree No. 120/2016/ND-CP; the Decree No. 126/2020/ND-CP; the Decree No. 11/2020/ND-CP dated January 20, 2020 of the Government, prescribing administrative procedures in the state treasury sector; the Decree No. 123/2020/ND-CP dated October 19, 2020 of the Government, prescribing invoices and payment proofs; the Circular No. 78/2021/TT-BTC dated September 17, 2021 of the Minister of Finance, providing guidance on implementation of certain Articles of the Law on Tax Administration dated June 13, 2019; the Decree No. 123/2020/ND-CP dated October 19, 2020 of the Government, prescribing invoices and payment proofs; the Circular No. 303/2016/TT-BTC dated November 15, 2016 of the Minister of Finance, providing guidance on printing, issuance, management and use of types of proofs of collection of fees to be paid into the state budget".

6. Amending and supplementing the Schedule of fees for grant of permits for use of radio frequencies and fees for usage of radio frequencies enclosed in the Circular No. 265/2016/TT-BTC as follows:

Amending and supplementing paragraph 4 of Section I of Part A; paragraph 1 of Section I of Part B; subparagraph 3.2 and 3.3 of paragraph 3 of Section II of Part B; subparagraph 1.1 and 1.2 of paragraph 1 and 2 of Section IV of Part B in the Schedule of fees for grant of permits for use of radio frequencies and fees for usage of radio frequencies in the Appendix to this Circular.

Article 2. Implementation

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2. In the course of implementation, if documents mentioned in this Circular as legal citations are amended, supplemented or replaced, new versions thereof shall prevail.

3. If any payer already paying the fee for grant of the permit for use of radio frequency and the fee for usage of radio frequency according to the fee schedule given in the Circular No. 265/2016/TT-BTC before the effective date of this Circular, any differential between the fee collected according to the Circular No. 265/2016/TT-BTC and the fee collected according to this Circular shall not be recovered or refunded.

4. In the course of implementation of this Circular, if there is any difficulty that arises, entities and persons should promptly report to the Ministry of Finance for its review and further guidance./.

PP. MINISTER
DEPUTY MINISTER




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