CIRCULAR

GUIDING PERSONAL INCOME TAX REGISTRATION, WITHHOLDING TAX, AND TAX DECLARATION AND FINALIZATION APPLICABLE TO INDIVIDUALS BEING INSURANCE AGENTS

Pursuant to the Law on Personal Income Tax dated 21 November 2007 and its implementing guidelines; Pursuant to the Law on Management of Tax dated 29 November 2006 and its implementing guidelines;
Pursuant to Decree 118-2008-ND-CP of the Government dated 27 November 2008 on functions, duties, powers and organizational structure of the Ministry of Finance;
The Ministry of Finance hereby provides the following guidelines on personal income tax registration, withholding tax, and tax declaration and finalization applicable to individuals being insurance agents:

1. Applicable scope

1.1 Applicable taxpayers shall be individuals who are insurance agents and who have income subject to personal income tax.

1.2 Income subject to personal income tax1 from agency activities shall comprise agent's commission, bonuses in all forms, and other subsidies and payments receivable from the establishment which is the principal of the agent [hereinafter referred to as the principal].

2. Tax registration

2.1 Insurance agents must conduct tax registration pursuant to the Law on Management of Tax and its implementing guidelines.

2.2 An application file for tax registration shall comprise:

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- Copy people's identity card or passport.

- Business registration certificate or certificate of training as an insurance agent issued by the insurer.

2.3 Location for lodging application files for tax registration:

- Insurance agents who directly lodge their files shall lodge them with the Tax Department in the district where they reside.

- Where insurance agents lodge their files for registration with the insurer, then the insurer shall in turn lodge such files with the tax office directly managing the insurer. Such tax office shall receive files for registration, check them, and issue a tax code number for each agent. The tax office shall then transfer the tax code numbers to the insurer for the latter to in turn provide them to its agents.

3. Withholding tax and issuance of certificates of tax withheld

3.1 Withholding and declaring tax:

- Insurance business establishments (hereinafter referred to as principals) shall be responsible to withhold PIT on income from agency activities payable to the principal's agents at the appropriate percentage set out in the following scale of progressive tax tariff:

Unit: 1,000 VND

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Provisional percentage to be collected on monthly income payable to the agent

Up to 4,000

0%

Above 4,000 up to 15,000

5%

Above 15,000

10%

- An agent's income in accordance with the above tariff means the agent's income without deductions for dependants, for compulsory insurance premiums or for contributions to charitable funds and so forth.

- If the principal pays income to individuals from agency activities on a quarterly basis, it must convert such quarterly income into monthly income in order to calculate the provisional amount of PIT to be withheld each month in accordance with the above tariff. If income is paid on an annual basis then it shall be deemed annual income for the purposes of withholding tax [withholding immediately, and not on a provisional basis].

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3.2. Issuance of a certificate of tax withheld

If an insurance agent so requests, the principal which has withheld tax in accordance with the above guidelines must issue a certificate of tax withheld in order for the agent to have the basis for conducting tax finalization or claiming a tax refund.

4. Tax finalization declaration

4.1. Principals shall make their tax finalization declarations on standard form 2-KK-BH issued with this Circular.

4.2. Tax finalization in the case of individuals acting as agents:

Individuals acting as agents and who have income subject to PIT must make a tax finalization declaration in the following cases:

- The amount of tax payable by them in a year is greater than the amount provisionally withheld or paid, or they have income arising in the year for which tax has not been provisionally withheld or paid.

- They claim a tax refund or a set-off in the following tax period of tax already paid.

Tax finalization declaration files and time-limits for lodging them must comply with clause 2.4 of Section 2 of Part D of Circular 84-2008-TT-BTC of the Ministry of Finance dated 30 September 2008 applicable to business individuals.

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- If an agent has income being salary and wages or other business income in addition to income from agency activities, he or she must collate all items of income and make one overall tax finalization.

- Tax finalization shall not be required in other cases.

5. Organization of Implementation

5.1. This Circular shall be of full force and effect after forty-five (45) days from the date of its signing, and shall apply to income of insurance agents as from 1 January 2009.

5.2. Guidelines on income tax applicable to high incomer earners and on corporate income tax applicable to individuals acting as insurance agents are hereby repealed.

5.3. Other matters not guided in this Circular shall be implemented in accordance with Circular 84/2008/TT-BTC of the Ministry of Finance dated 30 September 2008.

Any problems arising during implementation should be promptly reported to the Ministry of Finance (General Department of Taxation) for resolution.

FOR THE MINISTER OF FINANCE
DEPUTY MINISTER




Do Hoang Anh Tuan

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LIST OF APPENDICES

No.

Description

Prepared by

1-KK-BH

Declaration of tax withheld

Insurer being the income-paying entity

2-KK-BH

Annual declaration of PIT for all agents

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2A-KK-BH

Detailed list to accompany Form 2A above

Insurer being the income-paying entity

ATTACHED FILE