In a report sent to the Office of the Government on the reasons for the increase in real estate prices, the Ministry of Construction said it would study and propose a tax policy for those who own and use many houses and lands to limit speculation and buying and selling in a short period of time to make a profit.
Regarding the proposal to impose a second real estate tax by the Ministry of Construction, Dr. Nguyen Van Dinh - Vice President of the Vietnam Real Estate Association, President of the Vietnam Association of Real Estate Brokers (VARS) - said that the imposition of real estate tax should only be considered when there are behaviors that negatively affect the market. As for people buying a second, third or more home but using it for the right purpose, creating added value for society, this is a positive behavior and should be encouraged and facilitated.
"For example, I buy real estate for my children when I have the finances and the real estate has a suitable price. During the time when I am not using it, I rent it out for living or business. At that time, my real estate serves the housing fund that people need and pays taxes to the State budget.
Or, when I have 2-3 houses, I can rent them out as medical facilities in places lacking medical services, as kindergartens, mini supermarkets in areas where the demand for these services has not been met. These are legitimate actions that need to be supported because they help create essential services in places where infrastructure is lacking. This is also the basis for creating more jobs for many industries, benefiting society, and contributing more taxes to the state budget," said Mr. Dinh.
In addition, Dr. Nguyen Van Dinh said that the main reason for the increase in housing prices is the imbalance between supply and demand. The supply is too weak, lacking diversity and suitability for the majority of people. Meanwhile, the demand is very large. What needs to be done is to re-adjust the balance between supply and demand, so that supply has the opportunity to gradually move closer to demand. Only then will the selling price have the opportunity to be adjusted.
To do that, supply must be released, projects that are stuck need to be cleared and new projects need to be started. Thus, working people will have more convenient access to land and housing. Because owning real estate or doing real estate business are both very legitimate rights of the people.
Accordingly, if we do not understand correctly and apply the tax calculation for second real estate in a rigid manner, it will certainly lead to unpredictable consequences.
Because this policy will invisibly cause the "real estate purchasing power" to be immediately affected in a downward direction due to the "consideration and calculation" mentality of the people. This will cause the market that has just begun to recover to immediately stagnate, even continuing to fall into a difficult state.
When the real estate market is in trouble, it will certainly affect a series of other industries and the economy in general. This is something we have witnessed over the past time.
