Decree 73/2026/ND-CP: Detailing and Guiding Implementation of Several Articles of the State Budget Law
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Based on:73/2026/NĐ-CP - Government Official Gazette
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Decree 73/2026/ND-CP, issued on March 10, 2026, provides detailed guidance for implementing several articles of the State Budget Law No. 89/2025/QH15. It sets out principles for balancing and decentralizing the central and local state budgets; how central and provincial-level budget deficits are determined and financed; management and accounting of state budget borrowing and debt repayment; a results-based budget management mechanism; management of off-budget state financial funds and voluntary contributions to public bodies; and budget support for social organizations carrying out state-assigned tasks. The remainder of the decree sets detailed timelines and procedures for preparing, discussing, deciding, and assigning annual state budget estimates among the Government, the Ministry of Finance, central ministries, and provincial/commune People's Councils and People's Committees; execution and in-year adjustment of budget estimates; and the final settlement process, including how budget surpluses are handled after approval by the National Assembly or People's Councils. This is a public-finance administrative decree that governs internal relationships among state agencies in preparing, executing, and settling the state budget. It does not directly set out tax, invoicing, labor, or customs obligations for enterprises or household businesses, so its practical compliance impact on the business community is very limited.
Overview
Decree 73/2026/ND-CP was issued by the Government on March 10, 2026, providing detailed regulations and guidance for implementing several articles of the State Budget Law No. 89/2025/QH15 (pursuant to the Law on Government Organization No. 63/2025/QH15). It applies to state agencies, political organizations, the Vietnam Fatherland Front, public non-business units, and other organizations and individuals related to the state budget.
Chapter I - General Provisions
- Principles for balancing, managing, and decentralizing the central and local state budgets.
- Central budget deficits are financed through domestic borrowing (Government bonds) and foreign borrowing; provincial-level deficits are financed through domestic borrowing and on-lending from the Government, conditioned on use for approved medium-term public investment projects and the absence of overdue local debt.
- Rules on managing and accounting for state budget borrowing and principal/interest/fee repayment.
- A «results-based state budget management» mechanism, applicable when specific output results, technical-economic norms, and a formal agreement between the assigning and receiving agencies exist; it covers four forms (program-based, projected-output-based, actual-result-based, and performance-target-based).
- Off-budget state financial funds: as a rule, these do not receive operating funding from the state budget unless they meet strict legal conditions and their revenue/spending tasks do not overlap with the state budget's.
- Management of voluntary funding and contributions to state agencies, political organizations, and public non-business units: must be transparent, on-purpose, with a defined receiving process, a dedicated tracking account, and settlement reporting.
- Budget support for social organizations performing state-assigned tasks, under the principle that such organizations are primarily self-funded.
- Authority of provincial People's Councils to decide local budget spending norms and standards.
- Use of central and provincial-level financial reserve funds to cover temporary shortfalls or unexpected spending needs.
- Application of information technology and digital transformation in budget preparation, execution, accounting, settlement, and disclosure; the Ministry of Finance leads the development of a unified budget information system connected to the national finance database.
Chapter II - State Budget Estimation
Sets out the responsibilities of tax authorities, customs authorities, and budget-estimating units (spending units, intermediate-level units, first-level units) in preparing budget estimates. Notably, this chapter fixes a detailed annual timeline: the Prime Minister issues budget-preparation guidance by May 15; ministries and localities submit estimates to the Ministry of Finance by July 10; the Government reports to the National Assembly Standing Committee by September 20; the National Assembly decides and the Prime Minister assigns budget estimates by November 20; provincial People's Councils decide local budgets by December 10; and commune-level People's Councils decide commune budgets within 10 days after the provincial decision. The chapter also covers re-preparing estimates when not approved on time, coordination discussions between levels, and the Ministry of Finance's authority to issue reporting templates.
Chapter III - State Budget Execution
Governs the allocation and assignment of budget estimates to spending units after the Prime Minister, Ministry of Finance, or People's Committees assign estimates, which are then sent to finance agencies and the State Treasury for execution.
State Budget Settlement
Sets out the review and consolidation process for budget settlement, from first-level estimating units up to the Ministry of Finance (by August 15 of the following year), then to the Government and the National Assembly Standing Committee (by September 20), with final National Assembly approval no later than 12 months after the end of the budget year. The decree also addresses handling of revenue/spending errors discovered after settlement and the treatment of budget surpluses at the central, provincial, and commune levels (50% allocated to the financial reserve fund, 50% recorded as revenue for the following year).
Editorial note
This is a public-finance administrative decree that does not create new tax, e-invoice, labor, or customs obligations for businesses. Its content mainly governs relationships between levels of government rather than between the state and taxpayers.