CIRCULAR

PROVIDING FOR APPLICATION OF RISK MANAGEMENT IN TAX MANAGEMENT

Pursuant to the Law on Tax Administration No. 78/2006 / QH11 date 29/11/2006, the Law No. 21/2012/QH13 dated 20/11/ 2012 amending and supplementing some articles of the Law on Tax Administration and the Law No. 71 / 2014 / QH13 dated 26/11/ 2014 amending and supplementing some articles of the Law on taxes;

Pursuant to Decree No. 83/2013 / ND-CP dated 22/7/2013 of the Government detailing the implementation of some articles of the Law on Tax Administration and the Law amending and supplementing some articles of the Law on Tax Administration;

Pursuant to Decree No. 12/2015/ND-CP dated 12/2/2015 of the Government detailing the implementation of the Law amending and supplementing some articles of the Law on Tax and amending and supplementing some articles of Decrees on tax;

Pursuant to Decree No. 215/2013 / ND-CP dated 23/12/ 2013 of the Government regulating the functions, tasks, powers and organizational structure of the Ministry of Finance;

Pursuant to the Resolution No. 19/NQ-CP dated 12/03/2015 of the Government on the essential duties and solutions to continue the improvement of business environment and national competitiveness in 2015 and 2016;

Considering the request of the General Director of General Department of Taxation

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Chapter I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope of regulation

This Circular provides for the application of risk management in tax management of the tax authorities at all levels to assess the compliance with the tax law from the taxpayers in tax management operations, including: Tax registration, declaration, payment, tax debt and enforcement of implementation of administrative decisions on tax, tax refund, tax verification and inspection, creation, printing, issue, management and use of printed matters of tax and other tax management operations during the implementation of operations, including:

1. Collecting, processing, managing and using information and data related to the taxpayer.

2. Issuing the criteria for tax management and assessing the risk and compliance with tax law from the taxpayers to meet the tax management requirements in each period.

3. The application of tax management operation measures to the taxpayers in proportion to their risk levels.

Article 2. Subjects of application

1. The taxpayers include:

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b) Organizations and individuals are assigned duties to collect fees and charges of the state budget;

c) Organizations doing business in tax procedure services;

d) Organizations and individuals making tax deduction, including:

- Organizations and individuals as Vietnamese party signing contract with foreign organizations and individuals doing business in Vietnam or having income in Vietnam and paying VAT by the method of direct payment and paying the corporate income tax by the percentage over revenue.

- Organizations and individuals making tax deduction when making payment to the persons having income subject to payment of personal income;

dd) Organizations and individuals conducting the search, exploration and extraction of oil and gas, including:

- Operator for oil and gas contract signed in the form of production-sharing agreements.

- Joint operating company for the oil and gas contract signed in the form of joint operating agreement.

- Joint venture enterprises for oil and gas contract signed in the form of joint venture contract or international Treaty in which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a member.

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2. Tax authorities including: General Department of Taxation, Departments of Taxation and Branches of Taxation.

3. Tax officers.

4. Other organizations and individuals related to the compliance with tax laws.

5. Bodies and units of the Ministry of Finance in exchange of information according to the contents specified in this Circular.

6. Bodies and units of the relevant Ministries and sectors in coordinated implementation of contents specified in this Circular.

Article 3. Interpretation of terms

In this Circular, the below terms are construed as follows:

1 “Tax risk” is the risk of non-compliance with tax laws and policies, charges, fees and other revenues of the state budget from the taxpayers resulting in loss of revenues of the state budget in tax management.

2. “Criteria for risk assessment” are the standards issued as a basis for assessment and classification of risk level, assessment of compliance with tax law to meet the tax management requirements to the taxpayers in each period.

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4. “Risk analysis” is the use of knowledge, experiences, skills and application of information technology based on the criteria for risk management defined to predict the frequency and consequences of risk.

5.”Risk assessment” is the aggregation, comparison of risk identification result, risk analysis with the indicators and criteria for risk assessment to classify the risk level.

6. “Compliance measurement” is the analysis of information and data by the indicator to define the compliance level in each field of tax management operation to the taxpayers.

7. “Compliance assessment” is the collection, analysis, verification and comparison of information on operation and law compliance with the indicator and criteria for assessment of compliance to classify the taxpayer’s level of compliance with law.

8. “Risk warning” is the notification and information provision on risk of non-compliance with tax law from the taxpayers.

9. “Risk assessment indicator” is the parameters reflecting a specific risk circumstance.

10. “Tax operation information” is the information related to the taxpayers which the tax authorities have collected, aggregated, analyzed, assessed in service of application of tax operation measures.

11. “Database system of tax operation information” is the system of information and data managed by the tax authorities to collect, process and provide the operation information products for tax operation activities.

12. “Database system on taxpayers” is the system whose information and data is centrally managed; the system is connected and receives information from the relevant data information systems in and outside the tax sector; is developed and managed by the General Department of Taxation for “Compliance assessment” and “Risk assessment”.

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Article 4. Principles to apply the risk management in tax management

1. The tax authorities apply the risk management to encourage and create favorable conditions for the taxpayers to properly comply with regulations of law simultaneously prevent, detect and promptly handle acts of violation of tax law in tax management to the taxpayers.

2. In tax management, the taxpayers whose risk must be assessed to apply the option for tax verification and inspection, classification of tax refund dossier, measures to enforce the administrative decision on tax, classification of case of creation, printing, issue, management and use of printed matters of tax and other necessary operation measures at appropriate level to ensure the compliance with tax law.

3. The assessment of risk and compliance with law of the taxpayers shall be based on the regulations of law, procedures and tax management operation measures and on the criteria for risk management, operation information and information and data on the “Database system on taxpayers” of the General Department of Taxation.

4. The tax authorities shall carry out their verification, inspection, monitoring and control on the basis of assessment and rating of high risk level and apply appropriate measures to the cases of assessment and rating of low risk level.

5. The tax authorities shall fully update information in the database system of tax operation information and the database system on taxpayers on the principle of electronicization and digitalization of relevant documents and information. The operational activities must be done on the system to ensure the management status update regularly and continuously.

Article 5. Order to apply risk management

Application of risk management in tax management is done in the order as follows:

1. The tax authorities shall collect and process information and data by the electronic mode related to the taxpayers; develop, operate, manage, use… the “Database system on taxpayers” of the General Department of Taxation.

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3. Based on the regulations of law, procedures, tax management operation measures, criteria for risk management, database system on taxpayers and application of database system of tax operation information, the tax authorities shall analyze, define and assess the risk level; assess the taxpayers’ compliance with law; manage the risk dossiers of key subjects in violation of tax law;

4. Based on the result of assessment of risk level and compliance with law of the taxpayers specified in Clause 3, Article 5 of this Circular, the tax authorities shall apply the measures: Management of tax registration; management and verification of tax declaration, payment; tax verification and inspection; classification of tax refund dossier; measures to enforce the administrative decision on tax; classification of subjects creating, printing, issuing, managing and using the printed matters of tax and other necessary operation measures to the taxpayers.

5. The tax authorities shall monitor, update, assess information and give feedback on result of implementation of tax management measures to the taxpayers specified in Clause 4, Article 5 of this Circular; measure the level of compliance with law of the taxpayers.

6. The tax authorities shall manage, store and provide information and data; direct and guide the modification and addition of application of risk management to ensure the effectiveness of tax management.

Article 6. Contents of applied risk management in tax management

The tax authorities shall apply the techniques of risk management specified in Article 7 and 8 of this Circular to:

1. Management of tax registration;

2. Management and verification of tax declaration and payment;

3. Management of tax refund;

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5. Management of tax debt and enforcement of administrative decisions on tax;

6. Classification of taxpayers by application of measures to manage the creation, printing, issue, management and use of printed matters of tax;

7. Collection, analysis of information and identification of prioritized monitoring to the taxpayers having signs of violation of tax law.

8. Provision of information and data and assistance to other operational activities in the tax management.

Chapter II

SPECIFIC PROVISIONS

Section 1. MEASURES, TECNIQUES AND OPERATION OF RISK MANAGEMENT

Article 7. Measures and techniques of risk management in operational activities of tax authorities

The tax authorities shall apply the measures and techniques of risk management in the operational activities: Tax registration, declaration, payment; management of tax debt and enforcement of administrative decision on tax; tax refund; tax verification and inspection; creation, printing, issue, management and use of printed materials of tax, including:

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2. Collection and development of database system related to the taxpayers; application of information technology in risk management;

3. Assessment of compliance with law on tax, assessment and rating of risk level;

4. Analysis of risk and identification of major risks in tax management;

5. Management of risk dossier of the taxpayers to be monitored closely in the tax management at risk of non-compliance with law on tax and tax fraud;

6. Development and management and application of list of taxpayers with risks;

7. Application of operational information system to define the form, level of management, urge, verification and inspection;

8. Measurement and assessment of compliance with tax law in the tax management.

9. Monitoring, urge, verification, inspection and assessment of effect and effectiveness of taking measures to urge, verify and inspect and other operational measures in tax management to the taxpayers.

Article 8. Collection and processing of information for risk management in operational activities of tax authorities

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a) Information from the tax declaration dossier, customs dossiers; the financial reports, listing reports, taxpayers’ reports;…in accordance with regulations of law on tax and relevant laws;

b) Information on reality of compliance with law on tax in tax registration, declaration, payment; tax debt, exemption and reduction; declaration for tax refund, tax refund; tax verification and inspection; creation, printing, issue, management and use of printed matters of tax; information from the result of verification and inspection; handling of tax debt; information and documents of fines of administrative violation on tax law; tax debt and other measures of the tax authorities of each period;

c) Information from the competent state authorities and other relevant bodies and organizations on investment, import and export of goods and services; registration and reality of labor employment; information on associated transactions and transactions through bank, treasury and other credit institutions; information on violation of customs law, accounting, statistics, corporate finance violation of economic, civil and criminal law;

d) Information collected from information buying or information exchange in the country or from foreign country and official information from tax management authorities and competent authorities in foreign country under the international treaties in which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a member, documents signed between Vietnam and relevant countries related to the field of tax and customs for use in tax activities;

e) Other relevant sources of information.

2. The General Department of Taxation shall collect information to develop the “Database system on taxpayers” for risk management, including:

a) Collection of information from the taxpayers:

- Information on business and tax registration;

- Personal information about the founders and enterprise’s legal representative;

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- Information on associated parties and associated transactions;

- Information on compliance with tax law and other laws.

b) Coordinated information exchange:

- Connecting and managing the information system on taxpayers;

- Coordinating with the bodies and units of the Ministry of Finance and of relevant Ministries and sectors in exchanging and providing information for tax management in accordance with the provisions in Article 10 and 11 of this Circular;

- Coordinating the information exchange with the tax authorities of other relevant countries and territories and bodies, organizations and individuals in foreign countries as specified in Article 12 of this Circular.

- Aggregating and analyzing information in newspapers, radio, television or websites of organizations or individuals and information on other mass media;

- Setting up the hotline through the website of the General Department of Taxation, telephone, email to receive information on taxpayers related to the their tax fraud and other acts of violations of tax laws.

c) Information collection on the basis of operational activities:

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- Conducting other necessary operational measures as prescribed by law to collect information related to the taxpayers’ activities;

- Buying information under regulations;

- Receiving information provided by the taxpayers as prescribed by law.

d) Information from the taxpayers’ relevant third party such as business line associations, business partners in the country and abroad.

dd) Information from the petition or letter denouncing tax evasion or tax fraud after the final resolution of the competent authorities and is updated in the data system.

e) Information and data from organizations and individuals legally operating in the field of information provision.

g) Other official sources as prescribed by law (including the information bought with permission as prescribed by law).

3. The General Department of Taxation shall develop and manage the information system and database of tax and apply the following forms to process information for risk management in operational activities of tax authorities:

a) Managing and applying the database system of tax operation information to process information and data and assess risks to meet the tax operation requirements in accordance with the contents specified in Article 9 of this Circular.

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Article 9. Application of information technology in risk management

1. The database system of tax operation information is centrally managed at the General Department of Taxation to ensure the information as a basis for risk assessment is fully gathered and updated, including:

a) General information of the taxpayers;

b) Information on tax declaration dossier and grounds for tax calculation;

c) Management of risk dossiers in tax registration, declaration, payment, tax debt, tax refund and tax exemption or reduction, creation, printing, issue, management and use of printed matters of tax;

d) Information about the taxpayer’s violation of tax law;

dd) Information about result of inspection, verification and handling after inspection and verification

e) System of criteria for risk assessment;

g) Operation information products;

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i) Other relevant information.

2. The tax authorities apply the information technology by the electronic mode based on the issued criteria for risk management; connect the common information system and database of the Tax sector and relevant information systems outside the tax sector to integrate and process information or data in order to:

a) Assess the reality of compliance with tax law from the taxpayers;

b) Assess and rate the risk level to the taxpayers;

c) Warn risks, classify and give out professional requirements to orient and assist the verification and monitoring of contents of tax management for the operations specified in Article 6 of this Circular.

3. The operational information system is connected online with the relevant information systems of the General Department of Taxation and other tax authorities in the country for monitoring, supervision and decision issue on taking measures to monitor, urge, verify and inspect and other necessary operational measures to ensure the compliance with the tax law.

4. Based on the result from the operational information system specified in Clause 2 and 3, Article 9 of this Circular and other relevant information, the tax authorities shall take measures and apply the management forms as prescribed by law.

5. The General Department of Taxation specifies the responsibility of tax units and officers at all levels in development, management, operation, updating and use of information on the operational information system in accordance with each field of tax operation.

Article 10. Coordinated exchange of information with bodies and units of the Ministry of Finance

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a) General Department of Customs;

b) State Treasury;

c) Inspector of Ministry of Finance;

d) Corporate Finance Department;

dd) Department of Tax Policy;

e) State Securities Commission;

g) Other bodies and units of the Ministry of Finance.

2. Contents of exchanged and provided information:

a) Information about benefits and policies related to the tax management activities;

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b.1) Information about tax registration of organizations and individuals;

b.2) Information about operational reality of organizations or individuals;

b.3) Reality of tax declaration and payment, tax debt, tax exemption and reduction, creation, printing, issue, management and use of printed matters of tax;

b.4) Information about violation of tax law and regulation on accounting, statistics, corporate finance, violation of economic, civil and criminal law:

- Information about administrative violation in the field of tax and other revenues;

- Information about administrative violation in the field of accounting and statistics;

- Information about tax evasion, tax fraud or violation in the field of accounting resulted in tax evasion and tax fraud;

- Information related to the investigation and prosecution;

b.5) Other information related to the taxpayers;

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d) Other information related to the risk management in tax operation.

3. Form of information exchange:

a) Information exchanged through the computer network (using the unified communications infrastructure of the Ministry of Finance).

b) Information exchanged by documents, fax, paper documents, email or transfer of stored data by other means (for the tax authorities not yet involved in the electronic information system).

c) Information directly exchanged after being recorded and certified in accordance with regulations of the General Director of General Department of Taxation.

4. The tax authorities shall coordinate with the bodies and units of the Ministry of Finance specified in Clause 1, Article 10 of this Circular at the same level to concretize the regulation on coordinate and exchange of information in accordance with functions, duties and management database to exchange and provide information for risk management in tax operation.

The bodies and units of the Ministry of Finance shall coordinate with the tax authorities at the same level to exchange and provide information for risk management in accordance with the contents specified in Clause 2 and 3, Article 10 of this Circular.

Article 11. Coordinated exchange of information with competent bodies of Ministries and sectors

1. The tax authorities shall exchange and provide information with the competent bodies and units of relevant Ministries and sectors based on the current regulations of law and the Joint Circular between the Ministry of Finance and the relevant Ministries and sector on exchange and provision of information for state management of tax and finance.

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2. Contents of exchanged or provided information

a) Information on business registration of organizations or individuals;

b) Information about operation of organizations or individuals;

c) Reality of tax declaration, tax payment, tax debt, prohibited exit out of country in case of unfulfilled obligation of tax payment, preferential tax, tax exemption or reduction, tax refund, creation, printing, issue, management and use of printed matters of tax;

d) Information about transaction accounts; information about doubtful transactions, abnormal and sudden in transaction account.

dd) Information about violation of tax law and regulation on accounting and statistics, violation of economic, civil and criminal law;

e) Mode and acts of tax fraud and tax evasion;

g) Other relevant information about the taxpayers;

h) Other information related to the risk management in tax operation.

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a) The exchange and provision of information is done in the form of official letter, fax, paper documents, email and data transfer;

b) The connection of exchange of electronic data through the information system of the tax sector with the relevant bodies and units;

c) Direct meeting and exchange in the forms: appointment of representative, verification, collection of documents; conference organization and other forms.

4. The contents and form of exchange and provision of information must comply with regulations of law on state security.

5. Every six (06) months, the tax authorities at all levels shall assess the result of implementation of mechanism of coordinated exchange and provision of information with the competent bodies and units at the same level, recommend the addition or modification of regulations and mechanisms of coordination or solutions to solve the problems during the implementation.

Article 12. Collection of information related to tax management from foreign country

1. The collection of information from foreign country for state management on tax shall comply with the Law on tax management No. 78/2006/QH11 dated 29/11/2006, the Law No. 21/2012/QH13 dated 20/11//2012 amending and adding some articles of the Law on tax management and the guiding documents; ensure the compliance with regulations of law on protection of state secret.

2. The sources of information collected from foreign country include:

a) The tax authorities and other management bodies of the signing country and territories that provide information under the agreement on avoidance of double taxation and the agreements on cooperated exchange and exchange of information which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam has signed with the countries and territories;

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c) Information provided by the goods manufacturers, exporter and importer at the request of the tax authorities under the international treaties in which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a member;

d) Organizations or individuals providing the information services in foreign country under the provisions of the international treaties in which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a member;

dd) Other official sources as prescribed by law.

3. Forms of collection, exchange and provision of information:

a) Exchange and provision of information in the form of document, fax, paper document, email or data transfer;

b) Sharing information through the electronic data system of tax authorities of the countries and connecting and sharing information through the information system with foreign countries (in case of international treaty signed between two countries).

c) Exchange of information in the forms of appointment of representative, verification, collection of documents, seminar organization and other forms;

Article 13. Management of information about taxpayer’s dossier

1. The taxpayer’s dossier is the information about the establishment and registration of business, tax, reality of business and production, financial report, tax declaration dossiers, reports on management of printed matters of tax, compliance with tax law and other relevant regulations of law; result of management operation of tax authorities and other information related to the taxpayers.

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2. The taxpayer’s dossier is prepared and applied in accordance with the tax operation requirements in each period, including:

a) Taxpayer’s dossier;

b) Dossier of other subjects related to the taxpayer’s activities;

c) Tax agent’s dossier.

3. The General Department of Taxation issues the regulation on application of indicator of information, development of information system, collection, updating, management and application of taxpayer’s dossier on the principle of electronicization and digitalization of documents; automatic updating of system upon operation; operational implementation based on the database system on taxpayers.

Article 14. Management of taxpayer’s information on law violation

1. The tax authorities shall centrally manage the taxpayer’s information on law violation on the operational information system for the integrity, updating of information, analysis and assessment of risk, compliance with tax law; statistics and analysis of tendency of violation of tax law and satisfaction of requirements of other operational activities in tax management to the taxpayers.

2. The taxpayer’s information about law violation includes the information about acts of law violation occurred in the field of tax management and the information about law violation in the field of accounting and statistics which the tax authorities or other competent bodies have detected and handled, particularly:

a) The taxpayer’s information about law violation detected and handled by the tax bodies is managed according to the record of violation and updated in the system in the form of electronic record. The process of updating is from the time of defining the acts of violation or acts at risk of violation of tax law to the time of completing the handling of violation.

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3. During performing duties, if detecting the acts of violation of tax law, the tax officers must make a record of administrative violation as prescribed by law and enter information about such acts into the operational information system within 24 hours from the time of issuing the decision on handling of administrative violation.

4. The units and public servants of the operational and competent divisions at the tax authorities at all levels must:

a) Monitor, verify and guide to ensure the complete, accurate and timely updating of information about law violation into the system.

b) Conduct quarterly analysis, summary and make report on reality and tendency of law violation; conduct analysis and assessment of compliance with law of the taxpayers;

c) Use and apply the violation information to meet the requirements of tax operations.

5. The General Department of Taxation shall stipulate and guide the collection, management and application of information about law violation of the taxpayer in accordance with the provisions in Article 14 of this Circular.

Article 15. Issue of criteria and indicators for risk management

1. Based on the reality, the General Department of Taxation shall develop and present the criteria to the Ministry of Finance to assess the tax law and taxpayer’s risk to meet the tax management in each period and in accordance with the current regulations of tax law and state management policies, including:

- Criteria for assessment of taxpayer’s compliance with tax law;

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- Criteria for selection of case for verification of tax registration;

- Criteria for selection of tax declaration dossier for verification at the head office of tax management body;

- Criteria for classification and settlement of tax refund dossier and selection of dossiers with signs of risk to add them in the verification and inspection plan after tax refund;

- Criteria for selection of taxpayers with signs of risk to prepare the verification and inspection plan at the taxpayer’s head office;

- Criteria for management and monitoring of tax debt collection and application of measures to enforce the tax administrative decisions;

- Criteria for identification of risk level to implement the regulation on management and use of invoices and documents as prescribed by law and identify the cases of taxpayer’s signs of risks to add them in the verification and inspection plan for creation, printing, issue, management and use of invoices and printed matters of tax.

2. The General Director of General Department of Taxation shall develop and present the sets of indicator for assessment of tax law and taxpayer’s risk to the Ministry of Finance for issue to meet the tax management requirements in each period and in accordance with the current regulations of tax law and state management policies, including:

- Indicators for assessment of taxpayer’s compliance with tax law;

- Indicators for assessment and rating of taxpayer’s risk level;

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- Indicators for selection of tax declaration dossier for verification at the head office of tax management body;

- Indicators for classification and settlement of tax refund dossier and selection of dossiers with signs of risk to add them in the verification and inspection plan after tax refund;

- Indicators for selection of taxpayers with signs of risk to prepare the verification and inspection plan at the taxpayer’s head office;

- Indicators for management and monitoring of tax debt collection and application of measures to enforce the tax administrative decisions;

- Indicators for identification of risk level to implement the regulation on management and use of invoices and documents as prescribed by law and identify the cases of taxpayer’s signs of risks to add them in the verification and inspection plan for creation, printing, issue, management and use of invoices and printed matters of tax.

Article 16. Assessment of taxpayer’s compliance with tax law

1. The tax authorities shall assess the compliance with tax law of the taxpayers who are operating to apply measures of tax management and other necessary operational measures in tax management to the taxpayers.

2. The assessment of compliance with tax law to the taxpayers shall be done on the professional information system and automatic assessment system based on the conditions in Clause 3, Article 16 of this Circular to classify the taxpayers who comply with the tax law according to three (03) categories as follows:

a) Category 1. The taxpayers well comply with the tax law (hereafter referred to as good compliant taxpayers)

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c) Category 3. The taxpayers comply with the tax law at low level (hereafter referred to as low compliant taxpayers)

3. Conditions for assessment of taxpayer’s compliance with tax law

a) The taxpayers are assessed to be good compliant taxpayers if meeting all of the following conditions:

a.1) Operating and making timely and complete declaration and paying prescribed taxes; the taxes paid are consistent with scale and investment and business area of enterprises; well complying with regulations on management and use of printed matters of tax within two (02) years and earlier to the date of assessment.

a.2) The proportion of payment of taxes related to production and business (value-added tax, corporate income tax ...) on the turnover has reached over the average level compared with the average level of enterprises doing business and production of the same areas and industries.

a. 3) Within two (02) consecutive years and earlier to the date of assessment, the taxpayers do not undergo one of the form of violation handling as follows:

- Not being sanctioned for administrative violation on tax and printed matters of tax with the total fines beyond the sanction authority for acts of violation of tax procedures of the Head of Branch of Taxation as prescribed by law on handling of administrative violation on tax.

- Not being sanctioned for acts of tax evasion and tax fraud by the competent state bodies.

- Not being sanctioned for acts of failure to comply with decision on tax verification and inspection, enforcement of administrative decision on tax by the tax authorities.

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- Not being assessed as failure to comply with law on tax and customs by the competent state authorities through inspection, verification, management and monitoring.

- Not having prosecuted cases, the taxpayer’s legal representative has not been prosecuted for acts of violation of tax.

a.4) Not having tax debts, amount of late payment, fines, fees and charges of the state budget as stipulated by the law on fees and charges; revenues of the state budget as stipulated by the law on land collected by the tax authorities; other revenues of the state budget as stipulated by the law except for taxes extended as prescribed by law because the time of extension is not over at the time of assessment.

b) The taxpayers are assessed as the moderate compliant taxpayers and are not subject to the cases specified under Point a and c, Clause 3, Article 16 of this Circular.

c) The taxpayers are assessed as the low compliant taxpayers and are subject to one of the following cases:

c.1) Being subject to one of the following cases to the time of assessment:

- Not yet making tax declaration and submitting tax declaration dossier completely and on schedule of at least 01/3 (one third) of number of prescribed declaration forms within 12 months;

- The periods of negative declaration of value added tax are continuous and above the average level compared with the general average of enterprises doing business and production of the same area and business line;

- Having the cumulative number exceeding 50% (fifty percent) of owner’s equity of enterprise to the time of assessment;

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c.2) Within 02 (two) continuous years and earlier to the date of assessment; or from the date of establishment to the date of assessment for the taxpayers having the time of establishment of less than 02 (two) years subject to one of the cases as follows:

- Having two (02) times or more of being sanctioned for administrative violation of tax, printed matters of tax with the total fines beyond the sanction authority for acts of violation of tax procedures of the Head of Branch of Taxation as prescribed by law on handling of administrative violation on tax.

- Being sanctioned for acts of tax evasion and tax fraud or sanctioned in the field of accounting by the competent state bodies.

- Being sanctioned for acts of failure to comply with the decision on verification and inspection of tax and enforcement of administrative decisions on tax by the tax authorities.

- Having acts of violation of criminal law; being prosecuted and investigated.

- Being assessed as failure to comply with law on tax and customs by the competent state authorities through inspection, verification, management, monitoring and assessment.

c.3) Having the illegal acts of use of printed matters of tax or illegally using the printed matters of tax.

4. The General Department of Taxation must:

a) Develop the operational information system and database system on taxpayers automatically serving the tax authorities at all levels in assessing the taxpayer’s compliance with law.

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c) Stipulate the assessment period of taxpayer’s compliance with law.

d) Direct and guide the tax authorities at all levels in collection and updating of information to ensure the assessment of taxpayer’s compliance with law.

Article 17. Assessment and rating of taxpayer’s risk level in tax management

1. The taxpayers are assessed and rated according to their risk level in tax management, including:

a) Level 1: Taxpayers with very low risks;

b) Level 2: Taxpayers with low risks;

c) Level 3: Taxpayers with average risks;

d) Level 4: Taxpayers with high risks;

dd) Level 3: Taxpayers with very high risks;

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2. The tax authorities at all levels shall collect information and apply the set of criteria specified in Article 15 of this Circular, the operational information system and assess the taxpayer’s compliance with law as stipulated in Clause 2, Article 16 of this Circular to assess and rate the taxpayer’s risk level.

3. The result of assessment and rating of taxpayer’s risk level is provided as a basis for decision on application of measures to verify, inspect and monitor the taxpayers with high risks or other operational measures in tax management for the contents specified in Article 6 of this Circular.

4. The General Department of Taxation:

a) Develops and issues the operational procedure and defines the responsibility of tax authorities at all levels in information collection, assessment and rating of taxpayer’s risk level.

b) Periodically assesses and rates the risk levels; updates the list of taxpayers committing violation of tax; list of tax debt at public level; list of enterprises of high risk violating the tax law buying invoices issued by the tax authorities.

c) Based on a number of operating taxpayers managed by the tax authorities at all levels to make a list of taxpayers subject to being assessed and rated in accordance with conditions and capacity of each tax authority.

Article 18. Risk management to the taxpayers who dissolves, went bankrupt, stopped operating or temporarily stopped operating and whose Certificate of business registration, Certificate of enterprise registration, Certificate of investment or Certificate of investment registration is revoked

1. The General Department of Taxation shall develop the electronic database and update the list of taxpayers who die, are missing, lose civil act capacity; the taxpayers have dissolved, gone bankrupt and whose Certificate of business registration, Certificate of enterprise registration, Certificate of investment or Certificate of investment registration is revoked and the effect of tax code was terminated in accordance with regulations of tax law according to the certification of the tax authorities or other competent authorities.

2. The General Department of Taxation shall develop the electronic database and update the list of taxpayers who temporarily stopped operating or stopped operating but the effect of tax code has not been terminated in accordance with regulations of tax law; the tax authorities will have to assess the compliance with law and rate the risk level to such subjects.

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1. The General Department of Taxation uses the sets of criteria specified in Article 15 of this Circular and uses the result of rating of taxpayer’s risk level specified in Article 17 and the operational information system to classify, make and manage the list of taxpayers with risks by each tax management operation in each period, including:

a) List of verification cases of tax registration;

b) List of cases of verification of tax declaration dossier at the head office of tax management body;

c) List of classification of taxpayers in settlement of tax refund dossier and selection of dossiers with signs of risk to add them in the verification and inspection plan after tax refund;

d) List of selection of cases for verification and inspection at the taxpayer’s head office.

dd) List of cases of management and monitoring of tax debt collection and cases of application of enforcement of administrative decision on tax;

e) List of taxpayers with risks who must use invoices made by the tax authorities as prescribed by the Ministry of Finance (invoices printed by order or electronic invoices with certification code of the tax authorities) and cases where the taxpayers have signs of risk in order to add them in the verification and inspection plan on creation, printing, issue, management and use of invoices and printed matters of tax.

2. The General Department of Taxation shall make a list according to the cases specified in Clause 1, Article 19 of this Circular about the taxpayers from the operational information system and submit it to the head of competent authorities for approval, including the list to be added or adjusted in each period (if any). The information about the taxpayers is based on the list of cases specified in Clause 1, Article 19 of this Circular, including:

a) Name of taxpayers or their legal representatives, tax code, address, main business lines;

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c) Other taxpayers’ relevant information.

3. List of taxpayers with risks according to cases specified in Clause 1, Article 19 of this Circular is updated in the operational information system of the tax sector. The tax authorities at all levels shall aggregate, update and manage the list taxpayers with risks in the entire sector for tax management.

4. The General Department of Taxation shall detail the periodical assessment and make a list of taxpayers with risks according to the cases specified in Clause 1, Article 19 of this Circular for tax management to meet the tax management requirements in each period.

Article 20. Closely monitoring taxpayers with signs of violation of tax law

1. The taxpayers in the following cases of close monitoring about tax are the taxpayers with the following signs:

a) The taxpayers doing transactions through banks have doubtful signs as prescribed by law on prevention and control of money laundry related to the tax evasion and tax fraud.

b) The taxpayers or their legal representatives are prosecuted for acts of violation of tax and printed matters of tax.

c) The taxpayers with high risk levels of tax about major issues need monitoring of tax management.

2. The tax authorities at all levels use the application of operational information system about the subjects specified in Clause 1, Article 20 of this Circular to take prescribed operational measures of tax management.

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4. Updating of result and feedback:

a) Department of Taxation shall aggregate and update the result of application of operational measures to each specific case and report to the General Department of Taxation.

b) The General Department of Taxation shall aggregate and analyze to give out the risk warnings in tax management to all tax authorities at all levels.

5. The General Department of Taxation shall specify the collection and analysis of information, take monitoring measures in accordance with regulations of law in each period.

Section 2. APPLICATION OF RISK MANAGEMENT IN TAX MANAGEMENT OPERATIONS

Article 21. Application of risk management in tax management and registration

1. The tax authorities shall receive the tax registration dossiers directly submitted at the tax authorities and transferred by the business registration body on the system connecting information with the business registration body, based on the classification of database system of tax operation information about cases of tax verification and registration specified in Article 19 of this Circular to apply the appropriate measures in settlement and handling or coordinate with the business registration body in settlement and handling as prescribed by law on business registration and tax registration.

a) For dossier of newly-established taxpayers performing the tax/enterprise registration for the 1^st time; dossier for change of information about tax/enterprise registration or dossier for registration of business suspension: Automatically issue the tax code/enterprise code to the newly-established taxpayers; accepting dossier with changed information or business suspension in accordance with current regulations on tax and business registration and based on the list of cases of verification of tax registration specified in Article 19 of this Circular to carry out the verification or coordinate with the business registration body and other relevant state management bodies to carry out the verification under the current regulations of law.

b) For dossier registering dissolution, bankruptcy or operating termination:

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- Require the taxpayers or send notice to business registration body to require the taxpayers to fulfill their tax obligations prior to their dissolution, bankruptcy or operating termination.

Simultaneously, based on the list of verification cases of tax registration specified in Article 19 of this Circular to verify or coordinate with the business registration body and other relevant state bodies to perform the verification under the current regulations of law.

2. Updating and feedback of result:

The tax officers shall process the tax registration dossiers on the database system on taxpayers by the electronic method; for cases of paper method, the tax authorities must update fully and correctly the handling measures and verification results in the operational information system for each specific case for risk management, assessment of taxpayer’s compliance with tax law.

Article 22. Application of risk management in verification of tax declaration dossier at the head office of tax management body

1. The tax authorities shall apply the risk management in verification of tax declaration dossier at the head of tax management body for the taxpayers having registered their tax but made incomplete tax declaration; the taxpayers doing business and production made incomplete and untimely tax declaration.

2.The tax authorities receive the tax declaration dossier, based on the classification of database system of tax operation information about cases where the taxpayers verify their tax declaration dossiers at the head office of tax management body specified in Article 19 of this Circular and the warning of system on information to be verified in the taxpayer’s tax declaration dossier in order to apply the appropriate measures in settlement and handling of tax declaration dossier:

- For the taxpayers not included in the list of verification at the head office of the tax management body or not detected with risks or signs of violation, their dossiers shall be stored for monitoring;

- For the taxpayers included in the list of verification at the head office of the tax management body for verification of tax declaration dossier, request the taxpayers to make explanation or addition of information.

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4. Updating and feedback on verification result:

When the tax authorities verify the tax declaration dossier at its head office as stipulated in Clause 2, Article 22 of this Circular, after the completion of verification, update the verification result fully and correctly in the database system of tax operation information for each specific case for risk management and assessment of taxpayer’s compliance with tax law.

Article 23. Application of risk management in management of tax refund

1. The tax authorities shall receive the tax refund dossier, based on the classification of the database system of tax operation information on classification of taxpayers in settlement of tax refund dossier and selection for verification and inspection after tax refund specified in Article 19 of this Circular, they shall apply the appropriate measures in settlement and handling of tax refund dossiers.

a) Classification of settlement of tax refund dossiers.

- The General Department of Taxation, based on the classification of database system of tax operation information, shall identify the tax refund dossier subject to the tax refund first, verification later and vice versa.

- Where during the settlement of tax refund dossier, the tax authorities detect the taxpayers have signs of violation of tax law or customs law or in case the taxpayers did not explain or add their tax refund dossiers or did explain or add but failed to demonstrate the declared taxes are correct, the tax authorities shall change the form of classification of taxpayer’s tax refund dossier subject to tax refund first, verification later to verification first and tax refund later; the approval for change of classification must be updated in the operational information system.

b) Verification and inspection after tax refund (as required by the superior body) for the dossiers subject to the refund first, verification later:

The tax authorities shall choose the taxpayers for verification and inspection after tax refund for dossiers subject to the tax refund first, verification later based on the rating of taxpayer’s risk level specified in 19 of this Circular and must ensure the current regulations of law, particularly:

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b.2) For the taxpayers subject to the cases specified under Point b, Clause 4, Article 41 of Decree No. 83/2013/ND-CP: Verification and inspection after tax refund shall be done within 60 days after the date of tax refund decision for 100% enterprises with high risk level; verification and inspection is done towards 50% enterprises with risk level within 90 days; verification and inspection is done towards the 50% of remaining enterprises within 180 days;

2. The tax authorities at all levels, based on the result of classification of tax refund dossier and selection of taxpayers for verification and inspection after tax refund specified in Clause 1, Article 23 of this Circular to settle the tax refund dossier and do the verification and inspection of tax refund as prescribed by law.

3. Updating and feedback of result:

- The tax authorities shall receive the tax refund dossier specified under Point a, Clause 1 of Article 23 of this Circular and update information in the system of tax refund dossier and draft decision on tax refund; the General Department of Taxation shall give result feedback within 60 days. Based on such result feedback, the Department of Taxation shall issue the tax refund decision and automatically update such decision in the database system on taxpayers.

- The tax authorities shall carry out the verification and inspection towards the taxpayers specified under Point b, Clause 1, Article 23 of this Circular, right after the completion of verification and inspection, the result of verification and inspection must be updated fully and correctly in the operational information system for each specific case and give feedback on the result to the relevant superior body for timely aggregation, modification and addition of criteria for risk assessment for risk assessment and assessment of taxpayer’s compliance with tax law.

Article 24. Application of risk management in selection of cases for verification and inspection at the taxpayer’s head office

1. The tax authorities shall make the verification and inspection plan at the taxpayer’s head office every year as stipulated in Article 78 and 81 of the Law on Tax Management No. 78/2006/QH11 dated 29/11/2006 and Point 24, Article 1 of the Law No. 21/2012/QH13 dated 20/11/2012 amending and adding some articles of the Law on Tax Management, Article 49 of Decree No. 83/2013/ND-CP dated 22/7/2013 detailing the implementation of some articles of the Law on Tax Management and the Law amending and adding some articles of the Law on Tax Management and according to the rate of taxpayer’s risk level specified in Article 19 of this Circular to choose the cases for verification and inspection at the taxpayer’s head office.

The annual verification and inspection plan at the taxpayer’s head office must ensure the principles:

- The list of inspection must reach the percentage of 1%- 2% of the total operating enterprises and the list of verification must reach the percentage of 15%-18% of the total operating enterprises.

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a) Selection of cases for inspection:

The tax authorities shall select the cases for inspection at the taxpayer’s head office must ensure:

- The number of case selected through analysis and assessment and rating of risk level is not less than 90% of the number of case inspected under the annual plan;

- The number of case randomly selected must not be greater than 10% of the number of case inspected under the annual plan;

b) Selection of cases for verification:

The cases where the taxpayers are rated at high risk level except that the selected cases to be included in the inspection plan specified under Point a, Clause 1, Article 24 of this Circular are selected for cases of verification. The selection of cases for verification at the taxpayer’s head office must ensure:

- The number of case selected through analysis, assessment and rating of risk level must not be less than 90% of number of case inspected under the annual plan;

- The number of case randomly selected must not be greater than 10% of the number of case inspected under the annual plan;

2. The General Department of Taxation shall develop and issue the operational procedure and define the responsibility of tax authorities at all level in preparing the tax verification and inspection plan.

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4. Updating and feedback on result of verification and inspection at the taxpayer’s head office:

- The tax authorities shall perform the verification and inspection towards the taxpayers specified in Clause 1, Article 24 of this Circular and when issuing the decision on verification and inspection, they must update it in the system. During the verification and inspection, for cases of different opinions or problems…such contents must be updated immediately into the system; within 03 working days, the General Department of Taxation shall give feedback by the electronic form through the database system on taxpayers. Right after the completion of verification and inspection, update the result of verification and inspection into the operational information system fully and correctly for each specific case and give feedback of result of verification and inspection to the superior relevant unit for timely aggregation, modification and addition of criteria for risk management and for assessment of risk and compliance with tax law of the taxpayers.

- The heads of tax authorities at all levels shall issue the decision on handling of administrative violation of law on tax by the electronic form, in case of paper form, update it in the database “ List of taxpayers violating the tax law” and issue the Decision on public announcement “List of taxpayers violating the tax law” on the website of the General Department of Taxation.

5. The tax authorities shall receive the complaints and denunciation and settle them as prescribed by law on complaints and denunciation and update such information in the database system on taxpayers.

Article 25. Application of risk management in debt collection management and enforcement of administrative decision on tax

1. The tax authorities shall carry out the debt collection management and enforcement of administrative decision on tax as stipulated by the Law on Tax Management and the Law amending and adding some articles of the Law on Tax Management and guiding documents.

2. The General Department of Taxation shall develop the system of database and information on debt management towards the taxpayers to apply the operational measures to urge the debt collection and enforce the administrative decision on tax.

The General Department of Taxation and the heads of tax authorities at all levels shall develop the tax debt management system and urging measures for each list of taxpayers as follows:

- The taxpayers have fulfilled their obligations with the state budget and have no tax debt;

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- The taxpayers have tax debts from 91 to 121 days;

- The taxpayers have tax debts over 121 days;

3. Based on the list of cases of management and monitoring of tax debt collection and the cases of application of enforcement of administrative decision on tax specified in Article 19 of this Circular and the warnings of debt management information system, the tax authorities shall apply the measures to urge the debt collection and enforcement of administrative decision on tax towards each taxpayer under the current regulations of law; certify the fulfillment of tax obligations and transfer information of the taxpayers prohibited from exit out of the country by the electronic form or official letter to the immigration authorities.

4. Management of tax debt and enforcement of administrative decision on tax:

- The tax authorities shall send notice of tax debt and amount of late payment and enforcement Decision to the tax debtors specified in Clause 3, Article 25 of this Circular and to the relevant parties (if any) by electronic form; update the result in the operational information result fully and correctly for each specific case for risk management and assessment of taxpayer’s compliance with tax law.

- Every month, the tax authorities at all levels shall publicize the reality of taxpayer’s tax debt as stipulated in Clause 1, Article 74 and Clause 3, Article 102 of the Law on Tax Management No. 78/2006/QH11 dated 29/11/2006 of the National Assembly.

Article 26. Application of risk management in management of creation, printing, issue, management and use of printed matters of tax

1. The tax authorities shall manage the creation, printing, issue, management and use of printed matters of tax in accordance with current regulations of law on printed matters of tax.

2. Based on the classification of database system on taxpayers subject to the cases using invoices created by the tax authorities as stipulated by the Ministry of Finance (invoices printed by order or electronic invoices with certification code of the tax authorities) and the cases where the taxpayers need to be verified and inspected for, printing, issue, management and use of printed matters of tax specified in Article 19 of this Circular, the head of tax authorities shall issue the Decision on application of operational measures to manage the printed matters of tax (Decision in the electronic or paper form; in case of paper decision, the tax officer must update it in the electronic dossier of the tax authorities) as follows:

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b) Decision in case the enterprises stops using their self-printed invoices, printed by order and use invoices created by the tax authorities as stipulated by the Ministry of Finance such as invoices printed by order or electronic invoices with certification code of the tax authorities for enterprises using the self-printed invoices, printed by order subject to high risk of tax or enterprises having acts of violation of invoice are sanctioned for administrative violation of tax evasion or tax fraud.

Following the implementation roadmap of the tax authorities, the taxpayers (including the business organizations and individuals) subject to high risk of tax shall make electronic invoice and send information in the invoice in the electronic form to the tax authorities to receive the invoice certification code from the tax authorities under the current regulations of law;

c) Making public announcement of “List of enterprises subject to high risk of violation of tax law compulsorily using invoices created by the tax authorities” on the website of the General Department of Taxation under the current regulations on management and use of printed matters of tax;

d) Handling acts of administrative violation on creation, printing, issue, management and use of printed matters of tax under the current regulations.

dd) Announcing the invalid invoices for the invoices which are no longer valid for use as prescribed by law (including the invoices created by the taxpayers, tax authorities and invoices no longer valid for use due to enforcement of tax debt under the current regulations).

e) Decision in case the taxpayers need to conduct the verification and inspection of printing, issue, management and use of printed matters of tax as stipulated by the Law on Tax Management and the Law amending and adding some articles of the Law on Tax Management, the Law on Inspection and the Procedure for verification and inspection of tax.

3. Updating and feedback on result:

The tax authorities shall update the result of implementation of management measures on printed matter of tax in the electronic form and in case of paper form, update it in the database system on taxpayers for risk management and assessment of taxpayer’s compliance with tax law.

Chapter III

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Article 27. Effect

This Circular takes effect from 04/02/2015.

Article 28. Implementation responsbility

1. Based on the practical conditions, the General Director of General Department of Taxation shall make a plan and submit it to the Minister of Finance to issue the Decision on application of measures and techniques and operations of risk management in each tax operation activity; issue documents guiding and implementing the risk management in tax operation activities under the Plan and Decision of the Minister of Finance in accordance with the provisions of this Circular.

2. The competent bodies and units of the Ministry of Finance and the relevant Ministries and sectors; organizations and individuals related to the tax management shall coordinate and provide information for the tax authorities under the current regulations of law and the provisions in this Circular;

3. The Head of Departments and units directly under the General Department of Taxation shall assist the General Director of General Department of Taxation in collection and processing of information about tax operation, management and application of operational information system and unified application of risk management in all tax authorities at all levels.

4. Director of Department of Taxation, Head of Branch of Taxation shall uniformly apply the regulations on risk management: Collecting and processing information and criteria for assessment of risk and taxpayer’s compliance with law; effectively implementing the programs and plans for risk management as assigned and decentralized; taking responsibility before law for struggling, tax evasion, commercial fraud due to incomplete implementation of procedures and regulations on application of risk management in the areas under their management.

5. The General Department of Taxation, organizations and units responsible for performing the duties of risk management directly under the General Department of Taxation and Departments of Taxation of provinces and cities, Branches of Taxation with a large number of enterprises under management (over 3,000 enterprises) and large revenues (over 1,000 billion dong). For the remaining Branches, the Tax Inspection Teams shall be responsible for assisting the Heads of tax authorities at all levels to collect, process information, develop database and criteria for risk management and apply the tax operation information system for analysis, definition, assessment of risk level and compliance with law of the taxpayers and directly implementing the Articles 15, 16, 17, 18, 19 and 20 of this Circular.

6. The business organizations and individuals (Business individuals are: individuals, group of individual, households) paying taxes, fees, charges or other revenues of the state budget as prescribed by law must comply with the provisions on risk management as prescribed by law and by this Circular./.

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PP. MINISTER
DEPUTY MINISTER




Do Hoang Anh Tuan

Thông tư 204/2015/TT-BTC quy định về áp dụng quản lý rủi ro trong quản lý thuế do Bộ trưởng Bộ Tài chính ban hành