Arrested by the debt "falling from the sky"
Reflecting to the authorities, Mr. T said that he was falling into a "half-crying, half-laughing" situation related to land tax obligations.
Accordingly, before 2011, Mr. T owned 06 plots of land with full land use right certificates (red books). From 2011 to 2017, he transferred (sold) 04 plots of land to others. The procedures for transferring the name and issuing a red book to the buyer have been completed and the buyer has used it stably since then.
However, recently, when installing and searching on the Etax Mobile application (applying electronic tax on mobile devices), Mr. T suddenly received a notification about the non-agricultural land use tax (PNN) debt for the 04 plots of land that he sold many years ago. Not only that, the system also calculates the arising fines for late payment.
Because the system recorded that he still owned a total of 06 plots of land in the same area, the tax calculation area was accumulated. This has caused the remaining 02 plots of land he currently owns to be subject to a cumulative tax rate of up to 0.15% (tax rate for land area exceeding 3 times the limit), instead of a lower rate.
Mr. T worried: "Will the debts and fines of the 04 plots of land that have been sold be erased or transferred to the buyers? And will the unfair tax rate for the land I am living in be adjusted? ".
Causes of forgetting to close tax books
Receiving feedback, the 7 basics of the Tay Ninh province have conducted a review on the Tax Management System (TMS) and compared it with the land transfer records.
The tax authority determined that the cause of the above situation is due to the inconsistency in updating data to "set up the tax set". Accordingly, although Mr. T sold the land in 2017, at that time, he or the buyer had not yet carried out the procedures to adjust the non-agricultural tax system.
Therefore, on the tax industry's data system, the name of the taxpayer for these plots of land is still Mr. T. The system automatically calculates annual tax and when the payment is not seen, the computer will automatically add a late payment fine. At the same time, because the total land area (including sold land and residential land) exceeds the prescribed limit, the automatic system applies the highest tax rate of 0.15% for the excess area.
How are benefits adjusted?
Based on the transfer contract and land use practice, the tax authority affirms that the rights of taxpayers will be guaranteed when there are sufficient documents to prove it.
Accordingly, after comparing the information provided about the transfer contracts of the above plots of land, the tax authority has adjusted the non-agricultural tax regime to match the taxpayer.
This means:
Tax obligations and arising fines related to 04 plots of land sold (from the time of transfer to present) will be separated from Mr. T's tax code.
Mr. T.'s total taxable land area will be reduced (only 02 actual plots remain). Thanks to that, the tax calculation percentage will also be adjusted down to the correct level (no longer subject to the limit exceeding 0.15%).
In this case, people when buying and selling real estate, in addition to transferring the red book at the land registration office, need to pay special attention to reporting and adjusting information at the tax authority (the non-agricultural land use tax declaration) to "close" financial obligations, avoid arising virtual debts and legal problems later.
