Chương I Thông tư 111/2021/TT-BTC: Quy định chung

Chapter I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope of application

1. This Circular provides for accounting for taxation and other state budget receipts falling within the collection jurisdiction of tax authorities as prescribed in the Law on Tax Administration and other written documents on guidance on implementation thereof (hereinafter referred to as tax accounting), including:

a) General regulations on tax accounting;

b) Application of information technology in tax accounting activities;

c) Collection of input data or information and evidencing documents or vouchers;

d) Accounts;

dd) Accounting books or records;

e) Accounting reports;

g) Conduct of accounting work.

2. Other matters related to tax accounting activities that are not detailed herein shall be subject to general regulatory provisions of accounting legislation.

Article 2. Subjects of application

1. Tax authorities: General Department of Taxation; Departments of Taxation; Regional Sub-departments of Taxation; Departments of Taxation.

2. Other government agencies, entities and individuals involved in tax accounting activities mentioned herein.

Article 3.Interpretation

For the purposes of this Circular, terms used herein shall be construed as follows:

1. Tax is composed of taxes and other state budget receipts falling within the collection jurisdiction of tax authorities according to clause 1 and 2 of Article 3 in the Law on Tax Administration.

2. Tax accounting refers to a tax authority-at-any-level’s practice of collecting, reporting, recording and recognizing all tax-related amounts arising from carrying out its tax administration operations, including tax liabilities or tax-related payments that need to be collected, have already been collected, and remain to be collected; tax refunds or tax-related reimbursements that need to be paid, have already been paid; remain to be paid; tax debts that are exempt, reduced, charged off, cancelled or forgiven.

3. Tax administration operations refers to activities related to tax administration that are carried out tax authorities at any level according to the functions, duties, entitlements and the Law on Tax Administration, Tax Laws, relevant legislation, and professional tax administration procedures promulgated by the General Department of Taxation.

4. Tax accounting unit may be the General Department of Taxation; Department of Taxation; Regional Sub-department of Taxation; or Department of Taxation.

5. System of tax administration apps refers to a collection of information technology applications developed, launched and put to use by the General Department of Taxation to carry out tax administration operations.

6. Taxpayer obligation management subsystem refers to an application belonging to the System of tax administration apps that serves the function of managing tax liabilities that need to be collected; have already been collected; remain to be collected from; tax refunds that need to be paid; have already been paid; remain to be paid to each taxpayer; tax exemptions, deductions or debt charge-off or cancellation that each taxpayer enjoys; concurrently, providing tax-accounting input data or information as prescribed in Article 12 herein.

7. Tax accounting subsystem refers to an application belonging to the System of tax administration apps that is designed for tax accountancy in accordance with Article 4, 5 and 6 herein.

8. Tax administration database refers to a collection of tax administration data and information updated, processed, used, organized and stored in the System of tax administration apps according to regulatory provisions and professional procedures for tax administration issued by the Director of the General Department of Taxation.

9. Tax accounting database refers to a collection of tax-accounting data and information (including input information, evidencing documents, accounts, books and reports) that are stored, arranged and organized in order for them to be accessed, used, managed and updated by electronic means on the tax accounting subsystem.

Article 4. Objects of tax accounting operation

1. Tax liabilities and tax-related payments that need to be collected; have already been collected; remain to be collected: Representing tax amounts that tax authorities are liable to collect; have already collected; will collect from taxpayers, or their authorized collection agencies.

2. Tax refunds and tax-related reimbursements that need to be paid; have already been paid; remain to be paid: Representing tax amounts that tax authorities are liable to collect; have already paid; will pay to taxpayers, or their authorized collection agencies.

3. Tax exemptions, deductions, charged-off, forgiven or cancelled tax debts: Representing tax amounts that are exempt, reduced, charged-off, forgiven or cancelled by tax authorities.

Article 5. Range of tax accounting activities and tax accounting duties

1. Range of activities involved in tax authorities’ conduct of its tax accounting work

Tax accounting work is defined as one of the tax administration functions of tax authorities, using results obtained from other tax accounting operations that have been completely processed for carrying out specific activities involved in the tax accounting work as per Article 6 herein.

2. Tax accounting duties

a) Collect inputs and issues vouchers referred to in Section 1 of Chapter II herein that serve as supporting documents for the entries recorded in tax accounting books.

b) Conduct the reconciliation and examination process to ensure that recorded data correspond to inputs generated from tax administration records and documents related to the tax accounting work.

c) Where there is any error arising from the tax accounting process, it is mandatory to identify causes and recommend actions as stipulated in Article 14 and 16 herein.

d) Store, manage and provide tax accounting data, information and documents in accordance with Article 9 herein.

dd) Provide tax accounting data, information and documents in an honest, adequate and timely manner in accordance with law on tax accounting and tax administration.

e) Tax accounting duties are automatically performed by the tax accounting Subsystem or government accountants according to their functions, duties and rights of access granted on the tax accounting subsystem.

3. Specialized departments of a tax authority at any level Tax shall perform the following duties involved in its tax administration operations

a) Process and handle professional tax administration documents and records according to tax administration procedures adopted by the Director of the General Department of Taxation with a view to obtaining full, accurate and timely data and information.

b) Take control of processing data included in professional tax administration documents and records available on the tax regulatory authority’s System of tax administration apps administered by the tax regulator in accordance with Regulations on responsibilities for data processing controls on the tax regulatory authority’s System of tax administration apps that are approved for use by the Director of the General Department of Taxation.

c) Bear responsibility for adequacy, accuracy and timeliness of information provided information as feeders to tax accounting inputs according to Article 12 herein.

d) Check data included in professional tax administration documents or records and tax administration data with taxpayers to ensure they are full, accurate and timely.

dd) Where it is discovered that any defect, omission or change in professional tax administration documents and records related to the tax accounting affects recorded data and information, prompt actions and adjustments required by law must be used.

Article 6. Tax accounting activities

Tax accounting work is defined as one of the tax administration functions of all tax authorities that are performed in a continuous and systematic manner according to tax administration procedures available on the System of tax administration apps, including the tax accounting Subsystem. The tax accounting work is composed of the following activities:

1. Collecting tax accounting inputs and issuing tax accounting documents

a) Collecting tax accounting inputs is defined as the work of tax accounting automatically carried out by the tax accounting Subsystem connected to the Subsystem of management of taxpayer obligations in accordance with Article 12, 13, 14 and 15 herein in order to fully determine items of specific accounts.

b) Where procedures for collection of inputs available on the tax accounting Subsystem are not used for recording entries into tax accounting books, government accountants in charge of tax accounting activities can generate documents and records in accordance with Article 16 herein.

2. Recording entries into an accounting book refers to the tax accounting work automatically carried out by the tax accounting Subsystem in order to record tax accounting inputs and documents specified in clause 1 of this Article to keep account of and report tax accounting activities arising during the accounting period, including tax accounting book creation, data recording, cutoff and repair, in accordance with Section 3 of Chapter II herein.

3. Preparing a tax accounting report refers to the tax accounting work carried out automatically by the tax accounting Subsystem or a government accountant in charge of tax accounting activities in order to combine tax administration performance outcomes from tax authorities at any level (including tax liabilities and tax-related payments that need to be collected, have already been collected, or remain to be collected; tax refunds and tax-related reimbursements that need to be paid, have already been paid, or remain to be paid; tax exemptions, deductions, charged-off, forgiven or cancelled tax debts) in accordance with Section 4 of Chapter II herein.

4. Storing and providing tax accounting information and documents refers to the tax accounting work carried out in accordance with Article 9 herein.

Article 7. Unit of account

1. The unit of account used in tax accounting operations is Vietnamese dong, used for recording entries into accounting books, preparing and representing tax accounting reports.

2. During their tax administration process, if tax authorities discover that any taxpayer completes tax declaration forms or pays taxes in foreign currencies as per the Law on Tax Administration and other written documents providing guidance on implementation of this Law, they must convert these foreign currencies into Vietnamese dong when collecting tax accounting inputs for use in creating tax accounting books, preparing and presenting tax accounting reports in Vietnamese dong. This action is specified as follows:

a) The exchange rate applied to conversion of tax liabilities that need to be collected from taxpayers completing tax declaration forms in foreign currencies is defined as the accounting exchange rate regulated by the Ministry of Finance (State Treasury) at the accounting time.

b) The exchange rate applied to conversion of tax liabilities that have already been collected from taxpayers paying taxes in foreign currencies is defined as the accounting exchange rate specified in accounting documents on state budget collections that State Treasuries transfer to tax authorities.

c) The exchange rate applied to conversion of overpayments in foreign currencies that can be used for offsetting state budget collections or repaid by the state budget into Vietnamese dong is defined as the exchange rate prescribed in point a.5 of clause 1 of Article 25 and clause 4 of Article 46 in the Circular No. 80/2021/TT-BTC dated September 29, 2021 of the Ministry of Finance, providing guidance on implementation of several Articles of the Law on Tax Administration, and the Government’s Decree No. 126/2020/ND-CP dated October 19, 2020.

Article 8. Accounting period

1. The accounting period coincides with the calendar year which is denominated as the accounting year composed of 4 numerals according to the following specific regulations:

a) The accounting period starts on January 1 and ends on December 31 of a calendar year.

b) The first accounting period of a newly-founded accounting unit is determined as the period from the beginning of the effective date of the decision on incorporation, split-up, split-off, amalgamation and merger of that accounting unit to end of December 31 in the calendar year.

c) The final accounting period of the accounting unit that is split up, split off, amalgamated or dissolved is determined as the period from January 1 of the calendar year to end of the day preceding the effective date of the decision on split-up, split-off, amalgamation and dissolution of the tax accounting unit.

d) The time length of the first or final accounting period shall be subject to the instructions given in the Law on Accounting and other instructional documents thereof.

2. Period-based accounting principles

a) The tax accounting day is defined as the day on which entries on accounting books or records are imported into the tax accounting Subsystem.

b) The day of collection of tax accounting inputs must is accepted according to the principle that it is the day on which any tax accounting activity arises, or is not later than the day following the aforesaid day. Except statutory days-off, the information collection day is the working day following these days-off.

c) Where any adjustment in tax administration activities already recorded in the prior accounting period's report during the period of preparing that report is made by the closing day of that accounting period, such adjustment shall be recorded in the prior accounting period and identified by the information about the accounting year specified in clause 1 of this Article.

d) After the closing day of an accounting period, any adjustment in data belonging to the prior accounting period can be made only at the request of a competent regulatory authority and according to clause 3 and 4 of Article 27, as well as clause 2 and 3 of Article 30 herein.

3. Opening or closing an accounting period

a) Opening an accounting period is the act of setting an open status on the tax accounting Subsystem from the start date of any accounting period specified in clause 1 of this Article to enable the act of updating tax accounting inputs, documents; recording entries in accounting books; revising or deleting data available on tax accounting books by the tax accounting Subsystem.

b) Closing an accounting period is the act of setting a close status of that accounting period on the tax accounting Subsystem to prevent the act of updating tax accounting inputs; updating tax accounting documents; revising or deleting data available on accounting books by the tax accounting Subsystem.

c) The time of close of an accounting period is the last day of the third month subsequent to the closing day of the accounting period. Where the closing day of an accounting period coincides with a statutory day-off, it falls on the day promptly after that day-off. Where any delay in the close of an accounting period is needed due to any objective cause, such delay must seek approval from the General Department of Taxation.

During the period from the ending day of the accounting period to the close day of the accounting period, all adjusted tax-accounting data can be recorded according to the accounting year information specified in clause 1 and 2 herein.

During the period from the close day of the accounting period to the day before the day of approval an accounting report by a competent authority, the tax authority submitting that accounting report is authorized to adjust the accounting year information only when being requested by the competent authority, or adjust data if the tax authority detects any error in such data with the General Department of Taxation’s approval; and then record adjusted data according to the accounting year information specified in clause 1 and 2 of this Article.

d) If not doing as mentioned above, adjusted data must be recorded in the accounting period of the current year and the budget year information is supplemented with the value "01" as a basis for an interpretation to be made in the tax accounting report of the current year.

Article 9. Storage and supply of accounting information and documents

1. Tax accounting documents, including tax accounting inputs, documents, records, books, reports or statements and others related to tax accounting activities, may be represented in the form of electronic data and information stored under law on accountancy.

Before being imported into the tax accounting Subsystem, tax accounting inputs are stored on the taxpayer obligation management Subsystem and other tax administration Subsystems belonging to the System of tax administration apps in accordance with the instructions of the Director of the General Department of Taxation. The General Department of Taxation shall ensure that stored data can be accessible to track the origin of tax accounting inputs.

2. Supplying tax accounting information and documents

a) Supplying tax accounting information and documents shall be subject to law on accountancy and law on tax administration.

b) Tax accounting information or documents to be supplied must be tax liabilities or payments that need to be collected; have already been collected; remain to be collected; tax refunds or reimbursements that need to be paid; have already been paid; remain to be paid; tax exemptions, deductions or debt charge-off or cancellation under the management of a tax authority; and other relevant information given in data fields included in tax accounting reports as required herein.

Article 10. Organization of the System of information technology apps for use in tax administration practice

1. The System of tax administration apps mentioned in clause 5 of Article 3 herein is composed of the integrated tax management system (TMS) and non-TMS tax management apps that are used for facilitation for tax administration operations of tax authorities at all levels and centralized storage of tax management information about all tax lines and payments of taxpayers under the management of tax authorities nationwide; are grouped into the following subsystems:

a) Tax administration subsystems refer to the functions set up on TMS or non-TMS tax management apps that are available for use in carrying out tax administration operations according to professional procedures adopted by the Director of the General Department of Taxation (including Tax Dossier Management; Tax Registration; Tax Declaration Processing; Tax Decision Processing; Tax Refund Claim Processing; Tax Exemption or Deduction Processing; Tax Debt Management; Tax Inspection; Registration and Real Property Management, etc.).

Results of professional operations of tax administration Subsystems under TMS and other non-TMS tax management apps must be automatically transferred to the Subsystem of taxpayer obligation management under TMS to serve the purposes of recording, representing and determining tax liabilities or payments that need to be collected; have already been collected; remain to be collected; tax refunds or reimbursements that need to be paid; have already been paid; remain to be paid; tax exemptions, deductions or charge-off, forgiven or cancelled debts of specific taxpayers. Tax administration-related dossiers stored on tax administration Subsystems under TMS and other non-TMS tax administration apps must be accessible in order for the origin of inputs in the taxpayer obligation management Subsystem to be tracked.

b) The Taxpayer obligation management subsystem mentioned in clause 6 of Article 3 herein is a TMS application set up on TMS that is integrated with other tax administration subsystems under the System of tax administration apps to record, report and determine tax liabilities that need to be collected; have already been collected; remain to be collected from; tax refunds that need to be paid; have already been paid; remain to be paid to each taxpayer; tax exemptions, deductions or debt charge-off or cancellation that each taxpayer enjoys; feed these data into tax administration subsystems during the process of carrying out tax administration operations according to the professional procedures adopted by the Director of the General Department of Taxation.

Records of taxpayers’ obligations on the taxpayer obligation administration Subsystem must include pieces of information specified in clause 2 of Article 12 herein, ensuring that tax accounting inputs are sufficient, accurate, timely and automatically transmitted to the tax accounting subsystem prescribed herein.

2. Principles and responsibilities of departments for processing and controlling data on each subsystem of the System of tax administration apps shall be subject to the professional tax administration procedures and regulations on responsibilities related to the practice of data processing control carried out on the System of tax administration apps that are approved for use by the Director of the General Department of Taxation.

Article 11. Application of information technology in the tax accounting work

1. The tax accounting work carried out by using IT apps and automatically handling concentrated tax-accounting databases at the General Department of Taxation goes through the following stages: collecting tax accounting inputs; preparing tax accounting documents; processing tax accounting inputs and documents; recording entries into tax accounting books; is required to ensure consistency with and relevance to professional procedures and regulations related to tax administration and state budget collection management; must be capable of integrating and exchanging information with other Systems of tax administration apps in the tax sector.

2. Tax accounting Subsystem mentioned in clause 7 of Article 3 herein is an application set up on TMS to carry out the tax accounting work by tax authorities in accordance with this Circular, including such activities as collecting tax accounting inputs; processing tax accounting documents; recording entries in tax accounting books; and preparing tax accounting reports of tax authorities.

3. Specific requirements of tax accounting Subsystems

a) Each Subsystem must strictly comply with law on accountancy, law on tax administration, law on state budget and law on electronic transactions.

b) Each Subsystem must be upgradable, amendable and adaptable to any change in law related to tax accounting tasks, requirements and record-keeping approaches without prejudice to the existing database.

c) Each Subsystem must be capable of automatically processing and storing data according to the principle of compliance with accounting requirements and the method of calculating indicators available on the tax accounting report according to current regulations; must ensure that accounting data are appropriate and do not overlap; must be capable of forecasting, detecting and preventing any defect or omission arising from inputting updated data and processing tax accounting information.

d) Each Subsystem must ensure information and data confidentiality and security; may grant authority to each user according to the assigned functions and duties; can monitor users’ access time and actions, updated, revised or deleted data of authorized users; can remember any change to accounting books; can restore accounting data and information in case of technical failure occurring during use.

dd) Principles of processing tax accounting data on tax-accounting IT apps must conform to regulations of this Circular and regulations that the Director of the General Department of Taxation issues in writing under his delegated authority. Whenever any tax accounting operation arises, a timely and comprehensive written manual for such operation must be available for use in the entire tax community; concurrently, tax accounting guides must be updated and synced for consistent use in the tax accounting Subsystem.

e) The General Department of Taxation must manage the uniform use of IT apps in the tax accounting domain; manage grant of authority to access to and security for tax accounting data and information according to the functions, duties and entitlements of the tax accounting machinery at tax authorities at all levels.

g) Government tax accountants must input and search for tax accounting data from the accounting database according to the functions, duties and entitlements assigned or approved by competent persons; must use correct usernames, passwords and passcodes that they are granted in order to process and search for tax accounting data from the tax accounting database; must change their passcodes at regular or irregular intervals. In case of moving to other positions, they must inform app administrators to request change in the data access authority according to requirements of their newly assigned positions. App administrators must remove authority to access tax-accounting IT apps from government officers who are no longer in charge of tax accounting duties.

4. Each tax accounting Subsystem must run automatically and be connected to other tax administration subsystems, especially directly to the taxpayer obligation management subsystem. The tax accounting subsystem must allow the integral, accurate, full and authentic synthesis of inputs coming from data and information provided by the taxpayer obligation management Subsystem; can help search and access the origin of tax accounting inputs connected to information and data about management of taxpayer obligations and information and data about professional tax administration dossiers stored on taxpayer obligation management subsystems and other tax administration subsystems.