A reader with the email bpketoanx@xx sent an email to the Lao Dong Newspaper Legal Counseling Office to ask: What are the contribution levels of cadres, civil servants, and employees to Natural Disaster Prevention and Control Funds? Is it based on total salary or basic salary or region-based minimum wage?

Lao Dong Newspaper's Legal Consultancy Office replied:

Articles 5 and 6 of Decree 94/2014/ND-CP stipulate on the setting up and management of Natural Disaster Prevention and Control Funds as follows:

Article 5. Contributors and contribution levels

1. Independent accounting-practicing economic organizations: The annual compulsory contribution level is 0.02% (2/10,000) of the total value of current assets in Vietnam according to annual financial statements, which, however, must be at least VND 500,000 and at most VND 100 million, and may be accounted as production and business cost.

2. Vietnamese citizens aged between full 18 years and the retirement age prescribed by the labor law shall make contributions as follows:

a/ Salaried cadres, civil servants and public employees working in agencies, organizations and armed forces and managers of state enterprises shall contribute one day’s salary/person/year calculated based on their basic salary after deducting payable taxes and insurance premiums;

b/ Employees in enterprises shall contribute one day’s wage/person/year calculated based on the region-based minimum wage;

c/ Other employees, other than those specified at Points a and b of this Clause shall contribute VND 15,000/person/year.

3. Organizations and individuals are encouraged to make voluntary contributions to funds.

Article 6. Subjects eligible for exemption from reduction or suspension of payment of, contributions

1. Subjects eligible for exemption from contributions:

a/ War invalids and diseased soldiers and persons eligible for the policy applicable to war invalids;

b/ Natural parents and spouses of fallen soldiers;

c/ Persons who are performing their military service duty in the armed forces, and noncommissioned officers and soldiers serving for a given term in the People’s Public Security Forces and enjoying cost-of-living allowance;

d/ Students studying under long-term formal training programs at universities, colleges, intermediate and vocational training schools;

dd/ Persons with disabilities or persons who have lost 21% or more of their working capacity and people suffering from dangerous diseases certified by district- or higher-level hospitals;

e/ Persons who are unemployed or do not have any job for 6 months or more in a year;

g/ Members of poor households or households living just above the poverty line; members of households in mountainous, remote, and deep-lying areas; members of households suffering from damage caused by natural disasters, epidemics, fires, explosions, or accidents;

h/ Cooperatives that have no source of revenues;

i/ Independent accounting-practicing economic organizations that have spent more than 0.02% of their total asset value on repairing and purchasing assets, workshops, and equipment or postponed production and business for 5 days or more in a year due to damage caused by natural disasters.

2. Subjects eligible for reduction or suspension of payment of contributions: Independent accounting-practicing economic organizations eligible for enterprise income tax exemption or reduction shall be considered for reduction or suspension of payment of contributions to funds.