The National Assembly has passed a Resolution stipulating a number of mechanisms and policies to remove difficulties and obstacles in organizing the implementation of the Land Law, including regulations on land use fee collection when converting agricultural land to residential land. This Resolution takes effect from January 1, 2026.
Speaking with Lao Dong, Lawyer Pham Thanh Tuan - Hanoi Bar Association said that according to the 2024 Land Law, when converting land use purposes from agricultural land to residential land, people must pay 100% of the difference between residential land prices and agricultural land prices.
Point c, Clause 2, Article 10 of the Resolution stipulates the new collection rate for households and individuals who change the purpose of using garden land, ponds, and agricultural land in plots of land with residential land that have been determined when granted a Certificate or garden land, ponds attached to residential land but have been separated or measured and separated into separate plots before July 1, 2014 when converting these types of land to residential land, the land use fee collection rate is calculated as follows: 30% difference between land price and agricultural land price for the conversion area within the local residential land allocation limit; 50% difference for the area exceeding the limit but not exceeding 1 time of the local residential land allocation limit; 100% difference for the area exceeding the limit of over 1 time of the local residential land allocation limit and for other cases of conversion (pure agricultural land, no residential land).
The reduced collection rate according to this regulation is only applied once to each household and individual (calculated on a plot of land).
Lawyer Pham Thanh Tuan gave an example, according to current regulations, when converting land use purposes from garden and pond land to residential land, people must pay 100% of the difference between residential land prices and land prices before changing the purpose.
Specifically, if the land price according to the local land price list is 2,000,000 VND/m2, while the residential land price is 10,000,000 VND/m2, then according to the 2024 Land Law, people must pay the entire difference of 8,000,000 VND/m2 when changing the land use purpose.
However, according to the new regulations applied from January 1, 2026, in case of changing land use purposes within the local residential land allocation limit, the financial obligations collection rate will have a significant change.
For example, with the local land allocation limit of 200 m2, in this area, when changing the land use purpose, people only have to pay 30% of the difference. Thus, instead of having to pay 8,000,000 VND/m2, people only have to pay 2,400,000 VND/m2.
Obviously, the new regulation has helped reduce financial obligations when converting land use purposes within the limit by up to 70%, thereby significantly reducing the cost burden on people - lawyer Pham Thanh Tuan emphasized.
In addition, Clause 10, Article 4 of the Resolution stipulates the transitional mechanism: in cases where people have changed their purpose according to the above group of regulations from August 1, 2024 (the effective date of the 2024 Land Law) to before the effective date of the Resolution (January 1, 2026), the Tax Authority will be requested to recalculate land use fees. If the amount recalculated is lower than the amount paid, it will be deducted from other financial obligations (if any) or the difference will be refunded by the State.
According to lawyer Pham Thanh Tuan, this is an important change, not only helping to reduce costs for people when changing land use purposes in the future but also creating a mechanism for refund or deduction for cases that have changed purposes in the period from August 1, 2024 (the date the 2024 Land Law takes effect) but have to pay at a higher level than before. The new regulation contributes to reducing financial burden, while ensuring fairness and policy reasonableness, demonstrating humanity in handling cases that have fulfilled financial obligations but are not in accordance with current practice.
