No tax incurred but still the file is frozen
In a recent urgent document sent to the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee, the Ho Chi Minh City Tax Department said that from August 1 to 27, the tax authority received a total of 8,808 dossiers. Notably, of these, nearly 3,000 dossiers were in cases where no financial obligations arose but were still being held at the tax authority waiting for the new land price list.
Mr. Nguyen Hong Duy, residing in Phu Huu Ward, Thu Duc City, said that for some reasons, his mother transferred the ownership of a townhouse to him in the form of a gift so that he could borrow capital for business. He thought that with this transaction not incurring any tax, the documents would be processed quickly. After notarization in early September, he submitted a document confirming tax obligations for the notarized gift contract between mother and son at the Thu Duc City Tax Branch (HCMC). However, he was informed that the Tax Branch was waiting for instructions. When there are instructions, the Tax Branch will contact and notify the taxpayer to receive the results.
The delay in resolving the case put his business at risk of serious damage. Because he initially planned to use this house as collateral to borrow money to run the year-end orders. Before that, he had to borrow "hot" money from some partners and planned to repay the loan within 1 month, but with the current situation, he was really confused.
Even real estate companies are in a dilemma because of the congestion of real estate transactions. Mr. Nguyen Van Dung, Director of a real estate brokerage company in Thu Duc City, said that the market situation was already difficult, and the company had difficulty making transactions, but currently, there are nearly 10 records of buying and selling townhouses and land plots that are stuck at the tax payment stage. The company's customers have had to wait for more than a month without any results, so some even asked to cancel the transaction.
"I think that in cases of real estate transactions, people have now declared the correct purchase and sale prices, meaning the actual transaction prices on the market, so personal income tax has been calculated correctly and fully. Therefore, the tax sector needs to complete the records for the people. Later, if there is a post-audit and it is discovered that people have evaded taxes, they will have to take responsibility and may be prosecuted. Meanwhile, the City People's Committee has not yet issued any document or decision to stop implementing the land price list according to Decision 02/2020 and according to the 2024 Land Law, this land price list is still valid. Thus, it is unreasonable for tax departments to keep people's records and not process them," Mr. Dung said indignantly.
Need to resolve people's rights soon
These days, when going to the land registration offices, the tax office can understand the fatigue of the people. The documents are vague and do not know when they will be completed.
After the meeting with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment on September 10, there has been no change from the tax authority despite the conclusion. Accordingly, for 8,808 outstanding tax records arising from August 1, 2024 to present in Ho Chi Minh City, including 5,448 personal income tax records due to real estate transfers and 2,737 records in cases where no financial obligations arise to the State (personal income tax from real estate transfers, registration fees, etc.) and 346 records of land use fee collection when recognizing land use rights and 277 records of land use fee collection when changing land use purposes, the tax authority strictly implements the "law application principle" that is, the records received at which time will apply the legal provisions in effect at that time for consideration and settlement.
The Ho Chi Minh City Tax Department recently proposed that the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee organize a meeting to resolve and unify the application of legal documents such as land price tables, land price adjustment coefficients, land rent calculation percentages, etc. so that tax authorities can promptly calculate financial obligations regarding land.
The City Tax Department recommends that land records arising from August 1, 2024 to before the date the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee issues a decision to adjust the land price list, apply Decision No. 02 dated January 16, 2020 of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee on promulgating regulations on land price lists in the area for the period 2020 - 2024.
