The Ministry of Agriculture and Environment has drafted a law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the 2024 Land Law and is seeking opinions. In the draft, the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment proposed to amend and supplement Point d, Clause 2, Article 257 of the 2024 Land Law in the direction of removing the regulation on additional land use fees payable for the period not yet included in land use fees and land rents.
Speaking with Lao Dong, lawyer Pham Thanh Tuan (Hanoi Bar Association) said that currently, the regulation on additional fees for land users in case of transitional handling has been recorded in the 2024 Land Law (Point d, Clause 2, Article 257). Decree No. 103/2024/ND-CP only clarifies the specific collection rate, at a rate of 5.4%/year. Thus, adding provisions to the amended Law is reasonable in terms of authority and legislative techniques.
Although this additional fee is not a "dead payment fine", it is a collection fee to adjust the interests of land users when paying land use fees according to past land prices, instead of the price at the time of performing the obligation. However, in reality, this collection is creating a significant financial burden for businesses, especially in the context of the real estate market facing difficulties, weak liquidity and high capital costs.
Lawyer Pham Thanh Tuan commented that, in terms of policy orientation, the State is looking to reduce land prices in the primary market (ie land prices determined by the State for land allocation, land lease or permission to change land use purposes), in order to reduce input costs for businesses. Therefore, it is necessary to remove or adjust the above additional fees to avoid creating additional unknown costs for investors; ensure consistency with the policy of regulating market land prices by administrative tools (eseemary land prices are lower than the market).
On the other hand, the above policy also creates favorable conditions for businesses and unblock projects that are "frozen" due to financial problems related to transition handling.
Previously, the Ho Chi Minh City Real Estate Association (HoREA) also proposed amending Point d, Clause 2, Article 257 of the 2024 Land Law to remove the regulation "amount of money that land users must pay additional for the period not yet included in land use fees and land rents".
Mr. Le Hoang Chau - Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Real Estate Association (HoREA) - said that previously, regulations on collecting additional fees for the period of delay in calculating land use fees and land rents created a huge financial burden for businesses.
Many projects have been delayed in determining financial obligations for many years, even 20-30 years ago, even though it is not the fault of the investor. However, they still have to pay a huge additional amount, sometimes the additional payment is higher than the original land use fee. This cost not only makes it difficult for businesses, but when it is included in product prices, real estate prices will escalate and buyers will eventually suffer.
HoREA proposes and proposes a plan to reduce the collection rate to 0.5%/year or preferably completely abolish it to both "efforce people and businesses" and not increase housing prices. The change in the draft revised Land Law this time shows that the voice of the business community has been recognized. This is a positive signal, strengthening investors' confidence in the business environment.
